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Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Handshake by Shopify (discontinued)

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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

    Handshake by Shopify (discontinued)

    Score8 out of 10
    N/AThe Handshake B2B Commerce platform from Shopify (acquired May 2019), was an ecommerce tool designed to make buying and selling simple, intuitive and mobile. The product has been discontinued, and is no longer sold or supported.N/A
    Pricing
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsHandshake by Shopify (discontinued)
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsHandshake by Shopify (discontinued)
    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 SolutionsHandshake by Shopify (discontinued)
    Considered Both Products
    Blackbaud
    No answer on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    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
    User Ratings
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsHandshake by Shopify (discontinued)
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.0
    (120 ratings)
    8.5
    (3 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    7.5
    (9 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Usability
    6.5
    (7 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    7.0
    (115 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    7.0
    (21 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Blackbaud Education Management SolutionsHandshake by Shopify (discontinued)
    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
    Discontinued Products
    My boss implemented Shopify with his Developer two years ago and handed off the support role to me. I manage user access, training, support, and product setup with our website. We are growing our use of this system by adding a variety of products and payment types for credit card processing.
    Incentivized
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • An effective and productive way to increase sales on E-commerce platforms. Simple order entry and increased revenue. There are various ways to search for an item.
    • Handshake B2B Commerce, from Shopify, allowed high-resolution images and was geared toward visual presentation.
    • it is so easy to add products to the online store.
    • It's easy to change prices and make status active or inactive. clean and basic layout, Good for new users.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • Improve the performance on load page for all Handshake skins.
    • Need an easier way to understand creating and debugging Handshake skins.
    • They should improve on customer support.
    • Their Jump Start for Intranet portal should be more user friendly and easier to implement in reality, not just in theory.
    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
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    Discontinued Products
    We started using Shopify and we are growing its usefulness in our business. I am in the process of helping our reps we gave access and provided training to create all the products they need. We still have most of the new products to be setup.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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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    Discontinued Products
    Extremely easy to use and very useful records available to verify payment processing.
    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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    Discontinued Products
    Shopify has been successfully implemented in a short period of time, and support has been easy to provide. THe system is very easy to adapt to our needs and I am able to train users quickly.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Blackbaud
    No answers on this topic
    Discontinued Products
    Everything is working fine with each phase we implemented. More of our staff is aware of the system and are enjoying how user-friendly the system is for them.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    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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    Discontinued Products
    Because its innovative and tons of features to boost sales and its ease of use is the reason why I have chosen Handshake B2B Commerce, from Shopify, over other competitors.
    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
    Discontinued Products
    • We were able to quickly put out a portal using Handshake on SharePoint online when our firm was merging with another firm.
    Incentivized
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    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