March 23, 2018

ManageBac
Diocesan
Boys’ School
Hong Kong

Evaluating Systems Kevin Piersialla

March 23, 2018 ManageBac Director

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 Functionality

Customisation

Usability

Product Vision

Rubric Rate of Change

Integrations
Evaluating
Software Systems
Service & Support

Reliability & Uptime

Pricing Security & Data Protection

Pricing

Time Horizon & Trust

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 Starting the Journey…

What drives needs for new systems?

Who are the stakeholders, and who sets the requirements?

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 Common Reasons
For adopting or replacing systems

New School Accreditation

Blank slate, starting from scratch Meeting IB, CIS, WASC, etc.
requirements
Deprecating Legacy System
No choice if the old system has Jobs to be Done
entered end-of-life Unresolved solution need for a
stakeholder
Leadership Changes
Bringing a new vision, new ideas, and Organizational
new requirements Enrollment changes, building a
second campus, joining a group

What drives system adoption decisions at your school?

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 Functionality

Benefits Drawbacks
Do you follow • Forces a defined set of • Competing and unclear
an RFP requirements priorities
• Collaborative and • Costly and time-consuming
process? consensus-driven • Difficult to make trade-offs
• Easier to identify (best-of-breed vs all-in-one)
functional gaps

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 Customization
Every school has unique needs

Logos & branding

What are some unmet Custom fields – be wary!
Terminology & Language for Bilingual Schools
customization needs? Export functions
Attendance categories

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 Usability
Key Factors for Evaluating Systems Usability

What
2018 are common

Usability factors?
• Responsive Design: does it work well
across devices (Web, Tablet, Mobile)?
• Does it support the school’s language
requirements and broader
community (i.e. local interface)?
• Is it age-appropriate (Primary vs.
Secondary have different
requirements)?
• Ease of use, flow of navigation,
number of clicks & routes, password
complexity, special needs?

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 Product Vision

Is there a compelling product vision that will support

your school needs for the long-term?

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 Rate of Change
What is the future product development plan, customer focus and strategy?

Is the future focus aligned with your school needs?

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 Integrations

What integrations are offered? What integrations are critical?

What are your expectations for an integration?

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 Service & Support

Time Zone Type

Will late-night calls be required? Phone call, e-mail, or live chat?

Availability Response Time

Is there local support & presence?
Cost
How are you paying for it?
What are the expected, average, and
standard support response times?
Post-Implementation
What does on-going support look like?

Assume the service you receive during sale reflects best service level to expect after you pay.

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 Reliability & Uptime

What is the historic uptime rating?

Where is it hosted? Is there high-availability & redundancy?
Is there DDoS protection?

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 Security & Data Protection

Evaluation
What technical vetting process do you have in place?

Compliance
Does the provider have disaster recovery and a business
continuity plan?

External Audit
Are there good security & data protection practices?
Is there an external certification and recurring PenTest?

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 Pricing & Budgeting

What % of your total budget is allocated to

software systems?

How does this break down by solution type?

Is the pricing clear & predictable?

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 Time Horizon & Trust
Is the provider structured for the long term?

History
Is there a management
track record?

Referrals
What do other schools say
about the service?

Sustainability & Scale

Is there sufficient scale in
numbers of schools? Is the
organization sustainable
with a business model?

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 Worksheet
Based on our experience, schools focus on:

Functionality Service & Support

Customisation Reliability & Uptime

Usability Security & Data Protection

Product Vision Pricing

Rate of Change Time Horizon & Trust

Integrations

What is your school optimizing for?

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