Dashboards tend to dominate the conversation around educational data. Instructional analytics, LMS insights, and student progress metrics have become the focal points of modern edtech discussions. However, behind every classroom tool is a procurement decision, and behind that decision lies a system that frequently operates without visibility: the district’s Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform.
Originally designed to centralize operations such as finance, HR, payroll, and procurement, ERP systems today often remain siloed. Instructional data lives in one environment; financial data in another. What should function as a strategic bridge between spending and impact has, instead, become a blind spot.
What ERP Systems Were Meant to Do
ERP platforms were developed to bring order and standardization to back-office operations. They are effective at managing budgets, contracts, and payroll, ensuring consistency and control across departments. For many years, that functionality was sufficient. Yet as instructional investments have become more complex—and scrutiny over outcomes has increased, districts require more than basic compliance. They require connected insights.
Consider the case of Salem School District in Wisconsin, which adopted Otus alongside Discovery Education to support every learner. This integration helped streamline workflows, personalize instruction, and gave educators a centralized view of student progress.
Why ERPs Fall Short—and How the Disconnect Manifests
ERP systems were not built to support communication across instructional and operational domains. While they can manage purchase orders and expenditures, they do not track whether an investment actually improved student outcomes. Because most ERPs lack meaningful integration with instructional platforms, district leaders are often left with fragmented, incomplete views of their technology investments.
For example, Beaufort County School District in South Carolina upgraded to a cloud-deployed ERP system to enhance flexibility and efficiency. While the transition improved administrative processes, the district recognized the need for better integration between financial systems and instructional data to fully realize the benefits of their investments.
Meanwhile, platforms like Otus, Abre, and Schoolytics help surface classroom-level insights, but they still depend heavily on manual processes. Otus supports SIS integration and API access, but districts without technical teams often resort to manual CSV uploads. Abre integrates with SIS platforms and centralizes student services data, including attendance, behavior, and SEL metrics. However, most third-party assessments still require manual CSV uploads, limiting the platform’s automation potential. Schoolytics integrates with Google Classroom and Clever, but it does not manage procurement or financial data, which must be handled externally. As a result, staff often extract data manually from multiple systems and reconcile it through spreadsheets or third-party tools. Flat-file uploads and one-directional syncs remain common, and procurement insights rarely appear in instructional discussions unless explicitly requested.
What That Disconnection Really Costs
The cost of disconnection is not merely administrative inefficiency; it is a barrier to strategic decision-making. Underutilized contracts may be renewed by default. Effective tools can be overlooked due to lack of visibility. Opportunities to reallocate funds based on performance are missed. More significantly, when leaders lack access to connected, cross-functional data, they are more likely to rely on habit than evidence, undermining district priorities.
For example, the San Diego City Schools conducted a case study to evaluate the ROI of their ERP system implementation. The analysis revealed that incorporating efficiency improvements and soft benefits significantly increased the ROI, highlighting the importance of comprehensive data integration in assessing the true value of such systems.
Where We Go From Here
Districts do not need an influx of new dashboards; they need better alignment across existing systems. Achieving this requires a shift in how ERP data is understood and used—not simply as part of a compliance framework, but as a critical component of the district’s strategic infrastructure. Procurement decisions, usage patterns, and student outcomes should all inform one another through an integrated feedback loop.
To move in that direction, district leaders can take several immediate steps to bridge the gap between spending and impact:
- Audit your current systems. Examine your ERP’s ability to integrate with other platforms, particularly your SIS, LMS, and any tools that track usage or student outcomes.
- Initiate cross-functional conversations. Bring procurement, finance, and instructional leaders together to identify where data currently breaks down across departments.
- Define your ROI framework. Move beyond cost containment by establishing a shared understanding of what success looks like—for purchases, programs, and platforms.
- Challenge your vendors. Ask whether your technology partners can help you connect usage with spend and insist on more than surface-level integration.
- Treat ERP as strategic infrastructure. Shift your perception of the ERP system from compliance tool to insight engine—one that supports the decisions that shape student success.