 About Serosoft Products, primarily Academia ERP
About Technology
About Implementation |
| 1) About Serosoft Products, primarily Academia ERP |
| Q. 1) What are the different Product Offerings from Serosoft? |
Ans: The product offerings from Serosoft are as under:
- Academia (A flagship product of Serosoft): Comprehensive web-based ERP solution for
Educational institutes (www.academiaerp.com)
- Webguru: e- Learning / Course Management System (www.web-guru.in)
- Alumnee: Alumni Management System (www.alumnee.in)
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| Q. 2) What are the highlights of Academia? |
Ans: Academia highlights are:
User Friendly Interface: It is simple for users of all kind (Administrators, Teachers, Non Teaching Staff, Students and Parents) to understand and use Academia.
Easy to Access: Academia can be accessed over a browser on any computer, laptop, tablets, mobile phones which makes is easy to access
Secure: Academia ensures data is visible to the intended users only. Unauthorized access to data is not allowed in Academia
Modular Architecture: Academia is modular in nature; this allows the client to choose the modules that they want to implement
Integrated System: Academia runs in an integrated way which ensures data entered at one location is available at all other relevant points. It reduces the data entry points for an institute and enhances transparency of the overall system
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| Q. 3) What are different education segments for which Academia can be implemented? |
| Ans: Academia can be implemented in any organization which has education and training as its activity. Academia has already been implemented in engineering colleges, medical colleges, business schools, International Schools, hotel management institutes etc and training and vocational institutes. |
| Q. 4) Can an institute choose the modules that it wants to implement? |
| Ans: Yes, the institute can pick and choose the modules that they want to implement. |
| Q. 5) How many minimum modules are required to start the implement? |
| Ans: A minimum of 6-8 modules are required to start the implementation. The bare minimum modules depend on the type of the institute. |
| Q. 6) Is this a ready to use product or the company will develop it for us? |
| Ans: Academia is a ready to use product. However for every client small amount of customizations are required. |
| Q. 7) Do we need to recruit a technical professional for administration of Academia? |
| Ans: No, it’s not necessary for you to engage a technical professional for administration of Academia. The project implementation team of Serosoft will train the person in charge for carrying out the functional administration of the solution. |
| Q.8) Can I access Academia from anywhere? |
| Ans: Yes, you can access Academia from everywhere provided you are facilitated with the Internet connectivity and you are an authenticated user of Academia (User with valid username and password). |
| Q.9) Can you customize Academia or its modules to meet our requirement? |
| Ans: Yes, we can customize Academia to meet your requirement. |
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| 2) About Technology |
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| Q.1) Which platform does Academia operate on? |
| Ans: Academia is based on enterprise grade open source technologies. This makes Academia platform independent. The Server of Academia can be deployed on both Windows and Linux OS. The client is web browser based and can be used from Desktops, Laptops, Tablets and mobile phones based browsers. |
| Q.2) Which is the front- end technology used? |
| Ans: Academia uses DHTML, Javascript, CSS, AJAX and Yahoo User Interface (YUI) for front end technologies. This is implemented using Java Server Pages. |
| Q.3) Which Middleware does Academia use? |
| Ans: Academia uses Struts based MVC architecture implemented in Java/J2EE technologies for middleware implementation. Database connectivity is done using JDBC with connection pooling for optimal performance. |
| Q.4) What is the back end for Academia? |
| Ans: Academia uses MySQL as the database on the backend. |
| Q.5) As you have used Open source technology for the product developed; Does it involve any other licensing issues to be addressed by the end client? |
| Ans: We have developed our own application using open source technologies. No additional software licenses need to be purchased for using Academia. |
| Q.6) What application servers are used in Academia? |
| Ans: Academia uses Apache Tomcat and Apache Webserver as servers for application hosting. |
| Q.7) What is the hardware requirement? |
| Ans: This depends on the number of users (students) that need to be serviced. For a user range of 500 to 1000 users a workstation with quad core, 4 GB RAM and 100 GB HDD should be sufficient. |
| Q.8) What are the deployment patterns for Academia? |
Ans: There are three ways in which Academia can be deployed.
1. On the internet: The Academia server is deployed on a Webserver that is connected to the internet. In this case the users can access the application from any internet connected device and a web browser.
2. On College/Institute Network: The Academia server is deployed on a machine that is connected on the LAN/WAN of the institute. All computers connected on this LAN/WAN can access the application.
3. Hybrid: Part application can be hosted on the internet and other part on the institute LAN/WAN. Depending on the modules which are on internet, its users can access it over the internet and the other modules are accessed over LAN/WAN.
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| Q.9) I don’t have an Internet connection. Can I still implement Academia? |
| Ans: Yes. You can still implement Academia even if you do not have an Internet connection. You can use Intranet (Local Area Network). With intranet you are able to access Academia only from your local network |
| Q.10) Are there any provisions for data backup? |
| Ans: Academia has inbuilt functionality in Academia that allows the system administrator to backup the data at a click of a button. |
| Q.11) Are there any provisions for automated data backup? |
| Ans: We have created a utility that runs on the server and backups data automatically once a day. This can be used to recreate your instance in case of any server hardware failure. |
| Q.12) What about the Data security?/ Can you elaborate about security aspect of the application? |
| Ans: Standard secure software development practices have been followed when developing the application. Security has been incorporated at all layers of the application, client side data validation, link encryption, server side data validation, passwords secured in encrypted ways, database access only from application layer, no direct database access, etc are some security features that we have incorporated. |
| Q.13) How many concurrent Users does your application support? |
| Ans: We have seen around 800 users logged in without any performance degradation. This can be increased if the server size is increased. Application as such does not limit the number of concurrent users. |
| Q.14) Can we export the reports into word, excel or pdf formats? |
| Ans:Reports can be exported to Excel, Word, PDF and CSVs from all relevant portions. |
| Q.15) Can Academia UI converted to any Indian or Foreign Language |
| Ans: Yes, Academia has multi-lingual capabilities and language conversion can be done for a client. |
| Q.16) Does the application support Local Languages for reporting? |
| Ans: Application is capable of supporting multiple languages. Reports are generated in the language in which data is entered. Languages which are supported by Unicode and written left to right are supported. |
| Q.17) Can the application be integrated with Bulk SMS (short message sending) for student’s grades, opening days, notifications to Alumni, students & guardians or parents? |
| Ans: At present the system has SMS gateway integration with SMS Bulk services in India and UAE. If you provide a HTTP based SMS gateway this integration can be done. |
| Q.18) Does the application support receiving payments through e- gateway? |
| Ans: Payment gateway integration for online payments using Credit Cards is possible. |
| Q.19) Can the application be integrated with Tally ERP 9.0? |
| Ans: Yes, data from Academia can be imported to Tally using data bridges and excel based reports. |
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| 3) About Implementation |
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| Q.1) How long (typically) does it take to implement Academia? |
Ans: Academia implementation is dependent on factors like
- Clients preparedness
- Number of modules to be implemented
- Customizations if required
- Third party software/hardware integration if required
- Training effort
Typical implementations take between 3 months to 6 months. |
| Q.2) How fast can Academia be deployed? |
| Ans: We can install the standard version in about 3-4 weeks time. |
| Q.3) Will the implementation happen all at once or in phases? |
| Ans : Depending on client needs and requirements the implementation can be done in a single shot or divided in 2-3 phases. |
| Q.4) Can you host Academia for us? |
Ans: Academia can be hosted in three different ways
- Hosted on Serosoft Servers: All server infrastructure managed by Serosoft, application is hosted on our servers and the client can access it over the internet. Client needs to pay monthly hosting charges and we ensure that the application is up and running for you as per industry SLAs.
- Hosted on Clients Server: Application can be hosted on a server that is managed by the client. It should be part of the LAN/WAN that the client manages and the application is accessible over the network that the client manages. A proper server administration team and infrastructure is required in this case.
- Hosted on Clients Server and Synced with Serosoft Servers: The application is hosted on clients server which is accessible over the LAN. A backup of the same is maintained on Serosoft servers daily. Client server and Serosoft server are connected through internet. In case of Client server failure the entire application can be hosted/retrieved from Serosoft server. Client will need to pay for the hosting space that it is using on Serosoft servers.
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| Q.5) What platform does Serosoft host Academia for its clients? |
| Serosoft hosts Academia for its client on Linux platform running on Cloud Servers |
| Q.6) What implementation support does Serosoft provide? |
| Ans: Serosoft provides three options for implementation support |
- On-site
- Onsite resource deployed thru-out the year at client premises
- Assistance in running the system
- Onsite training and support
- Remote
- Dedicated support team
- Support over Phone/Emails/Chat and Remote Desktop Sharing
- Remote training if required
- Hybrid
- Remote support
- Periodic onsite support as per agreement
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| Q.7) What does Annual Maintenance Contract (AMC) include? |
Ans: The standard AMC includes
- Periodic updates that Serosoft releases for the product
- One onsite training session
- Remote support around the year
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| Q.8) Is AMC of the application mandatory? |
| Ans: No, maintenance of the application is not mandatory. |
| Q.9) Is there any provision to add up a module after initial implementation is complete? |
| Yes, there is provision to add up any number of modules at extra cost during the maintenance phase. |
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