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Blackbaud retools education software program
By Rachel Pleasant
Staff Writer
Blackbaud Inc., a software development company located on Daniel Island, recently launched a retooled version of its student information system, The Education Edge.
The Education Edge, marketed to independent, religious and charter K-12 schools, was launched in mid-2004 and is currently being used by 2,200 schools. The system was designed to handle class schedules, transcripts and grade records. Parents can also access information about a child’s homework assignments and grades via a Web site and password.
The company’s latest version manages information between all offices of a school—from admissions to the registrar.
“By allowing data to flow from office to office, information can travel to the registrar’s office or billing, so a school can immediately begin scheduling classes or billing the student. It allows for data flow between the offices a school usually has,” says Paul Finch, Blackbaud’s product line manager for The Education Edge.
The newest version of The Education Edge automates the admissions process, which eliminates duplicate records. It also allows records of charges, payments and deposits to be shared between departments.
Schools can also use the system as a marketing tool to attract potential students who’ve made contact with a school’s admissions office.
“If someone finds a school they’re interested in, that information is captured. From that point forward, everything that goes out to those parents is unique. It keeps their minds on the school, and everything communicates about how great the school is,” Finch says.
Like all its systems, Blackbaud developed The Education Edge and its recent improvements in response to customers’ demands, Finch says.
“The biggest thing we were hearing is that schools need to be able to do more with less. A lot of these offices are working independently but often with the same data. They might spend time retyping information when an address is changed. You have to do it in one office and then again in another. It’s (a matter) of inefficiency,” Finch says.
One such client is Brendan O’Shea, headmaster of the private Charleston Day School. O’Shea says his school will install The Education Edge July 12.
“Our systems are rather outdated, particularly in the form of educational reporting,” O’Shea says. “We wanted to have a system that can coordinate and manage not only a school database but report cards, transcripts and biographical information. This seems to be a product that will fit us well.”
The process of developing such programs begins with data collection and interviews with clients.
“You want to formulate some requirements so you can go back and say ‘here is what we want to build,’” Finch says.
From there, a team of designers and programmers get hold of the project.
It took 18 months for Blackbaud designers and programmers to develop The Education Edge. Schools purchase the final product for a starting price of $7,000. Cost increases depending on the components a school requires. Also, the number of departments using the program influences the number of people a school will have to train.
What will be Blackbaud’s next project?
“We’re in the process. I have some ideas. I think that there are some themes I’d like to look at involving the Internet and personalized conversations,” Finch says.
Rachel Pleasant covers technology for the Business Journal. E-mail her at rpleasant@crbj.com.
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