Administrative software are computer programs that are used to expedite storage of data while streamlining the complexity of administrative and management tasks. Some domains where this software can be implemented include student management systems, transportation mapping packages, personnel records systems, and so on.
Administrative software is frequently used in completing tasks associated with your daily errands.
Taking over the traditional way of managing work individually, the administrative software provides a comprehensive solution that improves efficiency and effectiveness whilebringing down the costs.
Administrative software can be broadly divided into two types- Productivity software and School and Class-room management software.
Productive software is a generic business application software that can perform administrative tasks such as documents, spreadsheets, databases, presentations, charts and graphs, and so on.
School management software meanwhile is usually customized softwarewritten for educators to help them manage a gamut of school tasks that include the creation and maintenance of seating charts, student records, and school budgets.
Administrative software can be purchased as an off-the-shelf commercial package or as a customized program, or it can be acquired as freeware or shareware. Based on your specific need, an administrative software can be selected as long as it fits the bill.
Office Productivity Software
Office productivity software can serve user well by doing their administrative tasks. Any program that helps people ‘’produce’’ information is referred to as a productive software. Different companies launch these software programs to fulfill a wide variety of needs, but if you are familiar with one, you can learn the other very easily.
These programs may be purchased in individual packages or application suites, and are available for either a PC or Macintosh platform. The three most popular applications are word processing, spreadsheet, and database.
Word processing is widely used to create and edit a typed document. A spreadsheet is used to organize data in rows and columns in a word sheet. Data stored in cells can hold numbers, formulas and functions.
Some popular examples of productivity software include Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Access, Publisher, and many more.
Productivity software programs are usually offered in suites that allow a convenient user interface among individual suite components.
School and Classroom Management Software
The second major category of administrative software is school and classroom management software. This type of software assists educators in accomplishing tasks associated with the day-to-day management of their classrooms or their schools. Whether the task is keeping student records, taking attendance, creating an up-to-date seating chart, or managing fees, school management software makes every job easier.
It is developed for use at the district and school levels and for the individual classroom teacher. Software implemented by the district and offered to all schools and classrooms via networks can provide a standardized platform for entering and tracking student data. Such software often has the option ofinterfacing with the Web.
District-wide management software expands the capabilities of similar software used in individual classrooms. School-level management software includes customized software that helps the district track district-wide enrollment, manage finances and budgets, and report on its operations. At the classroom level, management support software makes class rolls management, student information, and class reporting much easier.
Management support packages are usually customizable, enabling teachers to work with a format that they are comfortable.
Portfolio Assessment Software
Another type of administrative software that is used is Portfolio Assessment Software. Portfolio assessment is a type of performance assessment tool that enables the teacher to assess competencies on the basis of a collection of student work.
Portfolio assessment software provides the teacher with the tools necessary to document student achievements. These tools include portfolio formats and checklists, cross-referencing to standards, the ability to add comments, and create custom reports.
For teachers who regularly use portfolio assessment, this classroommanagement tools often provide useful assistance in handling complex tracking tasks.
Some portfolio software tools also allow teachers and students to maintain portfolios in an electronic format with the capacity to electronically snapshot, view and collect student work to share with parents.
For special education teachers, alternative assessment software tools include those that generate, track, and produce reports for required individual education plans (IEP’s) for students with special needs.
Remote Administrative Software
Now-a-days, the most popular administrative software is Remote Administrative software which allows a remote operator to control a system that is to run remotely on one system while being displayed on a separate client device.
Remote administrative software has varying features and is usually customized to cater to the client’s requirements. Some allow attaching to an existing user's session and "remote controlling". Taking over a desktop remotely is one of the more prominent types of remote administration.
The operator controls through a network connection.
Remote desktop virtualization implementations operate as client/server computing environments. Its primary function is for one computer operator to gain access to remote PCs. One computer will run the client software application, while the other computer(s) work as the host(s).
One of the primary uses of a remote desktop software is remote administration. It can also be used for "headless computers". Instead of each computer having its own monitor, keyboard, and mouse; a keyboard and mouse can be attached to one computer with remote control software and headless computers controlled by it. This is useful for customer support and education.
Remote control software does have loopholes in that it can be used maliciously. Poorly configured or wrongly deployed remote administration software used by IT teams to manage endpoints or servers from a distance is often the first target of attackers. Sometime the software may be obsolete or can contain administrative credentials that can give hackers the key to rule.
Conclusion: Presently, administrative software programs have a wide variety of offerings that simplify our lives while empowering us in more ways than one.
