Blackbaud Education Management Solutions vs. Tyler SIS

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

When it comes to tracking grades and attendance or even just entering grades and attendance, this has been the best system I have used in fifteen years in education. The administrative side has many features and tools that allow us as a school or district to identify students that would benefit from specific interventions. Overall, it has been a great product for us. I am not aware of any scenarios where Tyler SIS is less appropriate than other products.

Incentivized

• 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

• Keeps information secure, safe, and encrypted.
• Student information is easy to navigate when needed by authorized users.
• Allows for teachers to have their classes organized to take attendance easily.

Incentivized

• 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

• So many features, many we don't know how to use.
• We have had regular issues with the website not working.
• Comment system for report cards needs sorting (or a search option).

Incentivized

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

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

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

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

I am not familiar with another software system as I have only been in the organization when they have used Tyler SIS

Incentivized

• 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

• There are so many features that we have not had to buy additional products (so it saves us money).
• Tyler SIS also makes things easier for parents by consolidating all information they need.
• There have been many times where the website has been down, and it essentially shuts us down until the issue is resolved.

Incentivized