What is the IRM?

The Industry Relationship Management (IRM) platform supports industry engagement relationships, across the University of Edinburgh. The Salesforce-based system centralizes and consolidates data related to engagement with external organisations offering a “pan University perspective” where end-to-end relationship management is possible.

The project to procure and implement the IRM began in January 2018 with the aim of providing external stakeholders with more streamlined interactions with the University, expand University collaboration with a range of industrial partners, increase visibility to interactions, support and report business activity across the University, connect with fellow Schools and Services who also engage with industry and ensure adequacy with regulations relating to GDPR, FOI and UoE Security strategies.

With the IRM University users can view and manage touchpoints from across the University with the outside world, improving understanding of what we’re doing with external organisations and quantify and demonstrate impact of engagements through reporting.

Where is the IRM being used?

The IRM platform is intended for whole-of-university use and is based on business requirements expressed by School of Informatics, Bayes Centre, Informative Ventures, the Principals Office and Edinburgh Innovations.

For example, Edinburgh Innovations (EI) – the University’s commercialisation service connecting researchers, students and staff with industry and external organizations – utilises the IRM to build partnerships and leverage strategic opportunities. In particular, the EI Student Enterprise Service uses the IRM to track key performance indicators (KPIs) related to company formations, student engagements and funding received by clients using the Salesforce Forms, Reporting and Campaign features. In addition, the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Team is currently in the process of onboarding to the IRM to track their communication and engagement activites.

What’s next for the IRM?

Up ahead, the IRM is looking to expand and connect with other parts of the University to leverage communication and information sharing. The service roadmap for the IRM draws from the University’s Enterprise and Innovation Management Strategy which calls for a “more efficient use of systems.” This includes a more tailored use of the IRM by innovation hubs as well as integration of the IRM with other existing University systems such as: alumni data from Access CRM, Career Service, dotdigital in the Marketing Office, Worktribe in the Research office and Kissflow with Edinburgh Global.

Currently, the IRM is “going global” in piloting information sharing between the IRM and Edinburgh Global in its North America and Asia Pacific areas.

The IRM team continues to meet with stakeholders to refresh current training provided to colleagues, refine IRM functionality and increase user awareness of the full range of IRM capabilities.

Where can I learn more?

You can find out more about the IRM platform and broader Industry Engagement Relationship Management Project on their SharePoint page: Industry Relationship Management – Home (sharepoint.com)

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