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Strata’s LIFT25 Summit for Higher Education brought together higher education leaders, product experts, and Axiom users from across the country for two days of strategic insights, best practices, product updates, and peer networking.  

The virtual conference offered a rich agenda. This article provides highlights from a few of the sessions spanning topics such as the Axiom® Higher Education Suite roadmap, pro tips for boosting security and the user experience in Axiom, and how one customer is leveraging in-year labor forecasting to ensure more accurate budgeting for the institution.  

These highlights showcase a diverse range of sessions, reflecting the broad scope of topics presented at the conference. Recordings of these and other conference sessions are available free and on demand by registering on the LIFT25 website. 

Axiom enhancements boost functionality, transparency, and interoperability 

A core theme of the conference was the continued evolution of the Axiom Higher Education Suite and its alignment with the financial planning needs of the nation’s colleges and universities. Sessions provided an in-depth view of current capabilities, upcoming enhancements, and best practices for optimizing Axiom across financial and operational planning. 

Notably, the Axiom team announced the upcoming formation of a Product Advisory Council, designed to incorporate direct feedback from a cross-section of higher education leaders. Regional peer networking events also are planned for the coming months, creating in-person opportunities for leaders to engage with peers from other institutions, share experiences and lessons learned, and influence the product roadmap. The next Axiom Higher Education Peer Networking Event is scheduled for Sept. 11, 2025, at Lehigh University. 

Axiom product leaders discussed several recent and forthcoming product enhancements, including new dashboards for the Axiom® Strategic Financial Planning and Axiom® Labor Planning solutions. These dashboards leverage Microsoft® Power BI® to offer improved scenario visualization and drill-through functionality, enabling users to analyze resource allocations and labor trends at a more granular level — such as by department, account, fund, or grant. 

To help higher education leaders navigate current labor challenges, the enhanced Labor Planning dashboard supports more informed resource allocation decisions. It provides greater visibility into labor costs, which can account for as much as 50%-80% of institutional budgets.  

Looking ahead, Strata is prioritizing improved data integration across the Higher Education Suite, beginning with the ability to export labor data through Ethos APIs to Ellucian Banner. The long-term objective is to enable full bidirectional data exchange with both Ellucian’s Banner and Colleague systems, supporting more connected and responsive planning environments. 

Users get pro tips on advanced security and user management in Axiom 

The “Mastering Axiom: Top Tips & Tricks for Power Users” session featured key strategies for managing security and user experience within the Axiom platform. Strata’s consultants explained the process of assigning effective permissions, which are essential for granting appropriate access to assets like tables, data, files, charts, and plan files. These permissions can be customized and assigned using the system’s final effective filter to ensure precision in access management. The session also emphasized creating user profiles and assigning roles that align with specific solutions, enhancing the ability to control who can access what in an institution’s Axiom environment. These techniques are particularly valuable for institutions managing complex, multi-user environments. 

Other aspects of security configuration were discussed, including how to set up and manage custom roles. Participants were guided on how to interpret user security permissions within the Security Manager tool. This understanding is crucial for confidently assigning roles, ensuring users have the right access without inadvertently exposing sensitive information or impacting system functionality. Advanced security considerations were introduced, helping power users implement more nuanced and scalable security structures. 

The session also explored ways to optimize the end-user experience, particularly through customizing home pages and landing pages. By tailoring these interfaces — such as featuring specific reports or dashboards — users can access what’s most relevant to them upon login. This personalization contributes to a more intuitive and efficient user experience. The importance of configuring visibility settings, like “display configured items only,” was highlighted to help administrators quickly identify which tables or files are impacted by specific roles or subsystems. 

The platform also allows administrators to manage custom task panes to streamline workflows. These panes allow the consolidation of multiple steps into a single, coherent process, replacing the need for scattered documentation. Ensuring that the right users have access to the correct task panes at the right time helps maintain smooth operations and supports timely task completion. 

Finally, the speakers emphasized tools like Axiom’s audit utilities and the data diagram tool as critical resources for system monitoring and troubleshooting. Audit tools offer transparency into user activity and security changes, which is essential for both diagnosing issues and maintaining compliance. Meanwhile, the data diagram tool enables users to visualize data structures, fostering a deeper understanding of the system’s architecture and supporting better decision-making in configuration and access management. 

Increasing budgeting accuracy with in-year forecasting 

Another compelling LIFT25 session highlighted the University of South Florida’s (USF’s) implementation of in-year labor forecasting using the Axiom® Budgeting and Forecasting solution. Adopting in-year forecasting has helped the university improve planning accuracy, enhance financial agility, and support data-driven decisions throughout the fiscal year. 

In higher education, many institutions continue to rely on traditional annual forecasting models that involve manual processes that become outdated quickly. In contrast, in-year labor forecasting allows institutions to reforecast continuously based on current data, enabling finance leaders to respond to emerging trends and adjust course as needed. 

USF, a large public research university serving 60,000 students, previously faced challenges producing consistent and accurate labor forecasts across its diverse departments and funding sources. Annual forecasting was conducted once per year, with budget directors submitting projections within a limited timeframe and using inconsistent methodologies. “The level of quality varied significantly,” said Kevin Toso, Budget Director at USF.  

To address these challenges, USF collaborated with Strata to implement a new forecasting process built directly within Axiom. The solution uses a structured spread method to allocate projected expenses across each month, leveraging up-to-date salary and benefits data. This approach reduces manual effort and ensures a more standardized, repeatable process across campus, Toso noted. 

USF’s experience underscores the value of in-year labor forecasting as a strategic tool for institutional leaders — enabling better oversight, faster response times, and more informed resource allocation throughout the budget cycle. 

Access session recordings from Strata’s LIFT25 Summit for Higher Education here.