rSmart Adds Support for Open Source Kuali Financial System

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 11/30/09

rSmart, which develops open source applications for the education sector, has launched a new professional services offering to support the Kuali Financial System (KFS). KFS was launched earlier this year by the Kuali Foundation, with new deployments at Colorado State University in Ft. Collins; the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, CA; and San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton, CA. The latter two institutions are also the first two customers for the new service offering.

The financial system is a conversion of the Indiana University's Financial Information System to the web with enhancements identified by community development partners. Kuali Financial System is available under the Open Source Initiative Educational Community License and can be adopted by colleges and universities without licensing fees.

"The Kuali Financial System has proven to be an outstanding fit for our institution. As a community college, we have unique needs that are not well addressed by off-the-shelf financial packages from the big vendors," said Matt Coombs, director, systems development at San Joaquin Delta College. "As you would expect with any robust enterprise system, Kuali Finance System requires a team effort to implement and run. We would have not been able to implement, or more importantly, support and maintain KFS over the long term without rSmart's help."

Modeled after rSmart's support and maintenance offerings for Sakai, another community-developed enterprise application, the financial system service provides a subscription that covers technical support, troubleshooting, issue resolution, scheduled updates, patches, and access to documentation and tools. For additional fees, institutions can contract for premium case management, advanced customization and configuration, managed IT services, and hosting.

The company said it expects to introduce additional support offerings for other Kuali Foundation products, including its student system and research administration application.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • laptop and fish hook

    Security Firm Identifies Generative AI 'Vishing' Attack

    A new report from Ontinue's Cyber Defense Center has identified a complex, multi-stage cyber attack that leveraged social engineering, remote access tools, and signed binaries to infiltrate and persist within a target network.

  • From Fire TV to Signage Stick: University of Utah's Digital Signage Evolution

    Jake Sorensen, who oversees sponsorship and advertising and Student Media in Auxiliary Business Development at the University of Utah, has navigated the digital signage landscape for nearly 15 years. He was managing hundreds of devices on campus that were incompatible with digital signage requirements and needed a solution that was reliable and lowered labor costs. The Amazon Signage Stick, specifically engineered for digital signage applications, gave him the stability and design functionality the University of Utah needed, along with the assurance of long-term support.

  • teacher

    6 Policy Recommendations for Incorporating AI in the Classroom

    The Southern Regional Education Board's Commission on AI in Education has published six recommendations for states on adopting artificial intelligence in schools, colleges, and universities. The guidance marks the commission's first release since it was established last February, with more recommendations planned in the coming year.

  • various technology icons including a cloud, AI chip, and padlock shield above a laptop displaying charts and cloud data

    AI-Focused Data Security Report Identifies Cloud Governance Gaps

    A new Varonis data security report notes that excessive permissions and AI-driven risks are leaving cloud environments dangerously exposed.