From SchoolDude to Brightly: 25 Years of Building Brighter Futures

Back in 1999, Brightly Software began as SchoolDude, a company with a funny name, but a serious mission to revolutionize maintenance and operations in educational institutions with user-friendly, cloud-based software. We had a vision to make operations easier and more efficient while empowering that all-important person in every organization whose work is often unseen and unsung.

Schools and institutions face a lot of responsibility today, from making decisions about the future of their students and staff to balancing industry policy changes and fiscal responsibility. When it comes to your operations, you not only have to make sure the work gets done, but that it gets done within budget and supports the learning environment you're in charge of. That's no easy task.

For more than 25 years, it's been our mission -- first as SchoolDude and today as Brightly Software -- to help schools create better learning environments and brighter futures by providing valuable, data-driven insights into operations to help you find a better way to work.

Today, as Brightly Software, we serve clients that represent over 60% of the U.S. student population, with school districts ranging from just 10 students to over 600,000. Our clients range from large metropolitan districts to smaller rural districts, all with the common goal of educating students in the best possible environment.

We provide K-12 schools, private and independent institutions, and colleges and universities with the future of asset and operations management, empowering them to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently and economically. Our cloud-based tools help you do the best work of your life, creating a way for you to transform your institution for the better while making more data-driven decisions. The advantages of SchoolDude and Brightly for your institution are numerous:

1. The best run schools are using Brightly or legacy SchoolDude products. More than 7,000 public and private schools, colleges, and universities have selected Brightly Software for their asset management & operations needs.
2. Save time and money. Brightly removes the hassle of dealing with servers, strained IT resources, and maintenance fees. Our clients save an average of 70-80% over 5 years compared to other systems.
3. It’s the future. SchoolDude and the Brightly suite of products is a top-rated solution in educational asset & facilities management. Expensive, time-consuming client server solutions cannot compete with our cloud-based model. Schools move at a faster pace. You need the technology that can move with you.
4. Get fast ROI. Brightly’s solutions can be accessed 24/7, from anywhere there is internet access. Our clients report that this saves 30 minutes to 1 hour per work order cycle. Multiply that by your hourly wage and you could see a cost savings in excess of 10x the software subscription cost.
5. Improve customer service. Brightly’s cloud-based platform simplifies customer communication. Our solutions automatically notify end-users about the status of their request.

Brightly’s suite of software solutions for education offers many ways to work smarter—from streamlining maintenance and operations management to managing energy, events and planning expenditures. We design asset management & operations software to help you:

• Maximize productivity and save time and money by streamlining your day
• Justify funding for capital projects and validate current and future staff and resources
• Demonstrate your duty of care to Board of Education/Board of Trustees and constituents
• Mitigate risk and stay on top of potential liability
• Increase transparency using your operations data 
• Measure your progress and benchmark your institution against your industry peers
• Network and collaborate with other industry leaders through our community

If you're experiencing challenges like these, you need a partner – a strategic tool in your toolbox to help you get the job done in a way you can be proud of, with less headache and more control. With proven success, constancy in values and unwavering commitment to our vision, we have been steadfast in our mission. Our industry expertise, tailored solutions, and personal service are unrivaled.

Learn how institutions like Waco ISD and Wake Forest University are using Brightly Software to streamline facilities management and maximize resources.