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Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Oracle Simphony POS Systems

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Oracle Simphony POS Systems

    Score1 out of 10
    N/AOracle Hospitality is the successor to MICROS eCommerce software, modular software dedicated to the needs of airlines, hotels and resports, sport venues, restaurants and bars, and others. The MICROS Point-of-Sale (PoS) systems are available and now offered by Oracle since the acquisition of MICROS Systems in 2014, and are now part of the Oracle Hospitality Suite.N/A
    Pricing
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
    Considered Both Products
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Oracle
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    83%
    Implementation went as expected
    10 Answers
    No answers on this topic
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    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
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    User Ratings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsOracle Simphony POS Systems
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Oracle
    In my experience, there has not been a resolution on outstanding tickets opened two years ago during the initial implementation. Simple things like time reporting, creating buttons, and marking items as "unavailable" have issues. The system has a lag when servers log out of checks that prevents them from opening the checks on another terminal without a wait that feels like an eternity in the restaurant industry and with direct impact to the guest. Good luck calling support. Most of my experience involves the person I spoke with having no idea how to fix my issue and having to "escalate the ticket." This escalation process will last weeks, months, and in our case, years with no resolution.
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Oracle
    • Real time sales
    • Real time labor costs
    • Integration with account software
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Oracle
    • Support is awful. Oracle does not directly support end-users and depends on resellers to offer support. So if there is a bug or breaking change, we have to jump through hoops to get something fixed.
    • Does not play well with other software or interfaces. There are interfaces but they lack a serious amount of features that are crucial to our business.
    • The guest facing hardware does not hold up to constant use very well.
    • The backend hardware is lacking in PCI compliance and is not meant for enterprise use.
    • The software itself looks as if it is stuck in the early 2000s and there has been no sign of an update in many years.
    • Reporting is difficult to set up and use and you have to rely on third-party reporting to get decent usable reports.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Read full review
    Oracle
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    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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    Oracle
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    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
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    Oracle
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Read full review
    Oracle
    We've stayed with MICROS mainly due to that's how we've always operated and to switch operating POS systems would be a HUGE learning curve for everyone involved.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Oracle
    • Micros has allowed us to leverage our margin by using our own credit processor and loyalty program. We've seen success from both of these platforms (not Micros) and have been able to save money on the extra costs of using Micros.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    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