Company History

Humble Beginnings

In 1984, Kent Hudson became intrigued with the issues and challenges associated with educational operations. He recognized the issues of aging infrastructures with high, deferred maintenance, tight budgets that were getting tighter, resource limitations and the constant threat of privatization -- all coupled with increasing demands and expectations for a better classroom environment. He also understood that if educational operations professionals were to overcome these obstacles, they would have to use technology as aggressively as the private sector.

To assist educational administrators in meeting this challenge, Kent founded Applied Computer Technologies, or ACT, and offered CMMS (computerized maintenance management systems) to America's schools, colleges and universities. But Kent soon realized that desktop and client/server technology could not be leveraged well enough to adequately address the unprecedented challenges and demands faced by educational operations professionals.

Starting a SaaS Revolution

Kent Hudson and Lee Prevost founded SchoolDude.com in 1999. The revolution here was the idea of software as a service (SaaS) applied to the education market. SchoolDude sought to help educational institutions, both large and small, leverage the power of the Internet to streamline their IT, facility and business operations. Together, they assembled what has become a top-notch, award-winning team of professionals to form the SchoolDude family and provide next-generation technology specifically designed for the unique needs of operations professionals working in education.

SchoolDude's SaaS approach provides measurable benefits to K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Because there is no software to install, applications are easy to implement. And while installed solutions are encumbered with large upfront and ongoing fees, SchoolDude charges a monthly subscription rate based on student enrollment; thus, pricing is affordable for smaller schools. Additionally, you save valuable dollars and time because you receive software updates automatically while SchoolDude handles the data backup and maintenance.

SaaS has now become the norm. We purchase applications for our iPhones and Blackberries, we pay for membership or subscription fees for online associations, special interest groups or training, and we think nothing of being able to track our package, our flight, or even our pizza online. With SchoolDude, your staff can now track their maintenance work orders, facility usage requests, IT trouble tickets and more!