Although schools and commercial business have different purposes and motivations, when it comes to the shared issues of efficiency, time-saving, and cost-cutting there are many lessons that schools could learn from how businesses deal with these problems
Forbes Technology Council reported in 2019 on the four factors that will ensure technological solutions, such as management information systems, are futureproof. These factors include:
API-led connectivity: application programming interfaces (APIs) act as connectors between apps and data systems. APIs allow you to have different IT systems yet still experience connectivity through a single platform. The use of APIs in software development prevents the creation of data silos.
Machine learning and artificial intelligence: while there is much hype around artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, it offers a real opportunity to automate manual processes and save time. It is currently possible to set up operations to identify such issues as fraud, or malfeasance, which could easily be extended to patterns in attendance and progress data that should raise concern.
DevOps: DevOps is an intelligent way of framing how conscious business and educational leaders are of the development maturity of the technology within their organisations which can stretch from a state of not knowing what is missing, and needs addressing, to having the agility to make instant recommendations about updates and upgrades.
Cloud: the ultimate sign of flexibility and agility of technology is whether it is underpinned by cloud infrastructure, allowing on-demand access to data wherever required. Moving from data centres to a ‘Software as a Service’ (SaaS) model will enable enterprises to be ‘nimble and adaptable’ (Forbes, 2019).
As noted in CMS Wire in March 2021, ‘The traditional, megalithic, on-premises infrastructure solutions, typically deployed in most organisations, are ill-equipped for a future that requires flexibility and scale to operate in’. Traditional systems require too much time to deploy and scale to be effective in a rapidly changing technological world.
There is recognition from experts in the field that, ‘Modern businesses can’t survive for long without using some sort of MIS to manage massive amounts of data’ and that it is a ‘changing and challenging field’. (Smartsheet, 2021)
As business managers in schools have long known, a school is an organisation like those found in business. We may elevate the outcomes of schools beyond commercialism, but the functions of the organisation are similar. Therefore, the desirable features for future-proof MIS in business could and should inform schools.
To learn more about what future-fit MIS software would look like and deliver to schools, we surveyed school leaders and school business managers with a series of questions intended to uncover the challenges currently faced by schools and MATs – the problems experienced with MIS today what an effective MIS of the future could look like?
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