Last month IRIS Software Group, one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies, announced it has acquired iSAMS, a leading, fully integrated, online school management system. I caught up with Winston Poyton, the Senior Product Director there, to talk about their education strategy and their most recent acquisition.

IRIS already has 11,000+ school customers, and their overall goal is to take the pain out of processes and let professionals working in schools focus on the work they love.

Some of the things we discuss include:

• What’s important to IRIS right now, and what are your plans in the education sector?
• What’s your strategy for IRIS and iSAMS? How does it sit with the other solutions you offer to schools?
• Who do you feel is your main threat, and what makes you different?
• How do you think the forthcoming sale of Capita ESS (SIMS) will affect the education market?
• Where do you see the future of MIS, what will make the difference, and what needs to change?

Are you and your edtech partners ready for the next generation of technology?

I’m looking forward to presenting a session on this subject at the virtual GESS Dubai later this month. Not quite the same as being there in the sunshine, but I’m excited all the same!

If you look around at the world and at how industry is using technology, education is behind the curve. This has a major impact on children in preparing them for adulthood, not just regarding how they manage what technology throws at them but, more importantly, are they curious to see how technology can benefit them and the world around them.

The goal of my presentation is for leaders in schools and the education market to push suppliers to use the latest technology and drive innovation.  Look forward to seeing you there!

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GESS is a two-day EdTech-focused event for leading educators who directly influence purchasing, owners of schools or those influencers who direct school strategy and training in the EdTech sphere.  You can register to see my presentation and listen to many other great speakers here.

#GESSDubai #GESSEdtech

With so much change going on in the UK MIS sector, I thought it was time to have a conversation with one of the big MIS support teams to understand how their business is changing too.

Last week I had a virtual get together with Director of School Business Services Ltd, Mark Tadman, to talk about how his company supports schools in their use of MIS, amongst other things. Mark and Tina started the business back in 2008 and have always been clear that the goal is to provide schools with the freedom to teach; with their managed services and budget planning software, they aim to save taxpayers money and allow schools to focus on teaching on learning.

Some of the questions we discuss include:

• In what ways has the business changed recently (especially around MIS)?
• Do you think that commercial school service teams are going to have to expand on the types of solutions supported?
• With the change in the MIS and tracker market, how does this affect your vision and strategy?
• Who do you think will be the winners in the MIS space?
• Do you feel the Capita SIMS FM agreement with Local Authorities will stay in place even if someone does buy SIMS?
• How would you make it a more competitive and innovative market?

We’ve split it into three parts to make it easier to digest. Hope you like it, and we’d welcome your comments.