The Challenge
South Dakota State University (SDSU) had used Accruent EMS since 2000, but adoption varied. Some departments used EMS consistently, while others kept separate spreadsheets or calendars. The lack of standardization made it difficult to coordinate events, maintain visibility and consolidate information across campus.
In 2018, SDSU faced a major setback when its on-premises server was accidentally erased. The backup had been stored on the same machine, which meant years of reservation data were lost.
“We had an unfortunate experience... they accidentally erased the server. And the backup file was on the same server.” - Mark Venhuizen, Director of Operations and Event Services
The incident highlighted the risk of relying on local servers and the mounting burden of manual updates and system maintenance.
The Solution: Migration to the Cloud
SDSU partnered with Accruent to migrate from the on-premises version of EMS to the cloud. The transition was seamless and did not interrupt daily operations. Automatic updates, secure backups and improved reliability immediately strengthened day-to-day processes.
“Moving to the cloud is a no-brainer. Any updates and patches that need to happen are done automatically, and the backups of the data are there. You do not have to worry about losing that information.” - Mark Venhuizen, Director of Operations and Event Services
Accruent EMS serves as the unified scheduling system for the Union and for academic and administrative departments across campus. Event setups, AV coordination, student labor requests and billing all run through one platform. Web-based requests allow staff to review details before confirming events, which improves accuracy and consistency.
The Results
Since migrating to the cloud, SDSU has gained stronger data protection, more consistent campus-wide scheduling and better accessibility for staff working on or off campus. Reporting that once took hours or days is now completed in minutes, which helps teams make faster, data-informed decisions.
The shift to the cloud also reduced the IT load by removing the need for server maintenance and manual upgrades.
Download the full case study to learn how SDSU further improved its data security, accessibility and operational efficiency with EMS cloud.
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