The power of having one software solution to communicate with parents and deliver better student outcomes

My transition into Pre-Sales

My journey into the world of Pre-Sales was a natural progression after spending the beginnings of my career immersed in the dynamic realm of education software.

It all began when I joined My School Portal, a company with a vision to transform the way educational institutions communicated with parents and guardians.

However, the turning point in my career came when My School Portal was acquired by the Access Group.
This acquisition marked a pivotal moment, ushering in a phase of exponential growth in resources and opportunities, not just for myself but for all the schools currently working with us.

Driven to make a significant impact within the education software industry, I wanted to find a role that would allow me to do just that.

What is My School Portal?

My School Portal is essentially a single software solution that can replace a suite of applications currently used in schools. These include:

• Payment software
• Parents evening tools
• Communications tools

Furthermore, My School Portal goes beyond these functionalities to enhance back-office operations. By consolidating document management platforms, it streamlines administrative tasks, making document storage and retrieval more efficient and organised.

Discovering the Pre-Sales domain through software

Teaming this with the Access Group’s portfolio, such as the Education Finance solution, was interesting to me as I could see how it would deliver real benefits to schools. For instance, if a school can take a payment and manage a debtor without having to double key that information into the finance platform, then immediately savings are made. It was during this exploration that I discovered the Pre-Sales domain, a space where I could leverage my expertise to influence the future of education technology.

Embracing this role has been a transformative experience, opening up avenues for me to conduct comprehensive market research.

I've delved into critical aspects of the education software landscape, including:

• Uncovering the pressing demand for integrated education software
• The vast array school software choices and procurement methods
• User experience for staff, students, and parents who are using software

This journey has not only deepened my understanding of the industry but has also fueled my passion for driving positive change in education.

Findings from my research and my key takeaways

Through my research, I've uncovered some interesting insights that highlight the ever-changing needs of educational institutions.

#1 Education establishments are catching up with the trend of digital transformation seen in industry and public sector over years gone by

Cost pressures over the last couple of years - driven by the energy crisis and cost-of-living - have meant that there is more scrutiny on where budget is spent and the association with outcomes to the school.

There was an incredible rise in Ed Tech software driven initially from the covid pandemic and this meant education establishments had lots of point solutions with no integration. This can become quite costly.

Schools are increasingly motivated to transition from paper-based and administrative-heavy processes to software-driven solutions. Added to this, the rise in MATs has meant that managing complex supplier agreements or simply having too many supplier agreements through staff buying point solutions to solve individual problems has become difficult to manage and Trust Executives now want solutions that integrate together and stop the ‘swivel chair’ activities.

How we can help

The Access Group’s strength is in our end-to-end suite of software solutions, covering both front and back-office needs. Importantly because we’ve stitched together this suite through acquisition, we have best of breed solutions that have been enhanced to integrate together rather than trying to diversify into an area without any expertise. The power of joining Access through acquisition means you bring the experience and knowledge from your solution to ensure it integrates best.

This integrated approach ensures a more consistent user experience and eliminates the hassles of managing multiple software platforms.

For any finance customers, we were able to build the integration between My School Portal and Education finance to stop the ‘swivel chair’ activities I mentioned earlier, enhancing productivity and preventing data duplication.

#2 It’s A Crowded Market out there

The demand for software solutions in education has led to a highly crowded market with lots of suppliers claiming to deliver the same outcomes. Added to this, they are all in niche areas, delivering solutions to point problems rather than solving for the whole school ecosystem.

For example, there are multiple softwares available for payment systems, school communication tools, parents' evening scheduling, student assignment platforms, event calendars, and academic data display.

This makes it a maze to navigate. All of these solutions claim to deliver a ‘range of functionalities’ and all have a different set of pricing structures and contract terms, making it hard for schools to navigate this complex landscape and select a solution that’s fit for the future and helps manage budget constraints.

How we can help

My School Portal stands out as a market-leading front-end software system. It empowers schools to consolidate a wide range of solutions under one roof, including the previously mentioned functions and much more.

It also allows establishments to simplify their contract management by having one contract, one set of terms and conditions, one set of pricing and therefore one contract end date. Making it easier to manage in life.
We also know that by consolidating suppliers, establishments can achieve long-term cost savings allowing you to allocate resources more effectively towards enhancing education quality.

On average schools save 20% or more by combining their contracts together.

In my research, I established that schools have different contract end dates for each of the suppliers they have today. So, it means that changing is hard as many can’t face dual running costs. We’ve established a way through this specifically for Education finance customers, meaning you can pay in modules and ensure you never dual pay.

#3 Overall user experience is poor

The proliferation of software solutions has resulted in a scenario where staff, parents, and students within a school or Multi-Academy Trust (MAT) are often required to juggle multiple software platforms, many of which are outdated and haven’t received any investment for a number of years.

This multiplicity leads to the inconvenience of multiple logins and, in many cases, a disjointed and inconsistent user experience. There is little priority given to the end user experience and in many schools today the teacher is already strained for workload and now loaded with inefficient software integrations.

How we can help

My School Portal offers a consistent user experience to all users. One password, one interface meaning one set of training for staff, one experience for parents, making everyone’s lives easier.

In our day-to-day use of technology, we have high expectations. For instance, Apple makes it so easy to pay for things. We expect to use this throughout all of the systems we interact with. My School Portal offers that ease and, as it’s cloud-based, means that as technology changes, our interface will mature with this.

Conclusion

No doubt about it – schools are facing some pretty big challenges right now. Yet, despite these challenges, there are enormous opportunities to harness the power of software to:

• Increase efficiency
• Simplify processes
• Make long-term savings

Hope you found my insights useful. I’m super excited about helping you tackle the challenges highlighted in this article.