SchoolDude: Cloud Innovation in Education Technology

Nick Mirisis, Senior Director, Marketing

Anyone would be hard-pressed to walk into a classroom today without seeing some form of technology in use. “Whether that be a smartphone, tablet, or laptop, education environments look quite a bit different today than they did two decades ago thanks to advances in technology,” comments Nick Mirisis, Senior Director, Marketing, SchoolDude. The right technology in today’s education landscape enables educators and staff the opportunity to move learning initiatives forward in a seamless way. However, many school districts struggle with the ability to afford the latest technology for operations management, let alone understand its capacity for assisting in the achievement of key metrics that are critical to their success.

SchoolDude, a 17-year-old technology company with a clear focus on education, serves school districts, colleges and universities, and independent K-12 schools with affordable, simple-to-use, cloud-based technology solutions that ease the business aspect of operating an efficient school system. Mirisis explains the challenges faced by clients, stating, “School districts are always concerned with total cost of ownership and effectively maintaining the technology stack. We see more districts moving from ad-hoc or paper processes to adopting technology to avoid the hassles, cost, and complexity of on-premise solutions.” SchoolDude has strategically developed a variety of cloud-based technology products meant to serve this exact purpose, including critical maintenance, energy, technology, and facility management tools.

In addressing a specific technology challenge education systems face in today’s interconnected world, Mirisis states, “IT professionals are struggling to stay on top of the diverse array of devices and applications across their network, while also responding quickly and efficiently to support requests.” SchoolDude developed a platform specific to the education arena to help ensure teams maintain the highest level of access, oversight, and control throughout the technology infrastructure. Similarly, the use of SchoolDude’s corrective maintenance solution coupled with preventative maintenance gives schools the opportunity to increase productivity, cost-efficiency, and proactivity, without having to sacrifice quality.

SchoolDude’s strategically developed cloud-based technology products reduce TCO and on-premise complexities, and includes critical maintenance, energy, technology, and facility management tools

One of the ways in which SchoolDude assists in operations management from a digital perspective is through the use of big data. Mirisis explains, “We are constantly hearing from Superintendents, COOs, CIOs, and facility professionals that they are hungry for comparative data—to justify staffing levels, prioritize projects, and rationalize that prioritization.”

The company had the opportunity to showcase its understanding of the power behind data with Moreno Valley Unified School District in California. The district, in need of a competitive grant for facility improvements, used reports fueled by SchoolDude’s solutions to show reactive work order history to justify why the grant funding was necessary. A total of $675,000 was awarded to the district based on that data, and SchoolDude’s life cycle analysis on equipment and facilities further allowed the district to understand where the money would serve operations best.

Looking ahead, SchoolDude plans to continue catapulting cloud-based technology in the education sector with the help of intuitive product offerings. In the first quarter of 2017, enhancements to the company’s mobile safety platform will be on the docket, intended to help with contact syncing, information sharing, and safety plan creation. Similarly, the energy management platform will include additional avoided-cost functionality and savings action plans. Mirisis states, “We hire dedicated employees who live and breathe a customer-first philosophy, and are interested in a client’s success, not merely their implementation of the software.” SchoolDude’s continued innovation in the space gives school districts, colleges, and universities the ability to streamline operations management with the power of the cloud and intelligent technology as strategic, meaningful allies.