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As a result of the pandemic, K-12 IT staff in schools across the country have taken on more tasks and more responsibilities\u2014and the IT function in schools is much more visible. As one IT Director recently quipped, the pandemic brought IT \u201cfrom the back room to the classroom.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/www.readwritedigital.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/frustrated-student.jpg” title_text=”frustrated-student” align=”center” force_fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ min_height_tablet=”” min_height_phone=”” min_height_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”|||50px|false|false” custom_padding_tablet=”|50px||50px|false|false” custom_padding_phone=”|0px||0px|false|false” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|desktop” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text: Main Copy” _builder_version=”4.14.7″ text_font=”Open Sans||||||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”17px” text_line_height=”1.6em” header_font=”Open Sans Light|on|||” header_font_size=”36px” header_2_font=”Open Sans|600|||||||” header_2_font_size=”23px” header_2_letter_spacing=”-1px” header_2_line_height=”1.5em” header_5_font=”Abhaya Libre||||||||” header_5_text_color=”#1464f6″ header_5_font_size=”30px” background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” width=”85%” width_tablet=”” width_phone=”100%” width_last_edited=”on|phone” module_alignment=”center” custom_margin=”|||” custom_margin_tablet=”” custom_margin_phone=”” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding_tablet=”” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|phone” text_font_size_tablet=”” text_font_size_phone=”18px” text_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” text_line_height_tablet=”1.5em” text_line_height_phone=”1.6em” text_line_height_last_edited=”on|desktop” header_2_font_size_tablet=”” header_2_font_size_phone=”” header_2_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” header_5_font_size_tablet=”” header_5_font_size_phone=”” header_5_font_size_last_edited=”on|phone” use_border_color=”off” border_style=”solid” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\n One of the automations with high and immediate ROI is provisioning your students in Active Directory from your student information system. Like anything, done wrong, it can cost you time and dollars to deal with issues and an ultimate redo. Having done this for more than a decade, we can safely say these 10 reasons stack up as things to watch out for.<\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n Is your team creating new student accounts and updating existing accounts manually, one by one? That may have worked in the \u201cbefore times\u201d when access to digital content was not critical for learning, but no longer.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re an average-sized school district, with 3,000-4,000 students, the effort can be overwhelming. And since students can’t log in without an AD password, you could be facing learning loss as they wait for access.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Students are losing valuable learning time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your AD is integrated with your SIS, that\u2019s a step in the right direction because you don\u2019t have to manually create new accounts one at a time. But if they don\u2019t automatically sync, you have to import your data from somewhere else, such as a spreadsheet, and run the file through a script every day or every week to create accounts.<\/p>\n This is one step removed from single account entry but it has the downside effect of encouraging \u201cbulking\u201d. This is the effect of waiting until you have enough account changes in the spreadsheet to make it worth the trouble of running the script and dealing with inevitable issues. Still, the kids are waiting for access.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Students are still losing valuable learning time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Great! You\u2019ve made the leap to syncing your AD with your SIS using an automated tool. Does it follow your<\/em> data rules and processes or does it require you to conform to its processes and a predetermined set of rules for things like usernames and passwords? If so, it could have significant \u201cknock-on effects\u201d on how you manage users across your school system.<\/p>\n Here are some other examples of how having an inflexible automation tool isn\u2019t working for today\u2019s users, who need highly individualized solutions:<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> You\u2019re working too hard for your integration tool.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your integration tool only allows for one-way syncing\u2014meaning it doesn\u2019t interrogate your AD to see if changes to the system make sense\u2014it may not be meeting your needs. One common problem is student transfers. The SIS pattern of \u2018remove from one school and add to another\u2019 can cause duplicates or errors for those students in your AD if the sync does not look in both systems.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Syncing should be easy and smart.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If your automation system can only sync your AD and SIS according to a predetermined schedule, for example, once a day or once a week, it might be sufficient for very small populations but even average size schools will see students waiting for access.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Your data could be out of date most of the time.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Blind automation is as bad as no automation – sometimes worse. For all sorts of reasons, your SIS could send bad or missing data downstream. For example \u2013 deleting all students in one school. Your sync should not propagate that.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Detecting bad data and preventing it from affecting your students is critical.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Normally things will just work, but sometimes issues will arise. You should get notified and have the information and control to resolve, without waiting for vendor support.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Time spent waiting for support tickets equals learning loss.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n While your SIS system may be your primary source of truth, you might have a supplemental information source or certain metadata which doesn\u2019t reside in the SIS. Your sync should be able to combine data from more than one source and handle complex rules. Conversely, it should also allow for seamless provisioning in downstream systems which rely on AD \u2013 like Google Classroom and Destiny.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> A poorly built sync could require time-consuming manual intervention.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Year-end transitions (YET) in the SIS should be a \u201cnon-event\u201d for a well-designed AD sync. Surprisingly, this trips up many systems claiming full automation, sending you back to \u201cmanual update land\u201d.<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Effortless YET automation ensures a smoother start to the next school year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An insecure method of syncing SIS to AD is, in many ways, worse than no method. Whether the \u201csync\u201d you have is the old manual file export\/import or if it\u2019s using an automation tool that is vulnerable to attack, you\u2019ll want to address that. The good news is there’s guidance and you have options. Who wants to start their week off with \u201cbad news\u201d?<\/p>\n Bottom Line:<\/strong> Secure your sync or go back to #10!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If any of these scenarios sound familiar, you may want to start investigating the integration tools available in the marketplace to see which one would be best for your school district and your IT team.<\/p>\n ReadWrite Digital\u2019s Integrator<\/em> provides a fully hosted Active Directory sync from your Student Information System and has been doing so for more than a decade.<\/p>\n No kidding. Check it out.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n <\/a>Read how Lexington City Schools reduced AD Account setup from 1 week to less than 1 hour\u00a0 ><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][et_pb_divider color=”#e2e2e2″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″ width_tablet=”” width_phone=”” width_last_edited=”on|phone” custom_margin=”0px||15px||false|false” custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_divider][et_pb_post_nav in_same_term=”on” show_next=”off” prev_text=”Previous Post: %title” admin_label=”Post Navigation” _builder_version=”4.4.2″ title_font=”Open Sans|600|||||||” title_text_color=”#1464f6″ title_font_size=”15px” title_font_size_tablet=”” title_font_size_phone=”” title_font_size_last_edited=”on|desktop” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_width=”1px” border_style=”solid” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off” global_colors_info=”{}”] [\/et_pb_post_nav][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” global_colors_info=”{}” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_sidebar orientation=”right” area=”et_pb_widget_area_4″ _builder_version=”4.4.2″ header_font=”Open Sans|700||on|||||” header_text_color=”#ff7435″ header_font_size=”12px” header_letter_spacing=”1px” body_font=”Open Sans||||||||” body_text_color=”#828282″ body_font_size=”15px” body_line_height=”1.6em” custom_padding_tablet=”|50px||50px|false|false” custom_padding_phone=”” custom_padding_last_edited=”on|tablet” border_color_all=”#bfbfbf” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_sidebar][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When IT teams truly automate syncing their SIS to AD, they reduce learning loss.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8108,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1080","content-type":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-integrator","category-it"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n#10: There is no sync of your SIS to AD<\/h2>\n
#9: Your AD sync isn\u2019t automated<\/h2>\n
#8: You have an automated sync tool, but it isn\u2019t flexible<\/h2>\n
\n
#7: Your AD sync only works one way<\/h2>\n
#6: It doesn\u2019t allow for timely updating<\/h2>\n
Reality Check: Before the pandemic, about 65% of students had laptops. Now, with that number well over 95%, students do most of their schoolwork on their laptops and many schools are \u201c1:1\u201d. Fast, seamless provisioning is critical to student learning. Without it, students can experience continued learning loss.<\/h5>\n
#5: It doesn\u2019t protect AD from bad data<\/h2>\n
#4: It doesn\u2019t give you control over system problems<\/h2>\n
#3: It can\u2019t perform complex syncs among multiple data sources<\/h2>\n
#2: It doesn\u2019t handle YET<\/h2>\n
#1: It isn\u2019t secure<\/h2>\n
Sound too familiar?<\/h2>\n
\n