Why use ODK Aggregate over Kobo Toolbox

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Thanks @Abel_Melquiades_Call. I am a bit new to the tagging as not an avid twitter user. I am quite new to this and I guess an implementation question to the wider group is is why someone would use ODK over Kobo. I have installed both and Kobo seems to be the more user friendly environment from an administration point of view. I will have to train staff here to use the system once it is set up and the aggregate server using the app engine seems much trickier to explain than the Kobo toolbox. Perhaps I can post this in one of the other more relevant categories :slight_smile: Anyway thanks for responding to me!

Michael

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4 posts were split to a new topic: How to horizontally scale ODK Aggregate

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A post was split to a new topic: Connecting tableau to kobotoolbox?

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Hi Michael,

There are quite a number of ODK compatible servers (e.g., Ona, Kobo, ELMO). They are all part of the ODK ecosystem and I love the various options because they give users the ability to choose which tools work best for their particular use case.

The reason to pick one over the other could be as simple as your technical team has experience in Rails (so you'd go with ELMO). Or maybe you really need a hosted solution with RapidPro SMS integration (go with Ona). There are lots and lots of these differentiators.

At Nafundi we use ODK Aggregate for most of our deployments because it gives us the choice to deploy on a variety of platforms (e.g., GAE for auto-scaling, Tomcat for local control). Moreover, it's free and proven at really massive scale. I agree that it's not the most beautiful user interface, but in the trainings I've done, users find it functional and easy to understand.

Yaw

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Thanks for the fantastic response Yaw. I would agree with you that each of the options seems to have their own unique benefits.

That makes sense as to your choice. With your expertise and need for flexibility I can understand this would be the way to go. I am leaning towards Kobo and reporting with Tableau for the pilot due to low implementation costs and slightly easier path in terms of building internal capacity to manage the forms and data going forward.

Again I appreciate your feedback and pleased there is such a supportive community to draw advice from.

Michael