Hello, this is Ed, and this week I would like to share with you that I engaged with various districts throughout our region and heard about migrating to Qmlativ. Realizing this must be an important project, I did some research and learned that Qmlativ is a comprehensive, web-based system, encompassing both Student and Business product suites that offer a wide variety of applications that manage the daily operations of a district or school. The Student Product Suite maintains student data such as grades, attendance, health information, special services, food service, discipline, report cards, transcripts and so much more. The Business Product Suite manages purchasing, employee data, payroll, accounting, retirement reporting, and so much more. Being that so many state and federal reports are produced with this data, Qmaltiv is a significant tool for accomplishing a district’s educational mission.

Recently I was invited to attend a migration process feedback session sponsored by WSIPC (the licensing/hardware/support cooperative for the state) that included all statewide support staff experienced in migrating districts to Qmlativ. In the NWESD region, this would be the Northwest Regional Data Center (NWRDC) which is a cooperative provided by the NWESD. 

I was surprised to learn that statewide, there are 89 districts, ESD’s, charter, tribal, and private schools using the new Qmlativ software. District sizes vary from under 10 Student FTE to over 16,000 Student FTE. Members of the NWRDC cooperative will be guided on this journey by the supportive staff of NWRDC. They have successfuly guided 15 migrations so far!

In attending this feedback session, I learned some valuable tips to help districts prepare for their own eventual migrations. The following are some highlights:

  • Clean data improves the migration experience! Stay on top of cleaning the data and keeping it clean until your migration date arrives.
  • Be prepared that Qmlativ is an entirely new system and not just a remake of the existing Skyward SMS. This means not all existing features are automatically being added. As more districts use Qmlativ and identify business needs, more features get added.
  • Take advantage of opportunities to improve business processes in the new system and be prepared to operate with less efficiency as you are adjusting.
  • Make time for training! The more time you learn and train in the new system ahead of your migration date, the faster you will adjust when using the new system.
  • Visit nwrdc.net for pieces of training, videos, and documentation on the new system. These are available for all users to engage in now. Check out the information in the tabs for Business Team, Student Team, and Class Registration. Call (425) 349-6545 if you need a password to access information.
  • For Administrators, your support is key to success! Staff will need time allocated to the migration process and will need your support with managing the changes.

I encourage you to contact Lynn Lynch, Director of NWRDC, at (425) 349-6556, if you would like more information on this very important and exciting project.