Student Information System Project Shorthand SIS Jeannie Crowley

Student Information System Project: (Shorthand: SIS!!!!) Jeannie Crowley • 10. 12. 2017

External Factors Education Brands (owner of Senior Systems) is developing a new product, Radius, and our current product is in “maintenance only” mode ● The need The company’s attention is focused on Radius and is unable to address customization requests or minor fixes (arrested decay) Internal Factors ● Senior is organized by household (not individual), making data unwieldy ● Senior can’t meet a lot of internal needs & we have a hodgepodge set of tools filling those gaps

● We put Senior in place in 1994 ● If done well, the SIS replacement should occur once every ~20 -25 years; this is not your average software project ● We need to look at this holistically both for our current needs and for the needs of people who will use it 10 -15 years from now. The scope/scale

Brace Yourself

The pain ● This project can take 3 -5 years to realize the full benefits ● It can take up to 2 years to get everything working as intended ● The bulk of the burden will rest on Database Admin (Vasil), technology support staff, business offices, administrative staff, and school offices (people who put in data and run reports)

The legwork ● Interview stakeholders & document needs (what works & what’s missing) ● Document entire map of current systems and fill in knowledge gaps ● Interview IT directors and stakeholders at schools going through change ● Interview IT directors at schools *not* electing to change right now ● Watch a truly painful amount of product demos

The legwork ● Interview consultants involved in transition and non-tech stakeholders ● Know the players involved (what is the style of the leadership & tech directors involved in each decision) ● Determine what our actual options are for a school of our size/complexity ● Get background info on status of companies offering products ● Have products reviewed by our Network Security Engineer

Factors to consider Product ● Can it meet the needs of a school our size and complexity? ● How is data stored and how easily can we run reports against it? ● Can it simplify some of our workflows? ● Can it evolve to meet future needs? Company ● What is their growth rate? ● How well-funded are they (stability)? ● How experienced is their development and support staff? ● What is their outlook?

Factors to consider Pricing Technical ● What is initial cost to migrate? ● Security ● What is cost over time (annual)? ● Storage ● What costs are associated with customizations? ● Speed ● Access ● Mobility of data

Factors to consider Peer benchmarking ● What are other schools our size doing? ● What are their experiences with change (or no change)? ● What are the leadership styles of people involved in the decisions?

Current status (approved by Alexander Pope) “Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. ”

The big question Are we more comfortable with the risks associated with action or inaction?

Option 1: Wait and see (inaction) Risks ● No changes or improvements to current workflows--commitment to arrested decay for several years ● No real sense of when Senior will be shut down ● Will be forced into change, and not on our timeline Rewards ● Avoid risk of making a decision

Option 2: Delay one more year (Fall 2019) Risks ● No changes or improvements to current workflows--commitment to arrested decay for 2 more years ● Live without some features for 2 more years ● Admin changes could derail/disrupt ● Cost increase up from negotiated Rewards ● A bit more time to evaluate Radius and Veracross ● More time to see how schools are performing on new platform

Option 3: Go with Radius (phased 2018/19) Risks Rewards ● Some modules are still in development & have been for years ● Immediate access to better modules (Ravena) ● TBD whether buyup (Ravena, TADS, Diamond. Mind) will result in seamless integration or retirement of those tools ● Cost ● Blended model: core database with best-of-class ● Experience of company in our environment ● Stability of company ● Support from Senior

Option 4: Go with Veracross (phased 2018/19) Risks ● Cost ● Data access & control (roles) ● Need to fully integrate for it to be worth it (all in or don’t bother) ● Account manager model ● Mixed feedback by department ● Compromises for integration Rewards ● Fully integrated SIS would simplify tools and data flow ● The way they handle individuals vs households make sense for us ● Interface and functions seem to meet needs of most members of community