"SIS isn't a technology department project; it's a district wide project with a technology backbone"

Had two great interviews on Tuesday from two very different Virginia school divisions (Fairfax and Gloucester) which will be included in the guide.

Some of the upshots:
1) Fairfax (Largest School District in the area - 160,000+ students):
Maribeth Luftglass, CIO, stressed the importance of not seeing this as a technology project that you just bring other departments into, but rather ensuring that there is "buy in" and whole district involvement from the start (and throughout the process. - "This shouldn't be seen as a technology project but rather a district wide project with a technology backbone.")

Also, during their exhaustive search for an SIS, one of the most important "due diligence" actions Fairfax took was a scripted (and penetrating) investigation of references. Maribeth said that some real eye opening revelations (about response to change requests and other support issues) came out of their interviews of the current clients of several of their "finalists".

Maribeth's advice: Call references, and not just the ones that the SIS providers give you (dig deep). Have a script for the interview - ask about costs, migration, support.

2) Gloucester:

Most important issues to explore during the RFP process - "hidden costs" and data migration process. (These are the issues that you really have to grill the sales people about (but even then won't get answers) so you HAVE to talk to existing/past clients and ask the tough question.

Thanks to all of the CIOs/CTOs/SIS managers who have been responding and scheduling interviews...looking forward to adding insights and experiences on Friday and early next week!