One of the primary tasks of an IT admin is maintaining active accounts for staff and students throughout the year. In a school setting, this is a LOT Of work as students are consonantly being added, removed, changing their class schedule, etc.

After creating yet another new account, and suspending someone else, you might be wondering if there is a better, more efficient way to manage all of these changes. Can I automate this process? 

Three ways to manage new users

1. Manually add a user – If you only need to create or update a few accounts for staff and students, doing it manually is simple and easy. If you have more than a handful of changes to make, this method can get old fast!

🟢 Pros: Quick and easy for a single user.
❌ Cons: Not practical for a large number of accounts.

2. Bulk CSV Upload – This is my go-to method for small to medium schools. The first step is to download your existing user information from the admin console. Make any updates to existing accounts and add your new users. Whe you are ready, upload that file to the admin console, and all the accounts will be created automatically. You can use this method to:

• Change Organizational Units (OUs)
• Reset passwords
• Add profile information

🟢Pros: Efficient for creating and updating many accounts at once.
❌Cons: Requires manual file creation and upload.

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3. Data Sync – For larger districts or schools with a lot of changes happening all the time, data syncing is a good option. Tools like Clever, Classlink, and Active Directory can automatically sync information from your student information system (SIS) to the Google Admin console. This method can take a while to set up and get working, but it is the most efficient option for larger districts. 

🟢Pros: Can save time by automating the process
​❌Cons: Not free; requires significant time to set up and manage; loss of control

When it comes to data syncing, there are two different goals we need to understand:

• Account syncing – this is the process of taking student information from your SIS and using it to create user names and passwords in the Google Admin Console.
• Class rostering – this is the process of placing (existing) student accounts into the correct Google Classroom course based on course schedule information from your SIS. This process does NOT actually create accounts, but it can create new Google Classroom courses for your teachers.

Let’s take a look at a few services that enable both of these syncing capabilities. 

Active Directory Sync – Google has a special tool called “Google Cloud Directory Sync” (GCDS) that will automatically mirror active directory in the admin console. This is an ideal option for districts who need to maintain a full Microsoft deployment. 

GCDS works great. It will sync users, passwords, groups, and can even manage licenses for your Google Workspace environment. The downside is that your Google environment is now controlled by your active directory configuration. When you set up GCDS, you lose the ability to manage your Microsoft and Google tenets differently. 

❗GCDS does NOT support class rostering.

Clever – You are probably familiar with Clever’s ability to enable single-sign-on (SSO) to various products. Clever Identity Management (CleverIDM) is a paid add-on that can sync user data from your student information system (SIS) to the Google Admin console. This service is available at a cost of $1.50/user + one time setup fee. 

Clever offers a separate, free rostering service that can manage Google Classroom enrollment, but you will need to upgrade to Google EDU plus in order to take advantage of this feature. 

ClassLink – OneSync is ClassLinks’s identity management product. A lot of schools I work with have moved from Clever to ClassLink because of their superior support. That service does come at a premium cost however as OnceSync will cost around $4.50/student. 

ClassLink also offers rostering in addition to many other services which you can bundle together for additional savings. 

LevelData – a third data sync option to consider is LevelData. Like Clever and Classlink, LevelData will sync data between your SIS and the admin console. LevelData has a much higher focus on data integrity and provides a high level of support and custom solution building. Pricing varies by the size of your district.  

Direct SIS Integration – Some SIS systems (Skyward, Infinite Campus, and others) will connect with the Google Admin console to roster your students. These connections can sync rosters and grades, but won’t create new user accounts. 

Integration with the google admin console typically requires upgrading your SIS level (i.e. Skward 2.0)

To sync or not to sync? 🤔

Should you sync your accounts using one of these syncing tools? Maybe…but it’s a pretty complex decision. In my experience connecting systems together doesn’t necessarily save time, it just shifts your time to a different set of challenges.

Data integration is more important for large districts (5,000+ students). For small to medium size districts, having more hands-on control over your data is valuable as well and allows you to be a bit more nimble and flexible.

Learn more about this topic:

• ​Google Cloud Directory Sync​
• ​CleverIDM​
• ​OneSync by ClassLink​
• ​LevelData​
• ​Connecting Google with your SIS​

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