Frequently Asked Questions

What is an ERP? What is an Academic ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the process of planning and organising the operations of an organisation to achieve operational efficiency and maximise productivity. An ERP system helps to automate and integrate the operations using software/IT technologies. An Academic ERP is one that provides modules/functions for the automation of academic campuses like universities, institutes, schools, etc.

Is LSAcademia a ready to use product or the company will develop it for us?

LSAcademia is a ready to use product. Through parameter setup and local fine-tuning it can be adopted for any type of academic institution.

What is the technology used in LSAcademia ERP?

LSAcademia is developed on open source Java platform using contemporary technologies like EJB, Hibernate, GWT and Angular.

What technique of Software Development Life Cycle is followed by LSAcademia ?

LSAcademia follows Agile Model. On-going changes are delivered based on the sprint time period and client requirements and issues are taken up in small incremental portions.

How LSAcademia ERP software handles crash, failures, disasters, etc.?

To handle system crash, failure or disasters LSAcademia has following options:

• a. Local mirroring of system and data and use of disk protection technology.

• b. Backups made to tapes or any other storage device.

• c. Backups made to disk on-site and automatically copied to a safe off-site location.

• d. Replication of data to an off-site location.

How secure is the data in LSAcademia ERP?

For security LSAcademia uses Role based authentication along with encryption of all critical data and passwords.

What data encryption technique does LSAcademia follow?

LSAcademia uses MD5 encryption for critical data and SH1 encryption for passwords along with an in-built encryption algorithm based on Hashing technique.

What technology has been used for LSAcademia, are they compatible with their other software?

LSAcademia uses open source Java and EJB in the backend along with GWT on the frontend. These are globally accepted technologies for developing Enterprise Applications and are compatible with all web platforms.

Why do we need to automate our institution when it is running perfectly without it?

Automation through LSAcademia software streamlines all the key processes and improves the overall academic performance and operational efficiency of the institute. Some typical benefits of automation are -

• a. Share information with students and teachers on real time basis.

• b. Reduction in staff resources.

• c. Routine tedious work is reduced and staff can be engaged in more productive activities.

• d. Reduce conflict in scheduling of the teaching staff.

• e. Integration of all data at one place eliminates errors and the hassle of maintaining paper records.

• f. Significant improvement in reporting and decision making process.

What if we have multiple campuses of institute, do we install LSAcademia in all campuses?

LSAcademia Enterprise Edition has support for multiple campuses. New campuses can be opened in the software through parameter settings. There is no need to install LSAcademia in each campus. All the campuses can access LSAcademia from a single location and work in their own virtual ‘campus space’ .

What is SaaS?

SaaS is a model of delivering software as a service over the Internet. LSAcademia is also available as SaaS subscription besides the on-premise license model.

Is LSAcademia ERP available on Cloud?

Yes. LSAcademia is available as 24X7 subscription on Cloud.

What is difference between Licensed Software and Software as a Service (SaaS)?

A licensed software is installed on the IT infrastructure of the Institute as a perpetual licensed product and it becomes the property of the institute. In SaaS the software is hosted on Cloud and it is available to the institute on subscription basis with no ownership.

What if we require only few modules instead of the entire LSAcademia ERP package?

Yes, you can purchase few modules of LSAcademia as per requirement. It can be scaled up later on as per need.

Can we have data imported into LSAcademia from a previous system database or Excel?

Yes. LSAcademia provides utilities to import data from Excel sheets.

Can parents/students make online payment of fees?

Yes. Online fee payment can be done from Student or Parent Portal.

Will parents also get notification also about pending fee?

Yes. Automatic notifications are sent via SMS and email.

Is LSAcademia system scalable? Can we add new modules at a later date?

LSAcademia is scalable. You can start operations with a few modules and add more later on.

We have limited IT resources - will we need to hire a full time IT person?

LSAcademia does not need a full time IT person but it is preferred that an IT savvy person should be there to coordinate the project on behalf of the institute. All the Users get functional training as per their roles and responsibilities. Technical support is provided by the Operation Group of LSAcademia.

Will our staff get training for using LSAcademia ERP?

All the staffs is provided training on LSAcademia for modules/functions they would be using according to their role & responsibility.

How LSAcademia team provides support after implementation?

LSAcademia has a dedicated Customer Support Group for providing comprehensive support services. Support is provided through onsite visit, remote login, email and telephone. There is online customer care portal LSCC where users can log their queries and get solutions.

What will happen when the technology on which LSAcademia is made gets outdated?

Being a product, LSAcademia is continuously upgraded to latest technology platforms. New product releases and upgrades are launched from time to time. This ensures that LSAcademia does not become obsolete.

Can we export the reports from LSAcademia into Excel or PDF formats?

Yes.

Who will be responsible for the backup of the data?

LSAcademia can be configured for taking auto-backups of data at pre-defined time and storage location without any manual intervention.

What will happen to our data if we don't renew the contract with LSAcademia?

If SaaS subscription of LSAcademia is discontinued, your data will be provided in Excel format as required.

How does LSAcademia team handle the gaps and customization requirements that we have?

Through product demonstrations & discussions with the users LSAcademia team understands the requirements and does the gap analysis. The software is fine-tuned/customised to fill the gaps in an optimum manner.

Is LSAcademia open to 3rd party integrations?

Yes, LSAcademia is open for integration with 3rd party devices/software.

Are parents going to be benefited by the adoption of LSAcademia?

Parents benefit immensely from LSAcademia. They can use Parent Portal/Mobile App to get important information about their ward like result, attendance, fee-dues, important notifications/ bulletins, etc.

Our institute has a computer department; can’t our students prepare software for us?

Developing an in-depth ERP system like LSAcademia requires years of efforts by domain experts and technology experts to conceptualise and develop it. The entire system goes through rigorous development life cycle adhering to the best standards of software industry. Undoubtedly, your students are skilled and competent but to execute such task is not a case where student learn and develop the software. Moreover, the students are highly occupied with the educational activities of the curriculum and lack the professional touch which comes with actual industry experience. Secondly, the support and up-gradation of the system is more important. You cannot expect desired outcome from a floating team of students which changes every year.

Why should we take LSAcademia ERP for our campus?

There are several reasons why LSAcademia stands apart as a robust, reliable and long lasting solution for campus automation-

• a. It’s an indigenous product developed with long term perspective, adopts best-practices and is continuously enhanced and upgraded through R&D and user feedbacks. .

• b. LSAcademia is based on Enterprise Software Framework to meet the requirements of large campuses. It’s based on an open platform Java and has been built using cutting edge technologies like EJB, Hibernate, GWT and Angular.

• c. LSAcademia’s interactive Web Portals and Mobile Apps let the students/parents and faculty/staff access the system from anywhere and at any time.

• d. LSAcademia comes with efficient deployment and a responsive Customer Care Web Portal and Support Team to provide maximum value to the users.

Does LSAcademia have separate solutions for Higher Education & Schools?

Yes. LSAcademia has separate editions for Schools and Higher Education institutions.

What if we face difficulty in using LSAcademia after implementation?

You can contact LSAcademia Support Team through email or phone for help and guidance. Queries can also be logged in the online Customer Care Portal.

What kind of support will LSAcademia team provide post implementation, whether one or more people can be deployed for permanent assistance. Requirement could be for a data entry operator or for a systems engineer for smooth functioning?

Post implementation, LSAcademia’s Operations Group provides both onsite and offsite support as per need. Dedicated onsite deployment of manpower for data entry or technical support can be done on chargable basis.

How does LSAcademia handles critical processes like Admissions & Examinations, what kind of support is provided during this period?

During admission & examination LSAcademia provides onsite support on priority as required. Backup support is provided from our corporate office through remote login. Furthermore, measures like deployment of the software in cluster mode, ensures that there is no single point of failure and the software is always available during these critical processes.

Is integration possible with existing Learning Management System or Online Examination Portal?

Yes integration can be provided depending up on how the other systems facilitate the integration.

What additional equipments would be required at our campus to adopt LSAcademia?

LSAcademia does not require any additional equipment. However to have more advanced automation the campus can integrate biometric, RFID or barcode devices with LSAcademia, as needed.

Is any special s/w or h/w required to run LSAcademia ?

LSAcademia does not require any special hardware or software. A standard deployment can be done on Linux OS, with JBoss Web Application Server and MySQL backend which all are open source. For using SaaS subscription of LSAcademia only PCs with Internet connection are required.