Skyward customer Staples Motley ISD #2170 gives overworked IT department time back to focus on their students
The Situation
Staples-Motley is a school district located just two hours north of the Twin Cities. Staples-Motley school district is built on educating, equipping and empowering all students to achieve their full potential, and succeed in the classroom and beyond.
Staples-Motley relies on ISCorp to deliver their Skyward Qmaltiv School Business Suite.
The Challenge
Staples-Motley faced numerous challenges before making the switch to ISCorp’s secure cloud hosting. Most notably, the district worried its IT department was overworked with data backups, hardware maintenance, and network security. By the end of each week, the department had little time to devote to Skyward updates and staff needs. The district also wanted to begin a 1:1 technology program, which factored in their decision to host through ISCorp.
Staples-Motley’s leadership found the need for secure, fully protected data was the final indication that secure cloud hosting would benefit the district.
Secure cloud hosting through ISCorp comes with a disaster recovery plan, taking the onus off Staples-Motley’s technology team. Each day, the district’s data is securely backed up by ISCorp and protected by 24/7 monitoring and the industry’s best security practices. However, if an interruption occurs, the district is guaranteed access to its data and Skyward systems within 24 hours from any location with Internet access.
For districts struggling to keep up with the demands of on-premise hosting, Craig Waldvogel, IT Coordinator, has some words of advice:
“Do it. Some IT teams like to host everything on site, but that’s no longer the best or most secure option. Move to ISCorp. It was the best thing we have done in a long time.”
The Result
Since making the switch to secure cloud hosting, Staples-Motley’s IT team is confident the district’s student and financial data are secure. Additionally, the department no longer faces the time constraints and stresses that came with on-premise hosting.
The district has also discovered additional benefits, which extend beyond the technology department. In particular, the district is benefiting from cost savings and a more reliable online experience thanks to ISCorp’s 99.5% uptime guarantee.
Waldvogel closed with, “We have confidence knowing our Skyward systems will always be online and staff can work offsite if needed. Not to mention, Skyward updates are done by ISCorp, meaning we no longer have to do software or server updates.”
