Two different jobs
An MIS is built to hold authoritative records about pupils. Trust operations is a different job: coordinating responsibilities, deadlines, evidence and decisions across many schools and several teams.
What fills the gap today
Usually spreadsheets, shared drives, inbox threads and a small number of people who remember everything. It works until one of those people is unavailable.
What an operations layer should not do
It should not duplicate the pupil record, replace the MIS, or claim to determine compliance. It should coordinate the work that happens around the systems a trust already relies on.
General guidance only. It does not constitute legal, regulatory, safeguarding or data protection advice, and it does not describe any real trust or school.