IServ alternative

IServ alternative: the school day in one login

On its own website, IServ describes itself as a GDPR-compliant all-in-one solution for the pedagogical network and lists more than 50 modules – from communication to network and device management. SchuleVernetzt is narrower: we cover the organisational school day and connect schools with one another, with a shared substitute pool, joint courses and shared material. Which scope is the right one depends on what your school is looking for. This page puts the two side by side.

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  • GDPR-compliant
  • Hosted in Germany
  • Free for teachers

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Benefits

Where the two scopes differ

Across the school boundary

With us, several schools form a network: uncovered lessons receive suggestions from partner schools, small courses run jointly, and material is created once and used many times.

One login for the school day

Sick notes, class register, substitution plan, parent letters and reports all work on the same data. A message in the morning reaches the absence statistics without a second entry.

No network, no devices

We manage neither school computers nor printers or Wi-Fi. Anyone who needs that is better served by an all-in-one solution; anyone who has already sorted it introduces far less here.

Hosting is not an argument

Servers in Germany, role-based access, a data processing agreement and a data protection pack. IServ also names a German data centre for its Hosted Cloud – that is not a difference, it is the baseline.

How it works

How a switch or parallel operation works

A switch does not start with the import, but with the question of which areas your school actually wants to hand over – plans, people and the shared start follow only after that.

1 2 3 4
  1. 1

    Define the scope

    First you clarify what you are looking for: only the organisation of the school day, or network, devices and file storage as well. If the answer is the second part, an all-in-one solution is the better route.

  2. 2

    Read in the plans

    Timetables and substitution plans come across from Untis or Indiware, or are entered directly. SchuleVernetzt reads class and student lists as CSV; a preview shows duplicates and faulty rows before anything is saved.

  3. 3

    Roles and parents

    Staff, the school office and the school leadership get their role, parents an invitation link. From then on everyone sees exactly their own section: the form teacher their class, subject teachers their lessons, parents only their own child.

  4. 4

    Open the network

    If neighbouring schools join in, one school founds the network and hands out the join code. Substitutions, courses or material are only shared after confirmation and an explicit release – until then everything stays private.

In comparison

SchuleVernetzt and IServ side by side

SchuleVernetzt
ScopeThe organisational school day in one login
Network and devicesNot part of the feature set
OperationWeb application, servers in Germany
Several schoolsNetwork with a shared substitute pool
IServ
ScopeAll-in-one solution for the pedagogical network
Network and devicesDevice, software and print management included
OperationLocal, Hosted or Regio Cloud to choose from
Several schoolsIts own school platform per school
In detail

IServ and SchuleVernetzt: the difference in scope

Two products of different breadth

On its own website, IServ describes itself as a GDPR-compliant all-in-one solution for the pedagogical network and lists more than 50 modules in five areas: school communication, school organisation, digitalising teaching, school network and device management, and identity management and interfaces. Among them are email, messenger, video conferencing, file storage, software distribution, print management and device control. SchuleVernetzt covers one section of that: the organisational school day with substitution plan, class register, sick notes, parent communication, parents' evening and reports. We manage no networks, computers, printers or Wi-Fi. That is not a judgement but a decision about scope: anyone who wants the school's technology managed as well is looking for an all-in-one solution. Anyone who sorted it out long ago introduces less with a narrower system.

What works across school boundaries

The difference that matters to us sits one level above the individual school. For the Regio Cloud, IServ describes the school platform running in the municipal data centre, with every school receiving its own IServ school platform there; what is pooled is therefore the technology. SchuleVernetzt pools everyday work instead: several schools form a network in which uncovered lessons receive suggestions from partner schools, joint courses run with a single register, and material is created once and used many times. A suggestion becomes a request to the other school, not an assignment: contact details only become visible once that school approves, and if it declines, nothing is transmitted. Every school therefore keeps control over its own staff.

When IServ is the better choice

For many schools it is IServ, and there are good reasons for that. Anyone who wants school computers, printers, Wi-Fi and software distribution managed as well will find that there – the provider names these areas explicitly as part of its feature set, and with us they are missing entirely. The same goes for email addresses, file storage and video conferencing in the same system. On top of that comes what we simply do not have: IServ has been in use for years, announces support from installation onwards including assistance and training, and covers a range of functions we do not reach. SchuleVernetzt is before launch, we have no reference schools and no years of operating experience. A school that needs proven breadth should count that in honestly.

If you switch or add

SchuleVernetzt reads timetables and substitution plans from Untis or Indiware, and class and student lists come across as CSV. There is no direct migration path out of IServ. Running both systems side by side is possible, but it means two logins and two sets of master data – that belongs honestly in the decision.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions about the IServ alternative

A whole layer. Alongside organisation, IServ also runs school network and device management, file storage, email, messenger and video conferencing, and lists more than 50 modules. We cover the organisational part of that and manage neither computers nor printers nor Wi-Fi. For a school looking for exactly that administration, this rules us out.

No, SchuleVernetzt runs as a web application on servers in Germany; in school, a device with a browser is enough. That is not a difference, though: with the Hosted Cloud, IServ explicitly offers a variant for schools without their own server. There, a server is an option, not an obligation.

SchuleVernetzt reads timetables and substitution plans from Untis or Indiware, and class and student lists as CSV. There is no ready-made migration path out of IServ; what can be exported there is answered most reliably by the provider itself. The usual moment for a switch is the change of school year.

Technically nothing speaks against it; in practice it means two logins and two sets of master data. There is no shared sign-in between the two systems. Parallel operation makes sense above all when the school keeps managing network and devices elsewhere and only moves the organisational school day.

IServ handles substitution planning in the timetable module, suggests suitable teachers and imports plans from a long list of programmes; according to its help centre, only admins may create or change substitutions there. SchuleVernetzt imports from Untis and Indiware and, on request, extends the search to the partner schools in the network.

We name no amounts on this page, neither ours nor IServ's. On its pricing page, IServ states that prices depend on the operating model, the choice of modules and the school's needs and are determined individually; what counts there is the provider's own offer. The real effort of a switch lies in the agreements within the staff room and in the data protection review.
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