Boomi Bridges the Gaps in Campus Systems
Behind every swipe of a CatCard, click in CatCloud, or update in Trellis, countless systems quietly talk to one another – and that’s where Boomi comes in.
Boomi is a cloud-based integration platform used by the University of Arizona’s UITS Enterprise Integration Platform Services team to help campus systems share information quickly, safely, and automatically.
“Boomi is a cloud tool that connects systems without writing code,” explained Brett Bendickson, enterprise architect with the team. “Instead of building custom connections between systems, we can use a drag-and-drop interface to link almost anything – faster and with fewer headaches.”
Think of Boomi as a translator and messenger rolled into one. It helps programs that normally “speak” different digital languages, like student records, housing data, and CatCard information, communicate smoothly and consistently.
Connecting the campus
Boomi now plays a part in dozens of university processes. It moves daily files from the physical CatCard system to the Bursar’s Office, shares student data with Trellis, and even helps display ServiceNow tickets inside CatCloud.
One of the biggest wins has been the Digital CatCard. When a student activates their CatCard on their phone, Boomi instantly alerts several campus systems, including door access, Trellis, and student records, all within minutes.
“That entire process, from a student tapping their phone to the updates reaching every system, happens automatically,” Bendickson said. “It’s fast, reliable, and you can trace every step of what happened.”
Why it matters
Before Boomi, connecting systems often required writing custom code that only one developer understood. That made maintenance tricky if someone left or if a system changed.
“Boomi gives us a shared, visual way to build and maintain these connections,” said Bendickson. “It standardizes how we do integrations and makes it easier for teams to support one another.”
The platform also offers strong monitoring and tracking, so staff can quickly find out what happened to a record or file – an essential feature when data flows between so many systems.
“Our goal is to make it easier for everyone at the university to connect their systems without needing to reinvent the wheel,” Bendickson said. “Boomi helps us do that.”
If you're interested in learning more about Boomi, please visit the Integration Center of Excellence.