Schools are complex institutions. The main part involves the pedagogical spectrum of education - teaching, testing and monitoring students data. Then there are other parts like finance, HRMS, payroll, CRM, events, communication and compliances.

To manage this complex ecosystem, we need systems and processes. Processes are detailed documents which need no further explanation if they're read properly. But implementing systems is essentially implementing technology to implement processes.

To set any kind of system, we first need to aggregate data onto one single platform. Once we have data, governance practices can be implemented, along with audits and good management.

Having separate pieces of software to manage each aspect of an educational institution quickly becomes an unmanageable activity. Things like a separate fee collection and student management app, Tally, a CRM, emails, spreadsheets etc. Getting software to talk to each other or even customize requires developer expertise, which schools are not equipped to do. Then how do we connect all the pieces together and also handle dynamic scenarios which the government keeps introducing from time to time?

The answer to all these questions and more were found in ERPNext. With a low code, no code framework, I was able to develop my entire solution in a matter of 6 months, for what had taken 5 years to build earlier. Like a typical technology nerd, I thought, let's host the solution on my own vps. As soon as I implemented it, I realised that it was a mistake. Managing devops is not a trivial task! Enter Frappe Cloud. This has been the most pleasant experience for us, as we are able to raise tickets, upgrade and scale our servers, and in general not worry about security, merges and updates.

We did do some nifty engineering hacks to make sure that we could develop on Frappe quickly. We made a uat bench app, which retrieved a daily anonymized dump of production data to test new functionality on.

Our ERPNext partner Hybrowlabs has been deeply involved with implementing this solution, with dedicated teams focused on supporting our transition from an older custom broken ERP system to a more robust and scalable system in the form of a productized offering which we call mGR. mGR is a sustainable and long term technology solution for all schools globally.