What to know? Answers for your IT department

HubSpot is a cloud-based CRM (customer relationship management) platform that can help schools improve their marketing, sales and prospective and current family communication. It offers a variety of features, including contact management, lead generation, email marketing and reporting.

If your school is considering implementing HubSpot, it's important for your IT department to be fully involved in the process; they will need to understand the platform's requirements and make sure that it can be integrated with your school's existing systems.

In this blog, we will discuss the information that your school IT teams need to know about implementing HubSpot and cover areas including:

The different HubSpot plans and pricing
The requirements for implementing HubSpot
The integration process
Training and support available
Other areas of interest for IT Teams
Additional tips

HubSpot Plans and Pricing

HubSpot offers a range of plans to fit the needs of different schools. The most basic plan, HubSpot Starter, through to the more advanced plans - HubSpot Professional and HubSpot Enterprise, which offer additional features and functionality.

Pricing for HubSpot plans is based on the number of contacts you have. HubSpot Starter is £18 per month for up to 1,000 contacts. HubSpot Professional costs £1404 per month for up to 2,000 contacts but includes many more features, including automation. Prices are based on full CRM suite.

This link shows the different pricing structures.

Requirements for implementing HubSpot

To implement HubSpot, your school will need:

A domain name and hosting for your school's website
An email server

HubSpot also requires a certain amount of bandwidth and storage space and the system requirements for each HubSpot plan, seen later in the blog or can be checked on the HubSpot website.

Integration Process

If you are not already using a CRM system, HubSpot can be integrated with your school's website and email server. This will allow you to automatically import contact data from your website and email into HubSpot.

HubSpot can also be integrated with third-party applications such as Salesforce and Google Analytics. This will allow you to share data between different systems and get a more holistic view of your enquiries.

HubGem is the only partner to offer an integration with iSAMS from HubSpot. To read more check out our iSAMS integration guide here.

Training and Support

When taking out a Professional level plan or higher from HubSpot you are required to go through Onboarding. At HubGem we are education-specific providers with experienced team members who have worked within the sector and implemented HubSpot. We know the areas you need help with and can guide you and give advice along your Onboarding journey.

HubSpot also offers training and support resources to help you get the most out of the platform, including:

Online documentation
On-demand webinars
Live chat support
Phone support
HubSpot Academy – which provides free certificated courses to develop your team’s knowledge and confidence.

Data security in HubSpot

HubSpot takes data security and privacy regulations, including GDPR, very seriously, with teams of security and privacy experts who constantly work to protect customer data and ensure that products and services are compliant with regulations. The data security measures include:

Physical security: HubSpot's data centres are in secure facilities protected by 24/7 monitoring and access control.

Network security: HubSpot's networks are protected by firewalls, intrusion detection systems and other security measures.
Data encryption: HubSpot encrypts all customer data at rest and in transit.
Access controls: HubSpot uses role-based access control to restrict access to customer data.
Vulnerability scanning: HubSpot regularly scans its systems for vulnerabilities.
Incident response plan: HubSpot has a plan in place to respond to security incidents.

In addition to these measures, HubSpot also offers a range of tools to help clients manage their data security, including:

Data access logs: HubSpot provides customers with access logs that show who has accessed their data and when.
Data export: HubSpot allows customers to export their data so that they can store it in a secure location.
Data deletion: HubSpot allows customers to delete their data from HubSpot's servers.

Additional things that you can do to help protect your data and keep it safe in HubSpot are:

Use strong passwords and do not share them.
Be careful about the information you share in HubSpot.
Keep HubSpot software up to date.
Report any suspicious activity to HubSpot immediately.

Other useful areas for IT teams to be made aware of include:

Data Integrations: HubSpot provides integration options with various IT tools and services. Your IT team can set up and manage these integrations to ensure data flows seamlessly between HubSpot and other systems, such as email marketing platforms, analytics tools and customer support systems.
Data Backups: HubSpot typically offers automated data backup and retention policies. Your IT team should be aware of these policies and may wish to implement additional backup strategies to safeguard data.
Data Access and APIs: HubSpot provides APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) that allow your IT team to access and manipulate data. This is useful for building custom applications, automations or extracting data for analysis.
Reporting and Analytics: HubSpot offers reporting and analytics tools to help your IT team extract valuable insights from the data stored in the platform. Custom reports and dashboards can be created to monitor performance and track key metrics.

Implementing HubSpot can be a complex process, but it is a valuable investment for schools. Working with the school IT department you can ensure that HubSpot is implemented correctly and get the most out of the platform. If you need to migrate data out of HubSpot or into a different system, your IT team should be involved in planning and executing the migration process to ensure data integrity and continuity of operations.

Technical limitations

HubSpot is a cloud-based platform, so it requires a reliable internet connection to use.
HubSpot is not compatible with all browsers and devices. It is recommended to use a supported browser and a device with a powerful processor and enough memory.
HubSpot may not perform well with large volumes of data or complex workflows.
HubSpot may not be able to integrate with all third-party software applications.

Storage restrictions

HubSpot has different storage limits for different types of data. For example, the free CRM account has a limit of 1,000,000 contacts, while the Enterprise plan has a limit of 2,000,000 contacts.
HubSpot also has limits on the size of individual files that can be uploaded. For example, the free CRM account has a limit of 20 MB per file, while the Enterprise plan has a limit of 2 GB per file.

Other limitations

HubSpot has some limitations on the number of emails that can be sent per month, depending on the subscription plan.
HubSpot also has some limitations on the number of API calls that can be made per month, again depending on the subscription plan.

How to overcome these limitations

If you are approaching any of the technical limitations or storage restrictions of HubSpot, there are a few things you can do:

Upgrade to a higher subscription plan. This will give you access to more storage space and higher API limits.
Optimize your HubSpot account. This includes things like deleting unused data, archiving old deals, and compressing images.
Contact HubSpot support. They may be able to help you find workarounds for specific limitations.

Here you will find all of the Technical limits that HubSpot has.

Connecting your Domains and accessing DNS Settings

To connect your domain to HubSpot, follow these steps:

In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon in the main navigation bar.
In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Website > Domains & URLs.
Click Connect a domain.
Select the type of domain you want to connect:
- Secondary: The subdomain can host HubSpot content, but isn't set as primary for any of your content types (Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise, CMS Hub Professional and Enterprise only).
- Email Sending: This will allow you to send emails from your own domain using HubSpot.
Enter the domain name you want to connect and click Next.
Follow the on-screen instructions to verify that you own the domain.
Once your domain is verified, you'll need to add a CNAME record to your DNS settings. The CNAME record will point your domain to HubSpot's servers.
To find the CNAME record you need to add, copy the value in the Value column from the Domain connection screen in HubSpot.
Log in to your DNS provider and add a new CNAME record.
In the Host field, enter the subdomain you're connecting to HubSpot (e.g., www or blog).
In the Points To field, paste the value you copied from HubSpot.
Save the changes to your DNS settings.

It may take up to 48 hours for the changes to your DNS settings to propagate. Once the changes have propagated, your domain will be connected to HubSpot.

To access your DNS records in HubSpot, follow these steps:

In your HubSpot account, click the settings icon in the main navigation bar.
In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Website > Domains & URLs.
Next to the domain for which you want to access the DNS records, click the Edit dropdown menu and select Show DNS records.

You'll see a list of all the DNS records for your domain. You can edit or delete any of the records, but be careful not to delete any records that are essential for your website to work properly.

If you have any questions about connecting your domain to HubSpot or accessing your DNS records, you can contact HubSpot support.

Additional tips for schools considering implementing HubSpot:

Ensure everyone is on board with the implementation of HubSpot, including Senior Leadership, your IT department and marketing and admissions teams.
Create a structured plan for implementation, including timeline, budget, list of tasks and key focus areas (e.g. streamlining Open Event organisation).
Make the most of Onboarding and provide training for your staff so that they can use HubSpot effectively.
Monitor results so that you can see how HubSpot is performing and make necessary adjustments.

All of this will help ensure that the implementation of HubSpot is a success for your school.