Australian Catholic University Elevates Alumni Engagement Through Automated Data Integration

Australian Catholic University (ACU) faced a compliance and operational challenge synchronizing data between its alumni engagement system (Graduway) and its primary Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement system. Non-compliance with anti-spam regulations posed significant financial risks. By leveraging Microsoft Power Platform—including Power Automate and robotic process automation (RPA)—the university automated end-to-end data synchronization workflows. These integrated solutions update alumni subscriptions, engagement analytics, and marketing preferences across systems without manual effort, enabling rapid compliance, improved insight generation, and efficient business processes. With implementation supported by Microsoft partner Espire, ACU now automates daily synchronization via Power Automate cloud flows that trigger desktop (RPA) bots. These bots fetch, process, and transfer subscription files between Graduway, SharePoint, and Dynamics 365 databases. Additional automated workflows have improved event booking, procurement, staff delegation, travel approvals, and IT training request management. Automations produce immediate regulatory compliance and create richer analytics for alumni and marketing teams, strengthening campaigns and student engagement initiatives. Ongoing and planned projects include using Microsoft AI Builder in automation, enhancing virtual assistant support, piloting a 'voice of customer' tool, and using HoloLens and Dynamics 365 Remote Assist in nursing education. The university’s adoption of Microsoft Power Platform enables continual innovation in processes, achieves faster approvals, better staff and student support, and positions ACU for future advances in automation and AI.