Schols are organizations that have similar organizational and business needs as other organizations of similar size. People need to be hired, bills need to be paid, forms need to be completed to ensure business activities proceed as efficiently and effectively as possible.
- Human resources—Schools are obligated to follow laws and regulations related to hiring. There are cloud-based systems for tracking applicants, and these systems can be used to ensure hiring procedures follow rules.
- Document management—Tracking documents
- Accounting—The chief financial officer along with the folks who manage accounts, including billing work with the accounting systems selected by the school leaders. In many cases, those systems have become cloud based.
- Phones—Although VOIP (voice over internet protocol) was first developed in 1995 (about the same time internet protocols became a standard part of operating systems were first introduced. When it was first introduced, VOIP was limited by the speed of the network connections both inside schools (to get the connection to the outside) and the connections to the internet. As the speed of network connections increased, it became possible for schools to install VOIP. Much of the costs of these phone systems have been underwritten by the erate funds.
- Security—In recent decades, security systems have become a default functionality in all schools. IT leaders can expect to operate the hardware and software to control locks, install and manage security cameras (and the footage sometimes necessary to find), and other security hardware and software. In some cases, there are options in this software that can be troublesome for some users. For example, some security software can add facial recognition to individuals in the view of the camera.
- Building information management—In addition to operating locks, and other security systems, other systems in buildings can be managed via technology as well. Heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) system can be monitored via technology systems, and clocks with bell schedules are also commonly managed IT devices in this type of IT system.