Google Apps School Directory Sync

[fiza]

Agreed, it isn't cheap but we decided it was worth it - a saving in man hours; certainty that AD and Google exactly match SIMS; all passwords set to a default which is based on date of birth (so is unique and unguessable for each user, but still means a room full of students can all be given their passwords simultaneously); consistent spelling of names across systems (e.g. Catherine is always Catherine, never Cathy or Kate); and automatic creation of class groups for use in Google Mail and Google Classroom. We decided it was money well spent, but that is a decision which each school must make for themselves.

 

How does Salamander match users in SIMS to your existing users in AD? Our AD student users have year of entry followed by surname and initial. Our staff have a 3 character ID as their login in AD. In GAFE the students have the same login as their AD but staff have surname+initial.

[rpwillis]

How does Salamander match users in SIMS to your existing users in AD? Our AD student users have year of entry followed by surname and initial. Our staff have a 3 character ID as their login in AD. In GAFE the students have the same login as their AD but staff have surname+initial.

 

Everything is completely configurable. Matching up the users is part of the installation, and takes most of the time up.

[TIOAOA]

@fiza I also believe RealSmart will sell you the SIMS syncing part of their software separately, couldnt tell you how much for though I'm afraid

[fontburn78]

if money is tight i'd still look at the Powershell option. its a skill most admins are going to forced to learn at sometime. It was time consuming for us to set up but it also means if we change anything we can adjust the script.

 

Actually felt empowered once I'd done it.

[fiza]

@fiza I also believe RealSmart will sell you the SIMS syncing part of their software separately, couldnt tell you how much for though I'm afraid

 

They won't. I have already asked them.

[enjay]

How does Salamander match users in SIMS to your existing users in AD? Our AD student users have year of entry followed by surname and initial. Our staff have a 3 character ID as their login in AD. In GAFE the students have the same login as their AD but staff have surname+initial.

 

Just tell Salamander how you would like it doing, and they will configure it. From what I've seen, as long as the information can be extracted from SIMS, Salamander can use it in AD.

 

Your Google accounts don't have account names as such, they use the email field in AD. So tell Salamander that staff member Joe Bloggs has the network name JPB but the email address jbloggs@, and you're away.