WCBS Team Leader & Customer Account Manager Martin Croad breaks down the simplicity of moving PASS to the cloud.
With many schools now deciding to make the move to the cloud, some of the more frequently asked questions can be answered to help ease any queries your school may have about PASS-hosted.
Q: Why move to PASS-hosted?
A: Many reasons, WCBS handles all the hard work so you don’t have to. Version upgrades, password issues, or even restoring a backup.
And security is becoming a bigger issue for schools, especially with recent Data Hacks within the Independent school sector, as the costs can exceed £10,000 due to loss of data, and repairing this damage. With PASS-hosted you gain top level security.
Also, the cost of moving to the cloud can be balanced out when you consider the cost of IT Infrastructure.
More digital schools now in the cloud!
In 2022 we moved more of you to our cloud platform PASS-hosted. This solution is our much-loved comprehensive finance solution passFINANCE, but in the cloud!
If you would like to talk about moving to the cloud in 2023 contact your Customer Account Manager.
Q: What changes when we move to hosted?
A: The PASS application itself, all routines and functionality remain the same. So, for example, with a Bill run, the Bills are produced, updated and sent out exactly as normal.
With the access now being in a cloud environment, when you are logged in you can use Outlook in the cloud to send emails straight from PASS like you would do when it’s on-premise.
If you run anything outside of PASS, which links in to ODBC queries, these can still be run on the server directly. The ODBC reports will currently pick up settings based on your local machine, so our Tech Team will help you to reconfigure these to match the new environment and keep them working.
PTX will pick up local settings, so just need to be pointed to the new Cloud Server, and a routine modification is all that’s required for SSL Post. Functionality again does not change.
More digital schools now in the cloud!
In 2022 we moved more of you to our cloud platform PASS-hosted. This solution is our much-loved comprehensive finance solution passFINANCE, but in the cloud!
If you would like to talk about moving to the cloud in 2023 contact your Customer Account Manager.
Q: How long does it take?
A: Once you commit, our Delivery team slots 3 dates in your diary. First is a pre-call with our Senior Technician to go over exactly what is happening, check we are aligned on outcomes, and answer any technical questions. We recommend that someone from your technical team is available and also someone from the team who will be a regular user so they are aware of what’s involved and what may change. This is done about a week or two before the install.
The next two dates are consecutive days to make the move. We try to make sure the dates are so that you can be supported by the Tech Team and WCBS Support should you have any issues after moving. The first day of install is the environment and getting everything set up, and the second day is onboarding users and making sure they are happy they have everything they need.
It’s a very simple process, and we have done it so many times now, it’s second nature.
Q: When can I move?
A: Whenever you want! If you have a specific date in mind we try to work around you, otherwise, it’s just a matter of scheduling you in with our tech team.
Q: How do I get more information or a price quote?
A: Contact your Customer Account Manager directly who can provide a hosting quote for you. The price to move to PASS-hosting is based per Pass User. If you have technical questions, some of our Senior Technicians are happy to have a catch-up call with your school before it even goes to the pricing stage. Again, your Customer Account Manager can get this set up for you.
In my opinion it really is a no-brainer to make the move.
You can contact Martin for any other information here or visit our dedicated web page.
More digital schools now in the cloud!
In 2022 we moved more of you to our cloud platform PASS-hosted. This solution is our much-loved comprehensive finance solution passFINANCE, but in the cloud!
If you would like to talk about moving to the cloud in 2023 contact your Customer Account Manager.
