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e-automate vs. Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    e-automate

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/AECI Software Solutions offers e-automate, an ERP for office technology companies to automate business workflows and increase contract profitability.N/A

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions

    Score7.1 out of 10
    N/ABlackbaud Education Management Solutions is a unified student management system for K–12 private schools. Blackbaud Enrollment Management System™: Gives schools and families the ability to track admissions progress from first impressions all the way through the application process to acceptance, enrollment, and tuition payment. Blackbaud Learning Management System™: Track students' academic performance and progression…N/A
    Pricing
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Considered Both Products
    ECI Software Solutions
    No answer on this topic
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    91%
    Would buy again
    48 Answers
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    93%
    Delivers good value for the price
    40 Answers
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    89%
    Happy with the feature set
    47 Answers
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    81%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    22 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    85%
    Implementation went as expected
    29 Answers
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    Best Alternatives
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Small Businesses
    Kickserv
    Score9.3 out of 10
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.4
    (54 ratings)
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.7
    (8 ratings)
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    Usability
    7.7
    (4 ratings)
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    Availability
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    7.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.3
    (6 ratings)
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    Configurability
    2.3
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    e-automateBlackbaud Education Management Solutions
    Likelihood to Recommend
    ECI Software Solutions
    If you need a system to place and track sales quotes, sales orders, purchase orders, and service calls then E-Automate is perfect. However, if you want to be able to easily bulk upload customers and contracts or if you want to be able to quickly and easily track contract profitability, customer costs, etc, then you'll likely want/need a secondary or different system to do so.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    A good, and constantly improving solution for private schools. I don't know that a lot of its functionality would be well suited to public schools, but maybe? The integration with other Blackbaud software is a huge plus for us, as we have several of their other products including their flagship Raiser's Edge. Smaller schools may not need the sophistication of Blackbaud solutions, and it is not an inexpensive option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    ECI Software Solutions
    • Sending Invoices out to customers via email or printing.
    • Keep track of ordering and inventory.
    • Sales Tax reporting.
    • Monitoring customer payment activity/setting up and removing credit holds.
    • Calculating payments to process each cycle.
    • Excellent aging reports.
    • I like the fact that when I am looking at one item, such as an invoice, I have the capability to switch to the customer menu rather than having to exit out of invoices and then enter into customers.
    • I love the flexibility of the search menus - being able to sort on several factors at once.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    • Seamless integration between the LMS, EMS and SIS modules
    • Real-time, effective chat support helps me not only with urgent needs but also to work through possibilities for increasing how we use the product.
    • Feature upgrades monthly that respond to voiced needs from users
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    ECI Software Solutions
    • Make sales invoices not require serial numbers, or be more flexible with it.
    • Make contract invoices have some sort of flexibility in terms of editing. Our end users complain that QuickBooks made it very easy to edit invoices, and in e-automate, for them, it is practically impossible. (I do personally understand why it has to be as it is myself, I'm just forwarding their observation.)
    • Make the API actually useful. I spent days looking at the functions and the functions available are not really useful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    • Forms - lack of conditional questions
    • Gradebook -lack of links to assignments
    • Not being able to customize displays, for example, Grading tab - we just finished 1st semester and teachers could only see the current quarter but not the 1st one which is still part of the first semester. Lack of customization in assessments.
    • Scheduling- even though re-running generating schedules, we're still getting a high number of unscheduled students. Lack of being able to limit the number of scheduled classes in a row for teachers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    ECI Software Solutions
    Its really the only option for the industry that does enough of what we need for it to function . I'm not sure if there were better options out there if we would have to renew our subscription. With the addition of AI, hopefully something will be able to become more useful.
    Incentivized
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    Blackbaud
    It is a solid product. We have some issues with the capabilities of the website building components and the out dated technology behind its communications software but overall Blackbaud Education Management Software services to combine numerous functions into one product.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    ECI Software Solutions
    The user interface may be slightly outdated, but it is very intuitive and easy to navigate. Once you have learned one module within the system it is very easy to apply that knowledge to any other module. It makes using the system much easier, and it makes training another person on the system quick and efficient.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud EMS is very usable from my perspective. I am a power user and get lots of valuable functionality. It is, however, a complex system. Sometimes necessarily complex to accommodate flexibility for diverse customer needs. Some complexity seems unnecessary and/or hold-over functionality from earlier versions; nice to see this type being evolved away from over time. It is valuable to receive regular updates to the system along with good release notes of what changed and notices of significant changes in advance.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    ECI Software Solutions
    Mostly available, sometimes down for issues but usually there when we need it
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    ECI Software Solutions
    Reports are the struggle the most with the information being extracted in a way that you need to copy and paste it into a new document so some of the information is not covered
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    ECI Software Solutions
    Sometimes when you need answers quickly, a voice on the phone is far better than having to wait for email support or a callback. I have found this to have delays and feel ECI e-automate should invest more in its support infrastructure.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    Decent support however the chat feature can take a great amount of time out of the workday. If for instance you are waiting for someone to respond in the chat and there is a fire drill, if you are not responding within a few minutes, you are disconnected and have to start all over again. It would be great if you could submit your problem and then whoever has the most experience, can respond. The training in the Blackbaud University is good but also time-consuming - a 3 hr training in the middle of a workday is a lot to ask. I like the 90-minute sessions. It would also be great to offer a shorter webinar to update on any changes implemented. Other than the email I subscribed to, there is no information on how these updates actually work.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    ECI Software Solutions
    I did not participate in implementation
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    ECI Software Solutions
    E-automate is much better at understanding the needs of the office equipment industry and provide the necessary tools. SAP Business One has limited features specific to the office equipment industry and includes things that are not useful. E-automate is also priced much better and provides the best value for your investment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    Blackbaud K-12 is very similar. I feel like I would be trading one set of issues for another so it's kind of a wash. We are very much hooked into the Blackbaud website with our Google SSO, SmartTuition, and Schooldoc integrations. It would be difficult for us to transition. That is the main reason I haven't really entertained other web firms.
    Incentivized
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    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    ECI Software Solutions
    I was not involved in the sales process
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    ECI Software Solutions
    Every department we have does use e-automate to some degree with most being successful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    ECI Software Solutions
    I was not involved in the sales process
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    ECI Software Solutions
    • The e-automate will stop working if we stop paying each year. We chose not to go to the cloud and buy the software. QuickBooks and other software are a one-time fee.
    • E-automate has very few outside vendors for add-on modules.
    • The vendors that do have modules are costly.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Blackbaud
    • Negative - The rollout is brutal. Blackbaud said it could happen in 6 months, but that is definitely not a reality. It will take well over a year, and one complete school cycle to actually integrate everything correctly.
    • Positive - The amount of time saved in data processing has allowed our office to become more involved in other areas of the school.
    • Positive - The ease of having everything in [one] place, from inquiry to application to contracts and course registration, has been a HUGE benefit to our applicants and their families.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    e-automate Screenshots

    Screenshot of an item search, in e-automate

    Blackbaud Education Management Solutions Screenshots

    Screenshot of Topics pages help organize units of learning throughout the year in the Learning Management SystemScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Schedule view makes it easy for teachers to manage their daysScreenshot of Blackbaud Enrollment Management System Admissions Checklists help applicants track their progress in the admissions processScreenshot of Blackbaud's education management solutions come with strong reporting tools to get the information you need quicklyScreenshot of Keep track of all the key information about your students in one place