Advanced Learning (Formerly SERCO) RTU Licence rip off

[nikaso]

We only stopped using Facility in December and went to SIMS in January but obviously we need to keep records.

 

We are currently being chased for an RTU (Right to Use) licence for our historical Facility installation, it sits on a server by itself and is accessed maybe 3 or 4 times a week by one person. For this high level of service Advanced Learning want £8646.01

 

This seems a complete and utter rip off, anyone else had this??

[TronXP]

Seems a lot! We were thinking of moving from facility later in the year :S dont think anybody has factored this into it as yet.

[CAM]

Surely EU software law would have something to say about Right to Use? It's your data, not theirs!

[APC]

It may well be your data but its not your software unless you pay for it!

 

If I need to use MS publisher to access a file someone saved 5 years ago I would need an MS licence to cover it, even if it was my file!

 

Why didnt you move all of your data into your new MIS system? thus avoiding this issue totally....

 

If I moved half of my money into another bank account I would expect to pay two lots of bank charges - wouldnt you?

[nikaso]

It may well be your data but its not your software unless you pay for it!

 

If I need to use MS publisher to access a file someone saved 5 years ago I would need an MS licence to cover it, even if it was my file!

 

Why didnt you move all of your data into your new MIS system? thus avoiding this issue totally....

 

If I moved half of my money into another bank account I would expect to pay two lots of bank charges - wouldnt you?

 

Capita told us categorically we could NOT move all our data across to SIMS so it wasn't an option. Your MS Publisher analogy falls down, if I had bought MS Publisher and wanted to access my files 5 years on I would expect to use the product I bought, I wouldn't expect Microsoft to support me with any technical issues but I would still expect to be able to open it.

 

The bank charges point is a straw man argument, if you bought a fire safe to keep your documents in but then were expected to pay an annual rental for the key that doesn't seem right does it?

[APC]

I suggest that Capita didnt want to move all of your data - and if they couldnt why move to a product that cant hold all of the data you need to hold within school?

 

If you read the small print of your Facility and probably your SIMS licence you will see that you never 'buy' the sofware - you have a licence to use it on an annual basis as long as you pay the fee....

 

As your data is already in a SQL database you dont 'need' facility to access it... so there is no argument that they are prevening you from doing so....

[nikaso]

I agree there is probably something in the T&Cs about it, unfortunately the agreement was signed well before my time. They are insisting on an extortionate fee for the service they are providing though.

[pete]

How many years of data did you move across and was that info (regarding number of years you could migrate) from someone directly employed by Capita?

 

Did Capita themselves move the data, or was it an independent SIMS consultant?

[psydii]

Go to your local uni, get a promising comp-sci student, sit them down with your DM who can show them the types of reports and data that you require to be extracted. Then give them a copy of your database (but not Facility Admin or ePortal) and ask them to build a front-end to present/extract the data required. Should take them a couple of months to build something to meet your specific requirements. Assign shared rights to their efforts, so that either party might be able to build on the experience.

 

Alternatively ditch SIMS and engage with Bromcom, Apsen/Novatia or even iSAMS all of whom have experience in full data migrations from Facility.

[michael2k6]

You can't be needing anything out of it other than basic Exam data, assessments, bits of behaviour and personal details. You're not going to need to format it particularly well are you as long as you can get at it? So just create yourself a database in access and dump it all into there. Or pay someone to do it. If you gave someone the data in spreadsheets and said put this into access and make a few reports that do X, you'd get it a lot cheaper than that license fee.