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Candidates can now learn of our admissions decisions almost as soon as we make them. Increasingly, they expect to do so. Candidates are now able to discuss business school applications with one another without having business schools control the conversations. As much as we may or may not embrace the possibilities new technologies offer our business, our peers are embracing them, and our candidates expect us to do the same. Technology does not simply offer automation—it is substantively changing our business processes.

We used to communicate with prospects, applicants, and admits using the phone and mail, and in person. Now databases, e-mail, and the World Wide Web facilitate our communications. Our audiences have come to expect a somewhat self-serve environment in which they can access information in real time and receive automatic e-mails as information is updated. Schools have many new options for storing, targeting, and disseminating information for their various audiences.

Here is what you need to know to make wise decisions about what technology you require and how to get it from the source that is right for you. Although we mention certain vendors by name, they are merely examples. We do not intend to recommend any particular vendors.

Surveying the Technology Landscape
The first things to consider when choosing from among technology options are the strategic goals of your office. Basically, they involve communicating with potential and current applicants (includes a marketing function), processing applications, and evaluating applications.

Since technology has had a significant impact on communications, we will look closely at some of the elements involved in making decisions about it.

Specific technologies for improving communications include databases; targeted e-mail programs; online applications and CD-ROMs to replace or supplement catalogs or viewbooks; Web site customer service; event scheduling; reporting application status and decisions; and hosting discussion boards and portals.

Databases. Databases have been adopted in some form by all schools to track application and inquiry information. Databases should be connected to the Web site so candidates can add their data directly through inquiry forms, scheduling systems, and online applications. This automatic addition of information to a database enables a school to segment and target prospects (assuming information is properly collected), to communicate more easily with prospects and applicants, and to process information more efficiently.

Online applications. Online applications are used by many schools to make it easier to apply. These schools have either built their own online applications, have a university-wide online application system, or have adopted an application system from a third-party vendor (Embark, EDUlink, and ApplyYourself appear to be among the most common). You can select more than one online application to be hosted on your Web site and on a network (such as Embark).

The online application is one of the first and most important communications your candidates will see. So the choice to have one or not, and the application you choose, can affect your marketing significantly. This year, business schools are reporting that many applicants are applying online.

Web site. A school’s Web site is increasingly used to communicate information to applicants and potential applicants. The site plays multiple roles: communications and public relations (getting the right information out there); customer service (FAQs, status and decision releases); transactions (online applications and scheduling systems); and community building (discussion boards, open and password protected). The Web site can also be used to direct information to subsets of applicants. Certainly, those admitted to programs now expect customized information, delivered through a portal limited to admitted students. Such portals can provide information and build a sense of community before admitted students arrive on campus (and encourage them to select your school). The Web site should be the centerpiece of your marketing plan and all other marketing pieces designed to drive people to the Web site.

Because the Web site is the link between applicants and the admissions office, it is important to consider thoroughly who is in charge of its design and maintenance—the MBA program office, an advertising agency, the business school, the IT department, or the university public relations office. The Web site is far more than a public relations tool, like a catalog; so decisions as to who controls it are complex. Control should lie with people who understand a school’s business, customer service, and transaction needs and goals. They should, of course, be aware that the Web site may need to be updated at any time.

A Web site can continually evolve, but other technologies will be fairly static (for instance, you cannot change your online application midway through an admissions cycle) and adopting them will require a long-term commitment. For the individual software applications that are delivered through or integrate with your Web site, you will need to determine the best technology solutions for your long-term needs.

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