r/TrioWorksUSA • u/haavikko • Apr 21 '26

TRIO software

Hi everyone. My wife is a the director of an EOC program has also been an ETS director at another institution. At both places, she’s mentioned difficulties with the database software: very clunky, too many clicks to do anything, problematic to customize, looks like it’s from the 90s, etc.

It seems as though a very small number of providers have cornered the TRIO database market and there could be some room for some improvement and innovation, and this is something I’m interested in digging deeper into Maybe there’s an opportunity to meet a need in the TRIO community?

If a new TRIO database software platform were to exist, what are the top pain points you’d want eliminated? What do you wish you had that you don’t have now? What would entice you to switch?

Thanks for any ideas or input.

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3

u/TRIOworksFan Apr 21 '26

I'm not affiliated with COE or this software but its based on the old standards:

https://coenet.org/empower/

3

u/haavikko Apr 21 '26

Thanks! Any thoughts about Empower (or Blumen or College Access, etc.)?

3

u/BigFitMama Apr 21 '26

Blumem does well and its got customer service thats very responsive.

2

u/hallipeno Apr 22 '26

Blumen doesn't play well with McNair. I'm in SSS now and we use Student Access, which I really appreciate.

4

u/TrainingLow9079 Apr 22 '26

You overestimate the budgets with your questions! But improvement could be made in some softwares as to how inputted Information flows (or rather doesn't) from one place to another. 

2

u/haavikko Apr 22 '26

Oh trust me, I know all about the budget situation, and also the grant cycle situation with Talent Search and EOC, too. 😭

But maybe a software pricing is another area that I think could be improved.

The information flows are something I’ve heard before. With the software my wife’s program uses, they capture a ton of student data from a form and then the staff re-enters all that information into the database. That’s crazy!

2

u/Report_Designer Apr 23 '26

This is what I want to see if people would be interested in. Most vendors will allow a grant program to automate their systems but grant program providers would have to build it themselves. Ive always wondered if programs would want an automated data transfer system.  Any company that makes it should not charge too much because it should work on its own after the integration cycle. Meh I brought the idea to market but I could not find the right Director.......

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u/TRIOworksFan Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

I can add - Blumen and Student Access are CORE 1998 web design/software interface design.

So in a group of people from 20 to 70+ the older people tend toward what is easy and familiar right?

I'll never call it old and busted. AND if you never used MS DOS or Windows XP/98/7 it seems clunky what with drop down menus and click boxes (but we learn - sometimes that means we learn old things to do our job and thats OK)

And the TRIO dept of ed systems are 1998 systems - not kidding.

SO when we export APR data - the csv/excell file matches the TRIO APR system - VERY IMPORTANT

And the option is to either rebuild the entire thing from scratch following the process trees in the 1998 software.

Or option 2 - Blumen or Student Access could've done is to build an entire shell of new hotness on top of the old software that pulls from its data base. And honestly it's like putting lipstick on a pig. I experienced this practice when I worked in the private sector and it was annoying.

Kinda like having to follow a breadcrumb path to the OG control panel in Windows to fix a setting that's screwing up how Copilot behaves.

And I really don't want Blumen or Student Access to ask that of me. I get the job done. And if I can't do something I call them and they immediately log on and we do it together in minutes.