Ruler Connect

[truebluesteve]

Hi All

 

I've had a flier from a company called Ruler Connect which offers the ability to link SIMS with Office 365 to create distribution lists etc, but more interestingly (for us) the ability to put staff timetables into their Office 365 calendars. Has anyone else here come across this company or used the product?

 

Cheers

 

Steve

 

Edit - website link for company https://ruler.co.uk/

Edited October 2, 2015 by truebluesteve

[ITGURU]

Got a letter and email yesterday!

[Cache]

Got the details through and interested, not had chance to pursue any further yet though.

[RichCowell]

I spotted something about them in an email from Capita a few weeks ago and got in touch straight away... I've been emailing them a bit now, seems like a great tool, with a few options... Hoping they'll be coming to the next ANME meeting, though not confirmed yet...

 

For what I was looking at they were considerably cheaper than SalamanderSoft - the only other company I'm aware of offering a similar solution...

Edited October 2, 2015 by RichCowell

[LukeC]

I saw this too and thought it's very similar to salamdarsoft

[RichCowell]

I saw this too and thought it's very similar to salamdarsoft

 

They both seem great -SalamanderSoft is mostly script based (PowerShell I think) and setup specifically customised for your environment, whereas (from what I've seen) Ruler is software that does it all - though I could be wrong... So looks as though Ruler would be easier to maintain yourself...

Edited October 2, 2015 by RichCowell

[matt40k]

SalamanderSoft is mostly script based (PowerShell I think)

 

Nope, its a highly configurable command-line application. Its very advance, stable, mature product - it works with a wide range of MIS systems and other services (Google Apps, Office 365, Moodle etc) - it can create users, groups, import timetables etc.

 

Umm...

 

 

EDIT: Appears the HTTPS site doesn't work, but the HTTP does.

 

Also be interesting to see what Microsoft\Capita come out with, ie will this be free - https://sis.microsoft.com/ - if so, might make these sort of tools pointless.

Edited October 2, 2015 by matt40k

[lmgtfy]

Just got the same letter as the rest of you does seem interesting. Has anyone followed it up yet and found out a real price before I go ahead?

 

Cheers

[robjduk]

I spoke to them today. Their standard package was a little under a grand which I thought was quite good when you consider the manpower it will save and errors it would reduce. Not quite for me at the moment but think it would be useful to some.

Also seemed good people.

[lmgtfy]

Thanks @robjduk I'm guessing this is a yearly subscription based service do you know?

[robjduk]

Yes, I'm sure it was per year.

[zag]

Any ideas if you need ADFS for this?

 

I usually ignore direct mailers, but this one did catch my eye I must admit!

[truebluesteve]

I spoke to them today and they are going to send me a user guide - I think in relation to the calendar import

[fiza]

Shame they don't cater for Integration with Google Apps like Salamandersoft do otherwise I would be interested.

[Edu-IT]

Wish they offered a more modular solution so you're not paying for things you don't need.

[vikpaw]

I have not received the aforementioned SPAM

Not much info on website but for the price it seems to be restricted to just that one link. I think i prefer the flexibility of Salamander as we have a very bespoke solution.

[ICTHUS]

Yes we just started using RULER connect.

The one BIG disappointment is that to make AD and O365 accounts it relies on an email address for your organisation being present in SIMS.

I don't know of any schools that put School email addresses in SIMS. That is the biggest setback in setting it all up. There is still some manual intervention required.

Whereas SALAMANDER tools will create new users in AD and Office265 from a rule setup using an algorithm from a users Firstname Surname and year of intake etc,.... So there is no manual intervention needed when a use Pupil or staff member is added into SIMS..

[RichCowell]

Yes we just started using RULER connect.

The one BIG disappointment is that to make AD and O365 accounts it relies on an email address for your organisation being present in SIMS.

I don't know of any schools that put School email addresses in SIMS. That is the biggest setback in setting it all up. There is still some manual intervention required.

Whereas SALAMANDER tools will create new users in AD and Office265 from a rule setup using an algorithm from a users Firstname Surname and year of intake etc,.... So there is no manual intervention needed when a use Pupil or staff member is added into SIMS..

 

We've had school email addresses in SIMS for some time now... I can't remember what it was that needed it, but the SIMS manager sorted it a while ago...

 

I've not been able to get either at my school yet sadly, but still hoping to, and will be investigating a third option in the near future too...

[Iain.Faulkner]

We already put our school email addresses for staff in sims, I don't know why we just do. We have also just implemented ruler connect and our staff absolutely love having their timetables in Outlook. When we did some testing we practically had people banging on our door wanting to know when they would be migrated over so theirs would be available!

[dalehopper]

any ideas on price without contacting the company?

[ITBadger]

I've been using Salamandersoft for a couple of years now and can't praise them highly enough. Their support is excellent, with most solutions being implemented minutes after I have enquired if something is even possible. They are knowledgeable and extremely flexible. It is the one piece of 'software' that I wouldn't be without. They also have the ability to write back to SIMS which has streamlined a number of processes for us, most notably populating an 'AD Username' UDF which makes producing lists of accounts for third parties who don't support federated logins a far simpler job than it once was. It makes the link between SIMS, AD and G-Suite almost seamless now and automates so much of what was once done manually.

[Mistert89]

£2 per student per year on top of the £1k basic software. But you don't have to buy for the whole school - we are thinking KS4 only for o365 integration. We have other subscribed alternatives for KS3.

They do look good (YouTube demos), and I have spoken with them a number of times. I just need my IT faculty to decide what they want to do.

[FN-GM]

I've been using Salamandersoft for a couple of years now and can't praise them highly enough. Their support is excellent, with most solutions being implemented minutes after I have enquired if something is even possible. They are knowledgeable and extremely flexible. It is the one piece of 'software' that I wouldn't be without. They also have the ability to write back to SIMS which has streamlined a number of processes for us, most notably populating an 'AD Username' UDF which makes producing lists of accounts for third parties who don't support federated logins a far simpler job than it once was. It makes the link between SIMS, AD and G-Suite almost seamless now and automates so much of what was once done manually.

 

Couldn't agree more with this. I have used it for 5 years now and it's great. It's also much cheaper than the ruler alternative.

[Mistert89]

Also I think Ruler is only pitched at o365 where Salamander is for Google Classroom or Office365.

[vikpaw]

And they work with Sharepoint, Moodle etc. Or whatever you throw at them to a degree.