[sims] Support - RM's Salford team?

[limawhiskey]

We are considering our options for SIMS support and the RM quote is significantly cheaper than our LA buy back. The LA do provide us with good service but we can't ignore the potential cost saving.

 

So, does anyone have good / bad / ugly experiences of RM's (Salford based) SIMS support team?

 

Experiences from end users of SIMS would be great - I don't use SIMS much apart from dealing with installs / updates.

 

Thanks

Edited February 6, 2017 by limawhiskey

[NB9457]

The only thing RM have ever been bad for is price, so if it's cheaper, go for it! Some nice chaps work for RM and I've worked alongside them and they have tight SLAs. I say go for it!

[yac2016]

Keystone MIS is another excellent Sims support option...

[Banjo]

We are considering our options for SIMS support and the RM quote is significantly cheaper than our LA buy back. The LA do provide us with good service but we can't ignore the potential cost saving.

 

So, does anyone have good / bad / ugly experiences of RM's (Salford based) SIMS support team?

 

Experiences from end users of SIMS would be great - I don't use SIMS much apart from dealing with installs / updates.

 

Thanks

 

It's slightly amusing that RM are paying Capita to support SIMS when they have their own product they are trying to push.

 

How much of a price difference are we talking about and also are you an academy?

[Esteban_Child_of_the_Sun]

I'd also check if the RM/LA quote includes the license for all the modules (and also check against what you are using). We always get schools to review what they are using and drop modules they aren't using any more.

[limawhiskey]

Thanks all for the replies.

 

We're now an academy so recently started paying Capita direct for licence renewals ("Annual Entitlement"). It's the first time I have seen billing for SIMS - it seems to be licensed in 'bundles' of modules. I have checked and some of the bundles include modules we are not using, e.g. Equipment register, but each bundle has a module that we do use (if that makes sense!) so I don't think we can slim it down.

 

Price difference for support is over £3k on face value, though the LA do have some training that we (minimally) use whereas RM charge rates of £ 175 / 95 for full / half days. As we don't use much training, we should still see a decent saving.

[jfessey]

The SIMS support offered by RM is excellent. Phones answered within a couple of rings and very knowledgeable staff who offer a very swift response. The RM remote assistance is brilliant and staff are happy to take over and sort out any issues very promptly. No waiting around for Crapita to respond to my logged calls anymore. Best value = RM!