PUCE’s Transformation for Agility and Competitive Edge Through a Modern Data Landscape

The Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador (PUCE), founded in 1946 in Quito, is a leading private Jesuit university known for academic excellence and social commitment. With over 19,000 students across multiple campuses nationwide, PUCE offers a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs while promoting research, innovation, and cultural development.

As student expectations, compliance demands, and internal reporting pressures intensified, PUCE found itself limited by disconnected systems and a lack of visibility into its own data. To address this, the university leadership launched a digital transformation initiative aimed at modernizing PUCE's data architecture and building a foundation for real-time insight and operational agility.

The challenge: Disconnected systems and no visibility into available data

PUCE’s data environment had become increasingly fragmented. Academic and financial ERPs, internal applications, and cloud-based systems operated in silos, making it difficult to access and correlate data across platforms. Reporting relied on manual SQL queries without documentation or version control, often built by different departments with inconsistent logic. There was no data governance framework in place, no standard definitions, and no way to track data lineage or ensure consistency across reports.

This fragmentation created a critical challenge: Even at the leadership level, there was no reliable way to request or obtain the data needed for decision-making. Executives knew they needed reports to guide strategic planning, but there was no clarity on what data was available or how to access it. When asked what kind of reports were needed, stakeholders often couldn’t say—because they didn’t know what information existed in the systems or what the underlying data sources actually contained. Without visibility, data definitions, or a governed way to explore sources, the university couldn’t effectively move forward.

Departments like admissions, student services, and finance all struggled to operate without a single source of truth. At the same time, PUCE saw modern data access as a strategic differentiator—essential for delivering better digital services to students and staying competitive with other leading universities. With growing regulatory demands and rising expectations for digital experiences, the institution recognized the need for a modern, integrated solution to deliver governed, real-time insights—without adding strain to its existing infrastructure.

"There was no central governance or documentation. Nobody could track what data existed, how a report was built, what data it used, or whether it aligned with business definitions."

— Luis Orellana Freire, IT Lead, PUCE

The solution: Virtualization to simplify integration and accelerate insights

With leadership backing and a clear mandate, PUCE’s IT team set out to adopt a modern solution that could unify data sources, uncover what data existed, and provide governed, scalable access across the university—without the costs and delays of traditional data warehouse projects. They evaluated several tools, including open-source options and legacy integration platforms, but found that most lacked the flexibility, support, or on-premises deployment capabilities they required.

They selected CData Virtuality for several key reasons.

• First, its extensive connector library allowed integration of all existing systems—from web services and local databases to future tools like Power BI or Tableau.

• Second, the platform’s multi-integration capabilities meant the university didn’t need to choose between data replication and virtualization—they could use both in a single, intuitive platform.

• Third, CData Virtuality offered an on-premises deployment model, crucial for meeting PUCE’s data sovereignty requirements and taking advantage of its existing data center investments.

Implementation was remarkably fast. The team deployed the platform and began integrating sources within 24 hours. Unlike previous efforts, which often failed due to complexity or lack of vendor support, this time the IT team found strong technical assistance and a flexible licensing model tailored to educational institutions. PUCE was able to quickly virtualize datasets and begin building services around them—such as student apps and internal reporting dashboards—without compromising performance or data integrity.

"[CData Virtuality] allowed us to connect sources easily and deploy the whole system in a day. It’s intuitive and powerful—even for non-experts."

— Luis Orellana Freire, IT Lead, PUCE

The outcome: Trusted data, better services, and a competitive edge

With CData Virtuality in place, PUCE gained a semantic layer—a governed, centralized access point to institutional data that now powers both internal operations and external, student-facing services. The impact was immediate across both business and technical dimensions:

Business impact

• Leadership visibility: Executives now have trusted, real-time access to cross-departmental data to support strategic planning and compliance.

• Enhanced student experience: Real-time, centralized data powers student applications, helping students and prospects access key information faster and more reliably.

• Competitive advantage: With modern, responsive data services, PUCE has positioned itself ahead of peer institutions in delivering high-quality digital experiences.

Technical impact

• Reduced system load: By decoupling BI tools from transactional systems, the university preserved the performance of critical applications while accelerating reporting workflows.

• Future-ready infrastructure: The IT team laid the groundwork for further innovation, including migrating legacy BI tools to more advanced solutions and offering secure data access to research partners.

Today, PUCE is actively exploring the monetization of anonymized research data and testing advanced modules such as CData’s upcoming Talk to Your Data interface, which will bring conversational analytics to campus. CData Virtuality now plays a central role in PUCE’s data architecture and strategic direction, helping the institution stay competitive and digitally agile.

"Virtuality gives us the scalability and control we need. It’s not just about improving operations—we’re building a platform to offer data-driven services externally as well."

— Luis Orellana Freire, IT Lead, PUCE

CData Virtuality: Real-time insights for modern universities

CData Virtuality enables forward-thinking institutions like PUCE to break down data silos and modernize their data infrastructure—without the complexity of traditional approaches. By providing real-time, governed access to critical information across academic, financial, and operational systems through an independent semantic layer, CData empowers universities to make faster decisions, improve student services, and meet regulatory demands with confidence. Discover how CData Virtuality can elevate your data strategy and drive institutional growth in a digital-first world.