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Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Pulseway

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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

    Pulseway

    Score7 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Pulseway is an IT monitoring and management solution that enables users to monitor, manage and control all systems and servers from a smartphone, tablet or browser. For system administrators, Pulseway sends a notification, so they can see an issue and sort it in seconds. Pulseway features: Automation: Auto-remediation workflows, so that IT issues are fixed before users even notice them. Mobile Access: Customers can monitor, manage, connect with…

    $0.80

    per month per installation

    Pricing
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsPulseway
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Enterprise
    $0.80
    per month per installation
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsPulseway
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
    Additional Details—No hidden fees or contracts. Term-based discounts.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsPulseway
    Considered Both Products
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Kaseya
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    73%
    Would buy again
    11 Answers
    60%
    Would buy again
    3 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    85%
    Delivers good value for the price
    11 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    5 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    87%
    Happy with the feature set
    13 Answers
    80%
    Happy with the feature set
    4 Answers
    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
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    5 Answers
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    Score7.4 out of 10
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    User Ratings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsPulseway
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    6.4
    (13 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    7.8
    (4 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    9.6
    (2 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsPulseway
    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
    Kaseya
    If you have to manage a large number of computers, especially spread over multiple clients or a large physical area. This is one of the main products that allows us to act as a Managed Service Provider (MSP) and actually manage our clients devices and not just react to issues as clients call them in. Clients really love the proactive approach it allows us to take. Sadly as we became more familiar with options out there we found this area lacking and what was actually holding us back.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Kaseya
    • It monitors computers and notifies us of any issues with any computer.
    • It allows remote control of computers, such as requesting a computer to reboot itself.
    • It is very highly configurable to monitor exactly what we need to monitor. For example, on server, we can have it notify us any time the server is shutdown or rebooted. On the other hand, for a desktop computer, we don't have to be bothered with notifications when a user decides to reboot his computer.
    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
    Kaseya
    • It would be nice if they increased their scope of supported third-party apps.
    • It would be great if they would create an ios app for their ticket system.
    • If they could possibly build in a location service for tracking devices, that would be helpful.
    • If they had two-factor authentication, it would be nice.
    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
    Kaseya
    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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    Kaseya
    The tool is easy to use however it is can be daunting with the amount of features available in it. Last I checked, their knowledge base was not very expansive and they relied a lot on the changelog for how to do some stuff. This can make it hard to learn how to do some more advanced things like the automation.
    Incentivized
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    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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    Kaseya
    I have never had to use the support for Pulseway. However, when initially starting out, we would receive emails every so often asking how we are doing and if there is any support that they can provide. I would imagine that any request would be supplied with the same great support!
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Kaseya
    Pulseway has the most features, the best looking app with the best design and better usability than any others we evaluated. We liked the uniformity of the app design across all platforms (Windows, Android, Apple) and the notifications displayed on each platform. The price was a major contributor to our selection of Pulseway compared to the competition.
    Incentivized
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    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
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    Kaseya
    • Problems can be dealt with more rapidly because I have access to systems from anywhere. I don't have to carry a computer with me nor do I have to find a location with potentially non-secure wifi to gain access to my systems.
    • I can handle 99% of my system admin tasks using Pulseway and never have to touch a system or connect to the console.
    • Pulseway gives so much control over a system that I don't need to spend extra money on other software to perform management tasks.
    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

    Pulseway Screenshots

    Screenshot of Cross-device functionalityScreenshot of Auto-Remediate IT IssuesScreenshot of Visibility Across the Entire NetworkScreenshot of Remote Control to Any SystemScreenshot of Systems and Application patchingScreenshot of Detailed Custom Report