Best Student Information System provides integrated admissions, enrolment, registration, financial aid, student accounts, and advising information. Given the level of disruption that the higher education industry is currently facing and the rapid shift of preferences of students, institutions have assumed that the requirement for their Student Information System solution would change profoundly over the next decade. IT departments will have a chance to lay the basis for using technology to bring innovation, flexibility, and agility, as well as, long-term value to organizations.

In the next few years, an increasing number of institutions will consider the cost of maintaining legacy systems and will either upgrade to the next version of existing vendor solutions or substitute conventional systems completely with latest vendor offerings.

With the continued pressure of tight budgets and the need for differentiation in a competitive market, there is a growing appetite among institutions for upgrading or replacing legacy SIS solutions with modern technology.

With the implementation of the Student Information System, too much of paperwork could be avoided. Mishandling of data is the biggest concern for many educational institutions; hence, to avoid such misuse, SIS solutions and services are designed according to the regulated guidelines and directives of educational institutions.

Top 10 Student Information System providers 2020

Best Student Information System solution supports a broad spectrum of back-office administrator and student-faculty-facing functionality to manage key institutional information assets, such as student prospects, applicants and matriculates, courses offered, student course registrations, and grades and transcripts throughout the student life cycle.

Arth Infosoft Pvt Ltd
Campus Management
Comspec International, Inc.
Ellucian Formely Sungard Higher Education
Focus School Software
Foradian
Illuminate Education
Jenzabar
Oracle Corporation
Powerschool

Market Overview

Governments and educational institutions across the globe are investing heavily in the education sector and implementing various initiatives to improve the standard of education in their countries there are many educational institutes that are adopting technologies such as ERP, eLearning, Learning Management Systems (LMS), and smart education to provide quality education and optimize the internal processes. Educational institutions are adopting SIS to collaborate and interact with various stakeholders such as students, parents, and faculties. It helps institutions to keep track of all the students, which allows educators to create educational content according to the learning needs of students, thus enhancing the overall learning experience.

The global student information system market was valued at USD 5.0 billion in 2018 and is likely to reach USD 9.0 billion by the end of 2023, at a CAGR of 12.4 %. This growth can be majorly attributed to technological developments in the education sector and various initiatives taken up by governments.

What are major growth drivers of the Student Information System Market?

Growing emphasis on enhancing the quality of education and customer delight

Currently, education institutions across the globe are focused on improving educational quality. As education quality is a major factor when it comes to educational institutions. Digital solutions such as SIS, ERP, and LMS help the educators to provide a world-class education to their students and simultaneously manage their Capital Expenditure (CapEx) and Operational Expenditure (OpEx) effectively. The education industry is transforming rapidly, and it is evident by the growing demand for digital solutions. Best SIS enables educators to keep track of each student throughout his/her lifecycle, increases the interaction between teachers and students, and empowers teachers to provide one-to-one instruction and seamless student assessment. Such activities help educational institutions to keep a close watch on their students and their progress, which ultimately result in high quality education.

Rapid technological developments and government initiatives

Globally, educational institutions are administered in a variety of ways, depending upon various government policies. Governments across the globe have shown a keen interest in the education sector, and they often come up with various initiatives to improve the quality of education. Governments play an important role in the development of the education sector in their country. For instance, the use of technologies in higher education in the UK is supervised by the publicly funded Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), which acts as an advisory committee for funding councils. Singapore has taken a proactive approach toward eLearning with a series of master plans that are expected to boost the use of technologies in schools. This plan also enabled academic institutions to partner with government organizations for innovation in technology-based education. Hence, government initiatives toward the technology implementation in the education sector are expected to drive the demand for best Student Information System globally.

Another factor responsible for boosting the demand for SIS is technological advancements in the education sector. Education technologies are developing robust solutions for institutions so that they can improve their internal processes. Vendors are coming with various solutions such as cloud based LMS and ERP for schools. Such advancements in the technology are fueling the demand for SIS across the globe.

Growing emphasis on improving administrative process

Education institutions are going through the transformation phase globally; there is an increasing demand among education institutions to improve the internal business processes and minimize the laborious manual tasks. The best Student Information System helps academic institutions to manage their business processes, such as student billing, registration, and enrolments, effectively. Academic institutions require improved management of student information to ensure proper retrieval of information across different departments. Previously, students and teachers had to collaborate with administrators for managing courses. They delivered student information through manual processes. Management of critical information is a tedious task, and as such, institutions need to streamline their academic processes across departments to ensure proper communication between them. SIS has proven to be pretty operational as it has the ability to integrate activities efficiently, thereby enabling educators to integrate diverse business processes for students, teachers, and faculties.

What are the possible future opportunities in the Student Information System market for education institutions?

Exclusive platform for better stakeholder connectivity

Educational institutions have a large number of stakeholders. These stakeholders include students, parents, school faculty, and staff; Best Student Information System provides a way to connect all these stakeholders on a single platform. It is very important for educational institutions to ensure transparent education processes by providing real-time data, such as ranks of students, information about the staff, and major investments being made, to various stakeholders. In addition, increased digitalization (eLearning, mLearning, and mobile-based notifications) of the education sector provides on-demand access to data, such as educational videos and presentations to various stakeholders. Thus, the benefits offered by digitalization and transparency of the education sector are expected to drive the SIS market in the near future.

IoT and Smart Education

Educational enterprises are leveraging Internet of Things (IoT) to deliver world-class education to their students. By implementing IoT and smart education solutions, institutions can empower their students to learn anywhere and anytime, and students can have access to various courses offered by institutions. Moreover, it enables educational institutes to make smart and fast decisions with the help of the data collected from various smart devices. The demand for IoT has been continuously increasing with the rapid deployment of connected devices in the school environment. Educational institutes have been deploying various connected devices, such as interactive boards, digital highlighters, and biometrics, to simplify the learning experience. These devices enable students to interact more with educators, mentors, and peers across the world. For instance, the Socorro Independent School District of Texas, the US has implemented Cisco Meraki solution to digitalize its education sector and improve the engagement between teachers and students. Hence, the increasing IoT and smart education in educational institutes have boosted the demand for the best Student Information System.

The visionary leaders in the best Student Information System market include:

The dynamic differentiators in the best student information system market are:

Innovators in the best Student Information System market are: 

Emerging companies in the best student information system are: 

What are the various solutions offered by a Student Information System?

SIS solution delivers a better student experience, reorganizes internal business processes, and creates the kind of learning communities that make a difference in the education industry. Its modern architecture enables institutions to adapt seamlessly as functional and technical needs change. Flexibility and extensibility are two critical factors that help in meeting the expectations of educational institutions and also help them compete globally. SIS solution is gaining traction due to the increasing demand from educational institutions to automate critical student information to better help manage, store, and track the information.

Enrolment

The enrolment phase of the SIS solution helps educational campuses in streamlining and managing all the tasks involved in student admission. It helps in real-time enrolment status updates to help educational institutions identify potential barriers to the enrolment process, so that they can continuously streamline the process through data-driven decisions. It also enables businesses to handle expenses efficiently without requiring to hire and train extra staff. SIS leverages the advanced features that educational institutions need to engage with students in a meaningful and personalized way and exceed service expectations throughout the enrolment processes.

Academics

The Student Information Solutions enables multiple stakeholders to manage various academic processes in a simple and smooth manner, through one console. It reduces the need for human intervention and does not fatigue of repetitive processes. SIS also allows educators forms groups of students, based on classroom or study groups and helps as an effortlessly retrieved repository of classroom notes and other classroom resources. It enables educators to monitor tests and share grades easily and privately with students, hence allowing flawless, confidential, and constant parent and teacher communication about the performance of students.

Financial Aid

SIS helps in easily administering all kinds of aid programs, from federal and state to private sources, to help students access higher education. It helps in ensuring and maintaining compliance issues, reducing costs, shortening processing times, minimizing errors and exceptions, and improving satisfaction among students and educational institutions. It also helps in managing financial aid, student allowances, and grants instantly and effectively.

Billing

Student Information System helps in managing student billing—from invoicing and online bill payments to tuition plans, financial reporting, and record keeping. It also helps in streamlining record keeping for tuition, athletic fees, class dues, graduation charges, and other student fees with time-saving batch entry. SIS solutions provide tuition fee processing features which allow students to manage all of their billing queries in one place. Schools can bill students and students or parents can pay those fees directly through the application.

What are the different services provided by Student Information System providers?

By services, the SIS market has been segmented into professional and managed services. Professional services include integration and implementation services, training and consulting, and support and maintenance services. The demand for professional services is directly related to the adoption level of SIS solution, which is increasing, as it provides reliable, accurate, relevant, and complete information to the educational institutions. Managed services are used to decrease the operational overhead and risk, and help manage the complex network infrastructure of organizations. In addition, a major trend influencing the SIS market is Artificial Intelligence (AI) solutions, which along with SIS offer better recommendation and support by helping institutions realize key operational efficiencies. They also offer support for data analysis for delivering efficient and proactive services, and therefore the services are expected to witness a high growth in the coming years.

Professional Services

Professional services are provided by product vendors to strategically help clients organize, design, analyze, implement, and manage technological systems. Professional services play an important part in any ecosystem. These services include consulting, training and education, design and implementation, and support and maintenance. As the nature of professional services is complex, service providers must possess high levels of technical skills and expertise. There are several vendors in the SIS ecosystem that offer these services which include providing consultancy on client-specific requirements, educational support, such as training and classroom lectures (online as well) to make clients understand the solution and the processes, and assessing the risks associated with a project to deploy a new solution or replace the older one to secure the IT infrastructure.

Integration and Implementation Services

Integration and implementation services are the basic and most important services in the Student Information System market. Clients always expect seamless integration of SIS solutions within their existing software infrastructure. Integration services are specifically designed to help educational institutions achieve integration between enterprise applications, partners, and individuals. The integration and implementation services help ensure a satisfactory user experience, adhere to IT standards, and manage budgetary guidelines. Integration services are cost-effective, highly scalable, and customizable, and help organizations in reducing business complexities and increasing Return on Investment (RoI).

Consulting Services

Consulting services help educational institutes understand the competencies of different SIS solution and the associated services provided by various vendors. Moreover, these services help reduce risks, minimize complexities, and increase the RoI. In addition, consulting services enable new and more effective ways of working, raise student engagement and agility, and help in better understanding consumer-oriented styles and technologies. Consulting services also help in increasing effectiveness, boosting performance, reducing costs, and enhancing the resilience of an organization’s productivity.

Training, Support and Maintenance Services

With rapid advancements in technologies, the demands from end users have also increased. Therefore, to fulfill their requirements and better their experience, training the workforce is essential for the success of the solution deployed. Comprehensive training should incorporate all the requisites of theory and practical that guides the workforce in the proper implementation of the SIS solutions. The training support and maintenance services include functional support, technical support, database support, repair services, facility inspection, and training that companies render to end users during the installation and maintenance of the software. Training support and maintenance services help in understanding the market trends, the changing business conditions, and client insights, and deal with service inconveniences.

Managed Services

Managed services are an approach to outsource specific IT operations to a service provider that remotely manages the customer’s IT infrastructure under a subscription model. The managed services segment is mainly driven by increased security requirements, improved regulatory compliance, enhanced productivity, and improved data integrity while meeting strict Service-Level Agreements (SLAs). However, organizations often outsource this task to MSSPs due to high costs and resource constraints. The MSSPs offer round-the-clock visibility to IT infrastructure and provide security assessment and monitoring of applications, systems, and devices; identification of potential threats; and enhanced organizational security postures.

What are the options to deploy a Student Management Solution?

By deployment type, the Student Information System market has been segmented into 2 sub segments: cloud and on-premises. With increasing awareness and the global adoption trend of cloud-based SIS solutions across all the globe, it is expected that the cloud deployment type would witness an increasing demand during the forecast period, owing to features such as pay-per-use option, and reduced installation and maintenance costs. On the other hand, the on-premises deployment type is expected to have a larger market size during the forecast period, as large enterprises already have the infrastructure required for deploying SIS solution on-premises.

Cloud

In cloud-deployed SIS, services are hosted over the internet connection, and users can log in to the service provider’s site. Instead of installing the required management software, the administer can upload the student data via the internet. This deployment type is preferred for its features such as better and enhanced security, lower setup costs, easy accessibility, quicker deployment, high scalability, customizability, more storage space, ease of maintenance, automatic upgradation of course materials, and automatic licensing by the vendors. The Student Information System market has undergoing a shift from on-premises to cloud SIS solutions, due to the advantages offered by cloud solutions. Some of these advantages are easy deployment, hassle-free integration, minimum cost, and no requirement of preliminary capital for purchasing the software. Due to these aforementioned advantages, most vendors are switching from the on-premises deployment type to the cloud deployment type. Cloud SIS providers are actively delivering continuous innovations with security as the priority.

On Premises

An on-premises service is a system that is arranged on the infrastructure of an organization and is associated with the Local Area Network (LAN). The on-premises SIS, or installed SIS, is stored on the server of the organization, and the user or buyer needs to acquire a license to use corporate SIS, which is also customizable. The setup and maintenance are taken care of by the internal IT staff of the buyer, who has full control over the corporate SIS software. An on-premises solution also provides opportunities for customization, as the applications can be personalized according to the user’s requirements and certifies data quality and reliability. An on-premises system makes the existing infrastructure viable, thereby eliminating the costs of infrastructural changes, but the maintenance and support costs are retained. The on-premises deployment type offers higher data security over cloud-based systems. In the SIS market, several vendors provide solutions that can be deployed on the premises of the educational institutions. However, the growth of the on-premises segment is affected by the rapid development of cloud computing solutions.

Who are the typical users of a Student Information System solution?

Student Information Systems are a platform or application or program that helps institutions such as schools and colleges manage their student data. The data can be biographical information of students, such as their demographic information, information about their guardians, and home addresses; learning related information, such as what classes they are scheduled for, attendance records, homework, communications with the teacher and their peers, exams, and report cards; or administrative information, such as fee receipt generation, class scheduling, and batch scheduling. SIS is essentially a way to digitalize and automate processes related to student life within an educational institution, such as a school or a college.

K-12

A K-12 SIS stores and tracks all student data that teachers or administrators need to manage their classrooms or run their schools. Information such as grades and attendance records are tracked through these platforms. Several K-12 SIS provide students with access to the information relating to them. SIS products are essentially used by teachers, students, and parents to access all pertinent information relating to a student’s schooling. SIS software is used as a channel of communication and as a place to save student information.

Higher Education

A higher education SIS stores and tracks all student data that faculty and staff need to manage their university campus operations. Information such as grades, attendance records, admissions information, and financial aid are tracked through these platforms, which help faculty and staff. Several higher education SIS provide a portal for students which helps in obtaining information that is important to them, especially their own grades. The higher education software addresses the main functional areas of the school, including enrolments, student services, registrar's office and business office, alumni relations, and development.

What are the key growth strategies adopted by the players in the Student Information System market?

The cloud computing market is growing at a rapid rate across all regions. To gain more market share and ensure a better market position, vendors and players are adopting several growth strategies, some of which are highlighted in the figure given below. The strategies adopted by the major players primarily revolve around new product launches, mergers and acquisitions, and partnerships, agreements, and collaborations with other market players. In addition to this, the competitive landscape studies the key growth strategies adopted by the market players to expand their presence and increase their market shares in the best SIS market.

Partnerships, Agreements and Collaborations

Companies adopted the strategies of partnerships, agreements, and collaborations in the SIS market to expand their product portfolio. Market players are merging with local players to increase their footprints and enhance their customer base in the best Student Information System market.

New Product Launches

Companies adopted this strategy for developing new and advanced products to strengthen their product portfolio and cater to the unmet needs of the SIS market.

Mergers and Acquisitions

The mergers and acquisitions strategy was adopted by the top companies in the Student Information System market. Companies adopted this strategy to increase their geographic reach and expand their product portfolios to newer untapped markets.

What are the features to be considered while choosing the Student Information System?

Cloud ERP - Cloud-enabled Student Information Systems are being progressively employed by all types of educational institutions to manage all data to decrease huge investments, save time and optimize resources.

Student Demographic - Student Demographics offers basic details of the student. It delivers information about the progress of the student and stored data.

Contact Data - It provides home, mailing, primary and secondary addresses. It also offers guardian details with an option to add more details.

Admission - Allows users to remove labour-intensive admission processes and allows organizations to track the whole admission process.

Attendance - With Student Information System, institutions can preserve student's every day attendance period wise. They can also produce attendance related reports on-demand for the stakeholders.

Scheduling – Scheduling in student information system solutions help users to generate or view schedules and other management needs to help in resource planning.

What are the top 5 benefits of deploying a Student Information System solution?

1. Enhanced Productivity

• The best student information management system saves all the data on Cloud. Without SIS, the employees need to fill the data manually.
• A student management system, syncs all the data once entered, across all the modules which saves all the manual hassle.
• SIS organizes students’ data in a single place, which allows teachers to access all the data about a student immediately.

2. Enhanced Security

• Best Student Information System is a cloud-based solution that saves all the data on a consolidated platform, which makes the stored data extremely secure.
• Student information is generally saved as hard copies can be retrieved by anyone which can possibly lead to misuse. To avoid this, student management software offers role-based access.

3. Parental Involvement

• Students need a healthy atmosphere with a correct balance of teachers and parents.
• It helps parents and teachers to be more associated and helps them to deliver a healthy learning experience for the student.

4. Online Access from Anywhere

• A cloud-based student information system, allows users with an SIS to login and access their data from any internet equipped device.
• School data in the cloud facilitates teachers as it allows them to work on lesson plans and grading from any location and any device.

5. Simplified Payment Processing

• A  Student Information Systems has the ability to assist the school economically besides improving enrolment.
• Using a consolidated system allows parents to keep track of tuition and pay for incidentals like books and uniforms.

Which regions are expected to lead in adopting Student Information System?

United States

The US is expected to have the largest market share among all the countries in the Student Information System market, and the trend is expected to continue till 2023. It is the most mature market in terms of adoption of SIS solution due to various factors, such as the ease brought into the student information management, regulatory standards, advanced IT infrastructure, presence of a large number of colleges, and the availability of technical expertise in the country. Moreover, the growing competitive environment in the US due to the huge number of institutions is driving the adoption of SIS solutions and services. Furthermore, the technological advancements in AI combined with SIS solutions offer enhanced support and recommendation by helping institutions recognize the operational efficiencies. Due to these factors, various educational organizations have adopted SIS solutions.

Canada

Canada ranks second in the SIS market in North America. Like the US, Canada too has advanced IT infrastructure and availability of technical expertise along with the presence of a huge number of institutions. Due to these factors, SIS vendors are rapidly expanding their business in this country. For instance, in January 2019, Fujitsu Consulting of Canada and Follett of Canada partnered to deliver innovative SIS to Ontario schools in Canada. This innovation would help Ontario based schools to streamline many educational administrative tasks. This would make it easier for school districts to gather, access, and analyse the data they need. These initiatives by leading vendors are driving the adoption of SIS solutions and services in Canada.

Europe

Robust economic infrastructure and high internet penetration make Europe one of the top markets for SIS adoption. It is the second largest in the overall Student Information System market in terms of revenue generation. The major countries considered in this region for analysis are the UK, Germany, France, and the rest of Europe. The education industry in the region is in the digital transformation stage and is adopting newer technologies to offer enhanced student services and sustain in the competitive environment in this industry. The European SIS market is growing rapidly due to the growing investments being made by vendors to provide innovative and compliant SIS solutions in this region. One of the key players in the SIS market, Unit4 launched its SIS offering in Europe in 2016. These initiatives by innovative SIS vendors are transforming the SIS market rapidly in the European region.

United Kingdom

The UK market is a very mature market in terms of adopting newer technologies as compared to the rest of the countries in Europe. UK has a major presence of large as well as smaller educational institutions, which is driving the adoption of both, cloud based and on-premises SIS solutions and services. Nelson College in London has adopted Ellucian Quercus to support its student success initiatives and institutional growth. Nelson College has access to richer student data at every stage of the student lifecycle and students have greater insight into their progress. Also, Quercus helps Nelson College to meet rapidly evolving higher education statutory requirements in the UK.

Germany

Germany is one of the most promising markets for the growth of SIS solutions and services. It has also seen a rise in the number of startups in recent years, and this could be a potential market for vendors offering SIS solutions, as these new age startups focus on delivering the best possible student experience. Moreover, the rising generation of student data would require storage, which is addressed by SIS solutions easily and effectively. These are a few factors driving the adoption of SIS solutions in Germany. However, the existing data privacy laws and regulations in Germany with respect to cloud service providers outside of Germany are proving to be a hindrance to foreign cloud service providers in the best Student Information System market.

France

France is one of the rapid adopters of SIS solutions in Europe. Factors such as the need to improve operational efficiency, expanding demand for additional courses, and the need to improve integration and deployment issues are driving the growth of SIS solutions and services in this country. Moreover, the rising awareness about the benefits of the best Student Information System solutions and services and the growing adoption of cloud.

Rest of Europe

The countries considered in the rest of Europe include the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, and others. Best Student Information System solutions and services have seen high adoption in these countries, and the trend will increase in the coming years. Institutions of all levels are aiming to use SIS solutions to provide the best student experience to promote student progress and improve the operational efficiency of business processes. Moreover, the growing need to collect and analyse student information and optimize resource utilization for student success are driving the adoption of SIS solutions and services.

Asia Pacific

The APAC region is expected to experience extensive growth opportunities during the forecast period. Rapid advancements in cloud computing and IoT has led many institutions moving their focus toward providing enhanced student experience. With the pressure to achieve greater business agility and operational efficiency, institutions are adopting best Student Information System solutions and services rapidly. For instance, Asia Pacific college adopted Microsoft’s latest academic solutions for both faculty and students, which ultimately helped the college to offer enhanced student experience and upgrade its quality of education. The major countries to witness high growth rates in this region include Japan, China, India, and the rest of APAC.

Japan

Japan is one of the top most adopters of the best Student Information System solutions in the APAC region. The country has seen large adoption of mobile devices, cloud technology, and awareness among students about advanced technologies, which is compelling institutions to strategize toward shifting their focus on adopting enhanced SIS solutions and services to meet the growing competition in the education industry. Moreover, major technology companies are expanding their business operations in Japan, and this will further boost the adoption of SIS solution and services in the region. Furthermore, Japan is focused on establishing policies and plans to meet the growing demand associated with student education. It is developing learning strategies and plans to make the best use of educational technologies, specifically mobile devices. These factors are driving the adoption of SIS solutions and services in the country.

China

China has been adopting technological advancements such as mobile learning, online learning and others. It has done significant investments for educational programs to deliver student success. In 2018, out of the total population 68.3% were in the age group between 16 and 59 years, due to which the country has significant investment in the education sector. Also citizens in China are willing to pay for professional exam preparation and tests. Furthermore, major digital transformation projects are being undertaken by institutions across various departments ranging from student lifecycle tracking, payroll, and administration focused on delivering enhanced student experience.

India

Indian institutions are adopting advanced education technologies due to the rising need to educate students with the required skills, especially to work in IT services companies. Infosys, for example, has vast resources and an entire campus in Mysore, dedicated to training more than 25,000 fresh recruits for 3–6 months every year. Moreover, government is taking initiatives to impart employment-ready skills in every student, increasing internet penetration in India, and low production costs are a few more driving factors for the adoption of education related technologies, ultimately driving the adoption of SIS solutions and services. However, the major focus on pricing of solutions in the country is making it extremely difficult for SIS vendors to operate in India.