Aalto University: Integrated, automated, and managing over 60 systems in-house

Key takeaways

Finnish higher-education institution Aalto University replaced costly, developer-dependent open-source integration tools with Frends to manage data flows in-house. Among the results were:

  • More than 51,000 integration executions a day and 1.65 million a month run across its systems.

  • Close to 13,000 students and 4,000 staff supported across its Helsinki, Mikkeli and Pori campuses.

  • A Frends process paired with a machine learning model in Azure to automatically route IT support tickets to the right queue, cutting manual triage.

Industry
Higher Education
Company size
4,000 employees
Headquarters
Espoo, Finland
Website
aalto.fi
Aalto University needed a central solution for managing data flows independently while supporting the gradual replacement of back-end systems.

Aalto University operates in several locations: the Greater Helsinki area, Mikkeli, and Pori, making it Finland's second-largest university. Aalto University has a complicated environment consisting of tens of systems and thousands of integrations ensuring that close to 13,000 students and 4,000 staff members across all campuses will have the best academic experience.

With Frends, Aalto aimed to improve how integrations are managed, ensuring one solution could support both business growth and the gradual replacement of back-end systems.

Integrating new SaaS-based services also required fresh solutions, like OpenAPI interfaces. Aalto focused on having a central way to manage data flows and the ability to control them independently.

With Frends, we can operate and understand everything without technical knowledge.

Patrick Maltusch, Head of Integration, Aalto University

 

 
Integration Challenges

Facing high costs and resource strain, Aalto started looking for a simpler integration solution.

Aalto previously relied on various open-source integration platforms, but the ongoing costs became a significant issue. This was particularly challenging for day-to-day operations and management, as even basic maintenance required developer-level expertise.

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Results with Frends iPaaS

Simplifying integrations in-house with iPaaS & RPA

Using Frends iPaaS, Aalto has implemented numerous integrations and now manages them in-house without relying on third-party vendors. This shift has empowered the organization to assign ad-hoc integration roles internally.

Aalto has also adopted Frends for both OpenAPI-based public interfaces and traditional data transfers between systems, with process automation playing a key role in many integrations.

Recently, they’ve expanded Frends' use to orchestrate RPA robots (Robotic Process Automation) alongside more traditional integration tasks.

Using AI for efficient automation

Aalto University is leading the way in using artificial intelligence (AI) for automation. One example is their API, designed with a reusable SOA architecture, which handles all IT support requests. Thanks to Frends’ native compatibility with OpenAPI, this API is fully compliant from the start. When a support request comes in, a Frends process consults a pre-trained machine learning algorithm in Azure to ask:

“Where should this ticket go?”

Based on the response, Frends formats and routes the ticket to the correct support queue. The demand for automation is clear—an organization the size of Aalto University receives a high volume of diverse IT requests daily.

Through Frends, Aalto automates this and other processes, using AI to make decisions that previously required human input.

With Frends iPaaS, Aalto University achieved:

  • Integrates over 60 systems, handling 51,000 daily and 1.65 million monthly executions.

  • Replaces costly, open-source platforms that used to require developer expertise for even basic maintenance.

  • Manages integrations in-house, without relying on third-party vendors.

  • Automates key processes, like routing IT support requests using AI, minimizing the need for manual intervention.

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