TrustRadius: an HG Insights company

Salesforce Education Cloud vs. Skyward Student Management System

Save this comparison

Save this comparison

Add Product

Recommended Comparisons

    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Salesforce Education Cloud

    Score8.7 out of 10
    N/ASalesforce for Higher Ed combines the Salesforce Lightning Experience with HEDA (Higher Ed Data Architecture), providing a cloud platform supporting student management and engagement, admissions and academics, and other higher ed administrative support functions.N/A

    Skyward Student Management System

    Score7.7 out of 10
    N/ASkyward, headquartered in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, offers the Skyward Student Management System, a k-12 student information system which provides classroom tools (e.g. gradebook, attendance tracking, etc), Family Engagement tools with portal, as well as admin and student services task management.N/A
    Pricing
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Considered Both Products
    Salesforce
    No answer on this topic
    Skyward
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    83%
    Would buy again
    5 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    83%
    Happy with the feature set
    5 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Student and Faculty Administration
    Comparison of Student and Faculty Administration features of Salesforce Education Cloud and Skyward Student Management System
    Feature
    Salesforce Education Cloud
    8.8
    5 Ratings
    6% above category average
    Skyward Student Management System
    6.9
    4 Ratings
    18% below category average
    Integrations with 3rd-Party Education Technology8.14 Ratings5.92 Ratings
    Online Registration Management8.75 Ratings00 Ratings
    District Communications, such as messaging and alerting10.03 Ratings7.03 Ratings
    Roster Management9.34 Ratings8.34 Ratings
    Platform Customization6.84 Ratings3.12 Ratings
    Teacher Self-Service8.53 Ratings6.33 Ratings
    Student Data Security9.25 Ratings8.74 Ratings
    Community Support8.84 Ratings3.01 Ratings
    Class Scheduling9.43 Ratings9.02 Ratings
    State and National-level Reporting9.52 Ratings8.52 Ratings
    Compliance Support8.44 Ratings00 Ratings
    Teacher and Parent Mobile Application8.43 Ratings9.52 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Medium-sized Companies
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    Schoolmint Hero
    Score9.7 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.9
    (11 ratings)
    7.7
    (16 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    7.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    6.2
    (2 ratings)
    6.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Salesforce Education CloudSkyward Student Management System
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Salesforce
    It is most suited for those within the education industry. For students and staff in particular, the Education Cloud allows seamless connectivity between each person and helps students stay on task. It can be very overwhelming as a student to have so many responsibilities in different areas, so Salesforce does a great job of offering many features that ease this process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    There is nothing specific that I would say sets it apart from any other LMS, but once you are used to the user interface and various features, it does everything that is needed and integrates well enough with other software to function. Probably isn't necessary in a smaller setting, but for multiple building districts, it is certainly robust enough to handle data collection and storage.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Salesforce
    • Great use of integrating across all aspects of enrollment.
    • Easy to create tasks for counselors to remember to call prospective students and keep up to date on goals.
    • Reporting is fabulous inside of Salesforce.
    • All of the Apps in the App Exchange.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    • Flexibility. This multitude of fields available makes it easy to capture data the way we want or need to.
    • Quick response to trouble tickets. The company strives to reach out to the customer within an hour and start the process of resolution.
    • User focused. Improvements to the system always look at how the end user experience can be enhanced.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Salesforce
    • It’s hard to run reports or create working “views” for Enrollment/Student Advisor teams that include both Leads and Contacts in the same report.
    • Some fields do not map from Lead to Contact object. When a student transitions from application to acceptance, some dropdown and fill-in fields completely disappear from the student’s page in Salesforce. Every version of Salesforce I’ve used has this problem.
    • Salesforce overall is clunky and confusing for the average user. We require thorough Salesforce training for new hires on all teams because it’s not user-friendly or obvious what to click on to achieve a specific task.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    • Confusion when it comes to student grades- sometimes there are two different letter grades for a student for what is posted as "TR1" and "PR1." How does a teacher know which of these grades will be posted to a student's report card? How does a teacher know what the student's actual grade is for a particular course?
    • Switching between the Educator Access Plus and Student Management tabs can be complicated, especially for those new to the system. Why can't everything be in one place?
    • I recognize that Skyward logs out after a certain period of inactivity to preserve privacy of users, but is there a way to change those settings so that Skyward does not log out as frequently? It is difficult to keep having to log back in completely again.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Skyward
    It is the system I am most comfortable with, so having to learn a new system outweighs any problems I have with Skyward.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Salesforce
    It was really so easy to sign up and get going with the whole process
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    It takes some time to get used to navigating the features and layers, but once you know your way around it, it's pretty good.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Salesforce
    People will respond on time even though Salesforce is such a large organization. This also includes various methods of getting support beyond just calling - they have dedicated reps, chat, chatter, etc that all make the experience more pleasant.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    Overall great job, issues were taken care of. People in support do care.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Skyward
    Yes, I was part of the implementation team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Salesforce
    I have not used similar products and I am new to this role. Salesforce has been very easy to learn and I appreciate the support and ability to access the platform when I need to. I was able to easily learn the program and become skilled in what I needed to do. It also made the transition to digital forms quite easy
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    I, personally, have not used other Student Management Systems, but having used Skyward, I do not necessarily feel any overwhelming desire to seek out the competitive software programs. Skyward does what it says it will and provides my school district with an easy and organized way to share and access all of the relevant student and family information we need. It serves it's purpose well and meets our needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Salesforce
    • Positive: Our entire company is more aligned because while still complying with FERPA, the right people have access to student records while also having the correct permissions.
    • Positive: we can integrate with our partners who also use Salesforce, while still complying with FERPA.
    • Negative: we've needed to hire a Salesforce Development team with multiple people to accurately customize the tool to work for us.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Skyward
    • Overall, Skyward has had a positive impact. One way is the student information that is shared and available to see. If I need to know something about a student’s academic history, Skyward has it.
    • Another way it has impacted our district is the way it has streamlined all of our payroll information. I can see check histories, different parts of my salary, and the year-end totals all in one place.
    • Skyward has also made a big impact on our district by making it easier to communicate with parents. All the parents’ contact information is available and email is even included in the program.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Salesforce Education Cloud Screenshots

    Screenshot of Admissions ConnectScreenshot of AdvancementScreenshot of K-12 Architecture KitScreenshot of Slack Courses ConsoleScreenshot of Student Success Hub