Every school, college, university or any academic
institution will require to use a school management software in order to store
data pertaining to school management, administration records, students’ related
information, teachers work, etc. Generally, a school management software will
have a user interface that has a login access for school administrators, head
of school or principal, teachers, students and parents. These are for
retrieving relevant information for each group, for instance, teachers will
want to store and retrieve student information such as assignments, grades,
attendance, etc. Similarly, student will use the user interface to submit
homework/assignment, communicate with teachers, access grades on assignments,
timetable, etc. Parents will use their parent login to view monitor academic
progress and performance of their children, grades or report cards,
communication from teachers, queries, etc. However, a school management
software should be robust in terms of security, feasibility, usability and cost.
The software should have a user-interface that are easy to use by parents,
teachers, students, and school administrators with minimal of training or
instructions. Besides, the software should be secure enough with built in
firewalls to prevent hacking. The software should also be flexible enough to
accommodate updates or configure to meet the specific needs of the school. Further,
cost of having a school management software should be affordable including both
the subscription and maintenance.
Having a school management software on cloud is a viable
option because of its usability, flexibility, security, adaptability and cost effectiveness.
One of the advantages of having a school management on cloud is that it can be
easily deployed with minimum efforts to migrate data from one platform to
another. It will be less expensive than having a school management software on
a school owned server. Since the software and school database will be on cloud
it will be easy to store, access and retrieve data. Updates and configuration
to software can be more flexible on cloud when compared to storing on a local
server. Another advantage of having a school management software on cloud is
the capacity to store massive data as well as the ease of retrieving them. Further,
data security on cloud is reliable and its robustness depends on the kind of
services offered. For instance, many school management software on cloud is
free whereas customization and upgradation will be available for a price. Most
of the cloud-based solutions for school management system will have powerful
interfaces that are user friendly suitable for both Web and Mobile
Applications. Though, many school management software have a standard version,
they will have features that can help in customizing the product according to
the school requirements. Hence many cloud based solution companies offer variety
of solutions for school management software that can be customized as per the
school or educational institution needs.
However, when selecting a school management system
offered by a vendor, certain factors have to be considered to ensure a right
choice. As there are lot of vendors in the market for school management
software, it is very important that a right choice is made to ensure
credibility. Selecting a more complex software can only complicate tasks rather
than purchasing a single solution software that is more feasible and cost
effective. So what are the measures or factors one need to take into
consideration when choosing a school management software?
Price and features are usually considered as important
factors to purchase school management software. Schools may consider features
like attendance, home and assignments, grade reports, student record keeping, time-table
and resource management, library management, transportation details, communication
management, course management, new registrants, fees details, query management,
staff management and school inventory management. Similarly, schools may also
consider the cost when purchasing school management software. For instance,
many cloud based solutions on cloud are free with pricing plans for
upgradation. But some vendors
provide pricing
plans to make it simple like monthly plans or annual plans with
discounts which eliminates hidden costs and offer customization with unlimited
tech support. A few vendors may also offer a free one month trial so schools
take the advantage of exploring options and test if the software fits their
needs.
Apart from price and features what are the additional
factors that schools should consider when making decisions to buy a school
management software. One of the essential aspects of cloud based solution for
school management software is data security as massive data will be stored on
the cloud. Since the software is cloud-based and is not purchased but only subscribed,
data security offered by cloud should be more advanced. Data security has to be ensured where data is
encrypted and is fully protected with security layers so that it cannot be
accessed by unauthorized personnel. Besides, data stored on cloud should have
real-time data so that they can be accessible for anywhere and anytime and from
any device like web browser, mobile, tablet, etc. Real-time
data is effective way of using data in schools as it is important for certain
areas of decision making like changes in student time-table, replacement of
teachers or changes in exam date schedules, etc.
An additional beneficial feature of school management
software is the reporting architecture with the ability to run analytical
reports that are essential for management decision-making and custom fields to
perform custom reports for any kind of reporting requirements. A school
management software vendor not only provides tech support for customization and
upgradation but also should provide regular data backup or provide options for
schools to make data backup. Further, they also provide the necessary training
through video presentations, or webinar tutorials. Choosing the right vendor to
purchase a school management software is crucial as only a credible vendor will
provide on-time support when there is an issue. Vendors of school management
software provide professional support through phone, email, webinar, etc. Hence
when making a decision to purchase a school management software it is critical
to choose the right vendor that suits the business needs so that the
investment, efforts and time for implementing a school management software is
worth the choice.