Student Information System

From a reader, "In MWSF I spoke to a representative of the company that makes SIS, the discarded [by Montgomery County, MD, Public School System--Bill] Student Information System that supposedly had so many problems. Administrative Assistants Ltd. had a modest booth in the North room, back towards the row of tiny kiosks. They had two people there.

"I was assured that the fault was not the product, as a number of other schools in similar circumstances are using it without complaint. They indicated the problem was in MC.... They did not go into detail, but we've already heard that there was not adequate training before they tried to use it.... Using complex & powerful systems without sufficient training IS a dangerous thing. That's not to say that I know anything further, but it was interesting to hear their take.

"At their site (-I had to replace a backslash with a forward slash in the URL of any link off their home page, which doesn't lend much towards their reputation!) they have a FAQ, with a question about compatibility... It looks like they have a web-enabled solution (Oracle-based), and claim resulting compatibility with 100+ platforms. A quick look hints that SIS is a K-12 module of (or implementation of?) "eSIS." Very interesting.... At least one snapshot I saw did show what looked like a wintel application (not just browser window), so I wouldn't jump to conclusions. Might be worth further exploration."

[Administrative Assistant Ltd. is a Canadian company. The main product on its web page is eSIS, an Oracle and web-based product. We've requested their client list and downloaded a PowerPoint demo presentation.--Bill]