Planning a Competitive and Profitable Software Product for School Operations Management

Customer

The Customer is a Texas-based startup that builds SaaS solutions for K-12 school workflows automation. The company was launched by a group of people with 50+ years of school operations experience.

Challenge

The Customer’s team has profound experience in K-12 school operations management. But to launch a successful SaaS, the Customer also needed pro expertise in product management and IT. So, the startup was looking for a reliable SaaS consulting company that could help bring the product to the market promptly and cost-efficiently.

Solution

Trusting ScienceSoft’s 11 years SaaS development services and a strong BA practice, the Customer chose us as the consultant for the project.

ScienceSoft’s business analyst started by creating flow charts that depicted the as-is and to-be K-12 school administrative processes, defining potential SaaS users, and analyzing the needs of different user groups (district and school administrative staff, teachers, custodians, technicians, etc.). Also, our expert analyzed the key competitors and defined the key market trends in the domain.

Based on the analysis results, our expert elicited detailed requirements for the new software product and prioritized them. For example, a school maintenance module of the SaaS would help:

• Plan preventive and reactive maintenance tasks (painting, servicing, repairs, etc.)
• Manage school refurbishment.
• Inspect and evaluate equipment condition.
• Maintain grounds (lawns, trees, flowerbeds, etc.).
• Manage maintenance vendors and contractors.
• Ensure compliance with health and safety regulations, and more.

A school cleaning management module offered functionality for:

• Managing the custodial staff.
• Cleaning routes planning.
• Managing cleaning supplies.
• Developing cleaning schedules for routine and project work (e.g., after a school festival, construction, or renovation).
• Easy rescheduling and delegation of school cleaning tasks.
• Inspecting the cleaning effectiveness, and more.

On top of that, our business analyst prepared a cost-benefit analysis. It included an estimated payback period, ROI, internal rate of return (IRR), net present value (NPV), and the estimates for other financial KPIs.

ScienceSoft’s expert also mapped out the startup’s short- and long-term financial goals. He provided a 3-year framework for the business’ financial objectives, detailed the budgeting plans by month, and forecasted the revenue over the first months.

Results

Thanks to the input of ScienceSoft’s IT consultant, the Customer built confidence in its new SaaS product. The C-suite got a clear vision of the future SaaS solution’s competitive advantages and gained an understanding of the required budgets and the potential revenue the product could bring. The Customer’s tech team received clearly defined and prioritized requirements for the solution to-be, which helped streamline the SaaS development.