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Higher Colleges of Technology logoHigher Colleges of Technology

Federal university advanced zero bureaucracy and simplified operational complexity with OpenText Documentum Content Management

Higher Colleges of Technology logo

About Higher Colleges of Technology (HCT)

HCT is the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) leading federal university, providing tech-driven programs in engineering, business, and health sciences to prepare students for the modern workforce and support national economic diversification.
HCT is building a resilient, future-ready institution
  • Established:
    1988
  • Population served:
    ~30,000 students and staff
  • Campuses:
    16

Summary

Challenges

  • Connecting information across 16 campuses.
  • Eliminating two-to-three-week document processing wait times.
  • Modernizing student services to align with the UAE’s Vision 2030.

Solution

  • Intelligent automation to streamline workflows.
  • Robust data classification and governance.
  • Migrating OpenText™ Documentum™ Content Management to the cloud.

Results

  • Service turnaround reduced from weeks to 24–48 hours
  • Lower operational complexity through cloud adoption
  • Faster, more reliable access to information

Challenges

  • Connecting information across 16 campuses
  • Eliminating two-to-three-week document processing wait times
  • Modernizing student services to align with the UAE’s Vision 2030

As a decades-long cornerstone of the UAE’s educational landscape, HCT needed to modernize its digital infrastructure to keep pace with national aspirations for digital excellence. Manual processes—such as certificate issuance and enrollment—could take up to two to three weeks, creating friction for students and administrative burden for staff. Information silos and technical debt further constrained readiness for emerging technologies like AI.

Managing 16 campuses and decades of institutional growth introduced significant operational challenges. Information dispersed across multiple systems made it difficult to establish a single source of truth. Legacy on-premises infrastructure limited scalability and slowed modernization, while the UAE’s zero bureaucracy mandate required public-sector institutions to eliminate non-value-adding processes and accelerate automation.

Padmanabhan “Paddy” Nurani, Director, Head of Digital, Technology & Innovation, IT Managed Services, HCT, was given a clear mandate—connect the dots: “Our leadership’s vision goes beyond digitization. It’s about ensuring technology delivers real value across the entire student lifecycle—from enrollment to graduation and beyond.”

Two person operating a robot arm with holographic AI display.

OpenText Professional Services worked with us as true partners. They understood our environment, our regulatory responsibilities, and our long-term vision—and helped us move to the cloud in a way that was both structured and future-ready.

Padmanabhan “Paddy” Nurani
Director, Head of Digital, Technology & Innovation, IT Managed Services, HCT

Solution

HCT evolved its relationship with OpenText from a traditional vendor engagement into a strategic advisory partnership, centered on migrating its OpenText™ Documentum™ Content Management (CM) environment from on-premises infrastructure to the cloud.

Products deployed

Services provided

Chose a proven content management platform

HCT chose OpenText Documentum CM because of its extensive track record in highly regulated sectors. "OpenText has had a strong presence in oil, gas, and higher education for decades, with high regard," said Nurani.

OpenText Professional Services helped HCT plan and execute the migration while aligning technology decisions with institutional goals. “OpenText Professional Services worked with us as true partners,” said Nurani. “They understood our environment, our regulatory responsibilities, and our long-term vision—and helped us move to the cloud in a way that was both structured and future-ready.”

Streamlined workflows with intelligent automation

Guided by UAE leadership’s mandate to automate the public sector, HCT is identifying use cases to eliminate inefficient, manual processes. By streamlining the faculty management system from hire to retire, the university enables educators—the “backbone of the institution”—to shed administrative burdens and focus on teaching. At the same time, intelligent workflows are transforming student services—replacing paper-based, siloed processes with faster, more transparent digital experiences.

Managing and governing regulated content at scale

Operating as a multi-campus federal institution requires strong security, governance, and compliance. “OpenText Documentum CM’s proven ability to manage and govern large volumes of regulated content at scale made it a natural fit for our environment,” explained Nurani. With centralized classification, ownership, and access controls, HCT ensures information remains secure and compliant while still being readily accessible to those who need it.

Creating a single source of truth

HCT is creating a single source of truth to ensure staff and students can retrieve information instantly, replacing legacy silos with high-performance, agile systems. “We are pursuing a unified strategy where all documents live in one place—with the right classification, governance, and ownership,” said Nurani. “That is why we moved from on-premises systems to the cloud with OpenText.”

A person programming a small robot using a tablet in a lab

OpenText has had a strong presence in oil, gas, and higher education for decades, with high regard.

Padmanabhan “Paddy” Nurani
Director, Head of Digital, Technology & Innovation, IT Managed Services, HCT

Results

With OpenText support, HCT was able to see service turnaround go from weeks to 24–48 hours. Cloud adoption helped the university lower operational complexity and achieve faster, more reliable access to information.

Reduced service turnaround times from weeks to hours

While the transformation is ongoing, HCT is already seeing meaningful improvements across its ecosystem. Automating lifecycles has reduced educators’ administrative workloads.

"We want to make their lives easier so they can focus on teaching rather than administrative tasks that don't add value," he explained, neatly defining the essence of the zero bureaucracy agenda at HCT.

Students benefit from faster services, with key requests now processed in 24–48 hours rather than weeks. Alumni engagement has also improved through standardized digital outreach and relationship management.

Built the foundation for AI innovation

With centralized, governed information in place, HCT has established an AI Center of Excellence to explore high-value use cases that enhance student success and operational efficiency.

Rather than rushing adoption, HCT is taking a measured approach—ensuring data quality, governance, and return on investment are firmly established first. This foundation supports future initiatives such as AI-enabled student journey insights, predictive academic support, and performance-based interventions. HCT is also exploring emerging OpenText innovations, including OpenText™ Aviator, as part of its longer-term AI roadmap.

Formed a long-term relationship with a trusted partner

For HCT, digital transformation is about simplifying complexity and empowering people to focus on what matters most. “What’s better than working on an institution focused on enriching its students, enriching the community, and enriching the economy?” asked Nurani. “From a distance, everything can look complex. Our role is to break that complexity into achievable wins and make the experience simple for our users”.

With OpenText—and OpenText Professional Services—as trusted partners, HCT is turning decades of complexity into clarity and building a resilient, future-ready institution aligned with the UAE’s bold vision for 2030.

"It’s no longer a vendor-client relationship, it’s an advisor relationship,” concluded Nurani. “The commitment I have seen from OpenText leaders shows we are in this together."

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