You can’t teach an old dog new tricks

WCBS’ Will McNeil, Head of International and new Dog Dad to Kingsley the Labradoodle, shares his findings on dog training and comparisons in implementing new EdTech.

So I recently got a puppy (named after Kingsley Shacklebolt in Harry Potter if you’re familiar) and I’ve been training him over the past few weeks. Intermingled with having to take care of working from home and, er, some of his business – it’s going remarkably well!

Putting this into perspective, I am constantly, incrementally increasing the difficulty of training, from sitting and not going to the toilet inside, to staying for longer and longer periods, finding items round the house (I’m very forgetful) and a reliable recall. Without persistence and patience, he’d just get lost and frustrated.

We recently released HUBmis which you can imagine as WCBS’ new puppy, working its way through the world as we tailor and adapt the solution through developments. Being able to utilise the very latest in technologies, we’re able to develop the solution in an agile way, releasing product updates every week.

New makes for easier training

HUBmis is new cloud native software, and other MIS’ in the space are old dogs – let’s say you’ve got to build a relationship with one and then take it showjumping. Who are you going to pick?

Being a new solution, HUBmis hasn’t got all that old, dodgy code bloating up the software so it’s much easier for us to develop. Naturally, as HUBmis is cloud native, we can release all the updates out in one go to our customer base. Everything’s more streamlined and we can work at significant pace.

Incremental is the way

Being designed on newer, cloud-native technology, we’re able to utilise these tools and architecture to design world class user interfaces, rather than trying to fit modules and features where there is space left. The digitally familiar interface also limits training costs – our schools require 10%-20% of the training that a traditional MIS would require.

Teachers find cloud technologies a breeze to use because they’re so familiar, they look like the tools they’re using in their daily lives (your Facebooks and Instagrams for instance). It’s all natural, they’re already trained and ready to go because it’s so ergonomic.

Like training a puppy, we can’t jump from one task to another too quickly. Incremental advances are great, as no one gets lost. It’s the same with software, think of HUBmis as a new puppy from a world-class breeder vs an old dog from another world class breeder, and the potential that holds.

HUBmis is agile, young and adaptable. We release updates incrementally twice a week so no one gets scared with big updates or interface changes. All modules work in the same way so there’s only new functionality to learn with each update – users don’t need to relearn how to use the system. This keeps staff engaged and limits the amount of training.

What I’ve learned?

When it comes to considering cloud native vs cloud based software, one must consider, which one has the most potential? Just as you wouldn’t select a 10 year old dog to start their dog agility career, it makes sense to invest in the best EdTech tools to future-proof your next phase!