Aston University chooses HEIapply following Adobe FormsCentral retirement

Adobe completely retired its FormsCentral software tool on July 28^th 2015 after about three years on the web form builder market. Adobe cited lack of interest and less uptake than expected (despite the enthusiasm of many users) as the reason behind the closedown. The company’s retirement plan is to focus on continuing to provide world-class PDF creation products that are available on any device, anywhere in the world. Whether application related to a course or job, or registration related to a service or event – regardless of the multitude of purposes for each and every form, the FormsCentral users have been affected. What next for all the individuals and businesses displaced as a result? Forms and submissions undoubtedly constitute a chunk of the big data that businesses of all sizes rely upon. Alternative solutions had to be sought, built and adopted. Some reverted to outdated paper-based processes, most likely with the intention to resort to this short-term given the costs associated with the increase in manual labour. Some (mostly bigger organisations) decided to source and build internal solutions. And finally, there are those who embarked on the search for an affordable, sustainable and flexible replacement providing functionality as dynamic as FormsCentral despite Adobe’s recommendation for similar and popular alternatives. In the wake of this situation, Aston University (Birmingham, UK) favoured HEIapply for the final stages of its International Student Recruitment. HEIapply provides not only the functionality to create forms and capture data but to process, manage and review it as well. As a flexible paperless system, the tool provided the Institution with optionality beyond FormsCentral’s offerings. The integration was completed in June 2015. In addition to building a form tailored specifically to your purpose and brand, HEIapply features in-built analytical charts and reports, communication inboxes and chats and the ability to personalise the user journey retaining applicants and increasing conversion rates. To find out more about why you should integrate with HEIapply, please book a live demo.