End-to-end solution that's getting better with every release.
- Moving constituents from Inquiry, to Applicants, to Students and on to Alumni is much easier for us now than it used to be.
- The tools for students and faculty to keep track of their assignments, activities and scheduling commitments are robust and easy to use.
- The integration between the teacher gradebooks and marking period grade-entry is useful.
Cons
- Blackbaud's legacy products, Education Edge and Faculty Access for the Web/Netclassroom, had features that are now missing in the new Education Management System. Custom reporting, lists and queries are still lacking. There are some data points that simply can't be accessed/reported on using the current tools. Blackbaud is apparently working on delivering better features in these areas but progress is slow.
- Customization, in general, could be greatly improved. Every school works differently, and as an example the GPA calculations, transcript and report card builders, though improved, are still not anywhere near as flexible as they should be to fit the needs of some schools.
- Implementations are often rushed and the quality of support you get while implementing varies widely depending on which implementation consultant you get. Blackbaud needs to re-structure the timeframe of their implementations to address the realities of K-12 school life, meaning schools should get to keep their implementation consultant through a full calendar year (or more!) and there should be more guidance as to where to start, first, with an implementation when a school is purchasing the full product suite. Currently there is bureaucratic pressure to complete all implementations within 6 months of purchase, which is a really tall order for most K-12 schools.
- The lack of "data-polishing" features is really astonishing and actually a step backwards from Blackbaud's previous product (Education Edge). This has added to the number of hours we spend making our data meet our standards.