SIS Integration and My District

Overview

While SIS Integrations are a great option for many districts, we understand that there is no one-size-fits-all solution, and they won't be for everyone. This article aims to discuss the benefits and drawbacks of setting up a SIS integration.

What is SIS Integration?

SIS Integration with Aperture Education is the automated process in which the District exports rostering files from their SIS daily and sends them via SFTP to Aperture Education to be imported on a daily basis. These imports will create, update, and remove student and staff accounts in the DESSA System based on the up-to-date data in that day's rostering files. 

Why would you want to implement SIS Integration?

The benefits of having an SIS integration include:

• The creation and management of student and staff accounts in the DESSA System are handled automatically through the integration.
• As the data in your SIS is updated, the integration will automatically be updated to match your SIS with the next import. 
• The system is updated on a daily basis to match your SIS, so changes that need to be made don't pile up.
• Once the integration is set up, the district staff will have more time to focus on using the DESSA System instead of spending time updating rosters.
• Student & Staff Accounts are automatically connected based on the enrollment data in your SIS.
• Any students or staff that leave your district will also be removed from the DESSA System automatically. 

Next, we will go through some drawbacks of having a SIS Integration.

Why would you not want to implement SIS Integration?

Some drawbacks of these integrations can be:

• They take more time and technical ability up front to set up vs. manually rostering.
• When an SIS Integration is in place, you do lose the ability to manually manage students. 
• You need to wait for the SIS to be updated before new students, staff, or enrollments will show in the DESSA System, which can cause delays in some cases. 

SIS integrations are available for customers with the Select or Pro Success packages. Basic success customers should follow the self-managed import instructions to roster student accounts.

We encourage you to consider these benefits and drawbacks when deciding whether to set up SIS Integration. In many cases, it does make sense, but we recognize it isn't for everyone. Hopefully, this article has shed some light on what would be the best fit for your district, and for more information, we would encourage you to look through our other articles as well.