Go.edu’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery method
enables customers to access powerful software over the Internet
instead of installing and maintaining it themselves, providing
the most security, scalability, and lowest total cost of ownership
(TCO) of any Student Information System available today. Partnering
with OpSource and its leading platform for web application
delivery, Go.edustar provides school districts with guaranteed
security and availability, extraordinary scalability, lower
implementation and maintenance costs, free upgrades, and quick
implementation time.
Appropriate for any size school
district
Large and small school districts love SaaS for its security,
cost savings, and ability to scale as needs increase.
Lower costs
On-premise software requires perpetual licenses and maintenance
fees as well as
internal resources to manage equipment. ASPs (Application
Service Providers, also
referred to as managed hosting or generation-one hosted solutions)
are more restrictive, resulting in a higher TCO than SaaS.
All SaaS costs are included in an annual subscription. SaaS
typically requires less capital upfront and delivers considerable
cost savings over
time as maintenance and upgrades are included in the subscription
fee.
Available any day, at any hour
SaaS enables everyone—teachers, staff, parents, and students---
to log in to the system
from anywhere, 24x7x365—so the system is always available
when you need it.
Data stays safe and secure during
disasters and outages
What happens to your data in the case of a natural disaster,
terrorist attack, or power outage? With SaaS, data resides
in a redundant SAS-70 certified environment, accessible regardless
of the situation.
Easy access to updates and new
releases
Leave maintenance and upgrades to Go.edu. With Go.edustar,
you will always be running the latest version of the software.
And, upgrades occur after hours to ensure that you aren’t
interrupted.
Quicker deployment
SaaS offers dramatically decreased system implementation and
deployment times. As
the software is available through a web browser, no time is
spent installing applications
or training IT staff.
Decreased personnel costs
On-premise solutions demand heavy, ongoing user support. With
SaaS, user support is included in the subscription cost.
The cost of installed, on-premise software applications doesn't
end with the purchase of the license. Locally-hosted, on-premise
software—applications maintained and housed on an organization's
own servers—requires ongoing care and cost. While the
initial outlay may be manageable, ongoing costs—such
as scheduled maintenance, outage response, and end-user training—quickly
balloon and eat into a school district’s budget.
Maintaining a foothold in today's education climate demands
instant response and 24/7 capabilities for action. This typical
software model is no longer cost-efficient, secure, or manageable
to respond to today’s requirements
Typical ASP (managed hosting) solutions consist of traditional
client-server or applications with HTML front-ends added as
an afterthought to capitalize on the demand for Internet-accessible
software. Because the applications were not written as Internet-native
applications, performance can be poor and updates infrequent.
Most hosted student information systems offer generation-1
ASP technology, which presents numerous inherent limitations,
including:
Limited scalability.
ASP-based solutions require a customer to pay for a specific,
limited number of telephone ports of capacity to deliver customer
communications,
making it impossible to guarantee sufficient capacity or use
of other ports to handle a larger-than-expected emergency.
Lower cost savings. Asp's
rely upon a localized multi-tenant architecture to share costs
and capacity. Because there are few customers sharing costs
and customers are limited
to the resources available in their shared installation, Asp's
result in a significantly higher TCO.
Slower upgrade and maintenance cycles.
Asp's typically rely upon third-party vendors to provide and
maintain their hardware, software, and telephony. Making changes
to an application across multiple independent hosting facilities
is slower and more expensive than with SaaS solutions, making
it more difficult to add new features and functionality customers
require in a timely manner.
Limited Security. Some
hosted providers may claim security, but only a SAS-70 certified
environment has been audited to ensure that security exists.
