Application Integration Solutions for K-12

Over the years, school districts have accumulated a large number of instructional, administrative and back-office systems. Because these systems are not integrated, each system's self-contained data includes information that, at best, is redundant and, at worst, is inaccurate. In most cases, student data is particularly suspect.

Manual processes are many districts' answer to this problem but manual processes are both expensive and error-prone. As a result, valuable time and resources are expended entering the same data in multiple places, it is a time-consuming process to locate accurate information, and valuable information is often not available at all.

As school districts searched for ways to seamlessly integrate data across these disparate systems, it became obvious that a set of universally adhered-to standards was the answer. The Schools Interoperability Framework (SIF) specification was designed as a national standard to govern enterprise application integration in K-12 school districts. SIF's goal is to deliver current and accurate data to the administrators, teachers and staff who need it. The consulting firms and technology partners that work with school districts are expected to use this framework to ensure data interoperability.

B2B Technologies' commitment to the K-12 educational market combines commercial-strength enterprise application integration expertise with the SIF framework. B2B can apply its extensive data warehousing and advanced analysis and reporting capabilities to school districts' challenges as well.

B2B Technologies offers two specific services:

• Readiness Assessment - A one-week evaluation of a district's readiness for a SIF implementation.
• Implementation - Implementation of the necessary Zone Integration Server software needed to make existing applications work together.

In 1997, SIF, a non-profit organization, brought together district technologists and technology vendors to form an organization and create the SIF specification. To learn more, visit the organization's Web site, www.sifinfo.org. Schools Interoperability Framework and SIF are registered trademarks of the Schools Interoperability Framework Association.