newspeak

Interesting analysis of the ctcLink debacle in Washington State. The galling part is there seems to have been, back in 2013, when the decision was made for ctcLink, to ignore free software options. Worse, perhaps, given the reason for the migration—old software—was a desire for an “integrated” ERP that seems architected on a dated model. But this is depressingly true of so many school systems, regardless of level. Indeed, it probably gets worse the more one goes down the grades, as the desire to control information flow increases. (Control… here I suppose it means something closer to “censor,” the vaunted mission of libraries, schools and other pedagogic machines ca. 1900)

In a nutshell, the problems have to do with data — converting them, validating them, mapping them and so on. Moving to a new software platform is nowhere near as simple as downloading an app and sitting back as the installer runs. Think of it as a nervous system transplant. Once the brain — the software — is in place, the connections between individual nerve strands — the data — have to be restored.

Source: Washington state community college leaders work to get ERP software rollout back on track