THE Journal — Data Management
eCopy Launches Document Management Tools for Education
Software developer eCopy this week debuted a new line of document imaging and management solutions targeted toward education. The line includes three suites designed to automate document workflows, reduce paper waste, and integrate with systems common in colleges, universities, and K-12 schools, including popular multifunction printers and network scanners.
(2/15/2008)
Set It and Forget It: Bedford County's In House Disc Duplication
Victor Gosnell remembers what it used to be like whenever a compact disc duplication project would come up. In the early days--when Bedford County Public Schools in Virginia began buying computers that included CD burners--a teacher or media specialist would purchase a stack of discs at an office store and duplicate them one at a time. Or Gosnell, the director of technology & media for the district, would handle the job himself. They'd produce perhaps a couple hundred discs a year for special projects.
(2/14/2008)
Sun To Acquire Virtualization Developer
Sun Microsystems yesterday announced plans to purchase German software developer innotek, the maker of VirtualBox, a set of open source x86 virtualization tools for home and enterprise users. The announcement comes less than a month after the signing of Sun's $1 billion definitive agreement to acquire open source database developer MySQL. Terms of this latest deal have not been disclosed.
(2/13/2008)
FileMaker Server 9v3 Adds Leopard Support
FileMaker this week released updates to its FileMaker Server and FileMaker Server Advanced database software, bringing them up to speed with their desktop counterparts. The new v3 releases include Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard support, along with numerous fixes for both Mac OS X and Windows.
(2/7/2008)
Tennessee Department of Education Opts for Oracle
The Tennessee Department of Education has begun implementing a new strategy in data governance. In an effort to improve efficiency in student and teacher data collection and to streamline reporting, the department has deployed several solutions from Oracle, including data warehousing, business intelligence, and portal technologies.
(2/4/2008)
Joyent's Hosted Apps Back Up, Going Open Source
After a more than week-long crash of a server hosting two of its inexpensive Web-based services, Strongspace and BingoDisk, Joyent is taking steps to address customer complaints following the outages--and taking both applications open source.
(2/1/2008)
Microsoft: SQL Server 2008 Will Be Late
Despite public confidence that SQL Server 2008 would ship by the end of June, Microsoft indicated it probably is more likely to arrive toward the end of the year.
(1/30/2008)
Oracle Acquires BEA for $7.2 Billion
Oracle Corp. and BEA Systems announced Wednesday that they have completed a deal whereby Oracle will acquire BEA for $7.2 billion, or $19.375 per share. Oracle originally offered to buy BEA in October for $6.7 billion, or $17 per share. BEA countered with a $21 per share price. Now that the companies have found a middle ground, the acquisition is going forward.
(1/22/2008)
Microsoft Opens Up Vista Virtualization
Microsoft, still trying to find its way in the new world of virtualization licensing, has changed its mind again on Windows Vista, and now says it will allow more versions of the desktop OS to be virtualized.
(1/22/2008)
Sun in Deal To Acquire MySQL
Sun Microsystems is making a play to boost its standing in the $15 billion database market. The company announced Wednesday a definitive agreement to acquire MySQL AB, whose technologies are behind some of the highest-volume sites on the Web, including Google and Facebook. The deal will cost Sun about $1 billion, but the company said it expects the move to "[reaffirm] Sun's position as the leading provider of platforms for the Web economy and its role as the largest commercial open source contributor."
(1/22/2008)
Omtool, eSped Partner for Special Ed Document Management
Technology providers Omtool and eSped have partnered to develop a new document management solution for special education in K-12 schools. eSped is a developer of Web-based solutions for special ed, while Omtool is a document capture and management technology provider. The new solution combines the two technologies to help capture, organize, manage, and distribute documents related to special education cases.
(1/9/2008)
IBM To Develop California Student Achievement System
The California Department of Education has contracted with IBM, through its Global Business Services division, to deliver its next-generation student achievement system. Dubbed the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS), the new system is expected to be deployed in the next three years to provide tracking and reporting on student data.
(1/7/2008)
Districts Adopt Infinite Campus SIS
Five districts in New Jersey and one in California have recently signed on with Infinite Campus for their student information systems. The Web-based SIS will be used to streamline student administration district-wide in these school systems and keep up with state reporting requirements.
(12/14/2007)
Data Backup 3 Update Brings Support for Leopard
Prosoft Engineering has brought full support for Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") to its backup and recovery system, Data Backup 3. The software remains unchanged otherwise.
(12/13/2007)
Marysville Schools To Deploy WiFi District-Wide
Ohio's Marysville Exempted Village School District (also known as Marysville Schools) is upgrading its network infrastructure with high-speed wired and wireless across the entire district. The objective of the upgrade, with equipment furnished by Extreme Networks, is to improve student performance and communications with enhanced bandwidth for voice and data and to open up support for distance learning.
(12/6/2007)
FileMaker Pro Expands Leopard Support
FileMaker has released interim updates for its FileMaker Pro and FileMaker Pro Advanced database solutions. The new versions sport expanded compatibility for Mac OS X 10.5 ("Leopard") and for the software's Web publishing features.
(12/6/2007)
Inform 4.2 Adds Academic Intervention Plan
Pearson School Systems has released an update to Pearson Inform, a data analysis tool for K-12 schools. The new release, Inform 4.2, adds a new Academic Intervention Plan feature for planning individualize and group instruction.
(11/29/2007)
Texas District Takes Special Ed Management Online
Round Rock Independent School District (RRISD) in Texas is moving management of its special populations to the Web. The district last week signed on with Spectrum K12 School Solutions' Encore system for the move, which will cut roughly in half the number of data entry assistants required to assist with paperwork, moving those assistants into positions where they will be working directly with students, according to RRISD Deputy Superintendent of Instruction Toni Garcia.
(11/26/2007)
OnCourse Launches Web-Based SIS
Web developer OnCourse Systems for Education this week formally launched its OnCourse Student Information System (also known as the OnCourse SIS), a Web-based administrative suite for K-12 schools and districts aimed at helping with record keeping, reporting, and various and sundry operational processes.
(11/14/2007)
Harris Debuts HC2.Open
CRM solutions provider Harris Connect has debuted HC2.Open, a set of APIs and extensions for Harris clients providing integration with social networking sites and offering enhanced constituent profile management capabilities.
(11/13/2007)
MPISD Deploys Data, Portal Systems
Mount Pleasant Independent School District in Texas is integrating student data and adding new tools to meet state reporting requirements with the help of Mizuni, which is providing the district with its Motiv suite. The district is also using Motiv to set up a portal to make student information available to parents and administrators and to help "inform instruction" with the use of Motiv assessment tools.
(10/31/2007)
5 States Deploy NTC Transcript Exchange
The National Transcript Center (NTC) reported late last week that five states have adopted its preK-20 electronic transcript exchange system over the last year. These include Colorado, Connecticut, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming. NTC handled the development and deployment of the records systems.
(10/23/2007)
ShareLoader Appliance Automates Remote Backups
Crossroads Systems has started shipping a new appliance designed to automate backups of both on site and remote systems--SurePath ShareLoader. The appliance allows for backups of saved files on user machines (Windows-based) and also allows those users to retrieve lost data themselves, with the aim of reducing "IT overhead."
(10/22/2007)
Portsmouth To Deploy Web-Based SIS
Portsmouth Public Schools in New Hampshire is deploying a new, district-wide student information system to replace its 10-year-old system in an effort to consolidate disparate databases and improve efficiency for state reporting purposes. The district will be using Infinite Campus District Edition.
(10/5/2007)
VMware Says Academic Program Attracting Schools, Releases Tools as Open Source
Virtual infrastructure software company VMware says that more than 300 schools are now participating in its free Academic Program, which provides products, resources, and source code at no cost to schools for research and publication.
(9/19/2007)
