Looking for an MIS to rival SIMS

[DT23]

Hi, getting a lot of staff wanting something to replace SIMS that is a bit more user friendly, has a nicer GUI and is a bit less rigid when trying to get hold of various bits of info and reports. I have briefly looked at several online (Scholar Pack, Progresso, Engage, Bromcom). Does anyone have any suggestions of which would be worth a proper look or if there are any others that I've completely passed by that might be what I'm looking for.

I know that's currently a bit of a vague ask but I can start narrowing it down from there.

Thanks Guys.

[mjk]

We had a look at iSAMS and were impressed.

[bigdannyb79]

if you give some further info on your school/staff I'd suggest people could be more helpful. There's horses for courses in the MIS market, rightly so, therefore without knowing your context its hard to recommend. Edited April 20, 2017 by bigdannyb79

[Ditto]

Whilst nothing beats a proper list of requirements, based on what you said I'd agree with mjk that iSAMS is worth investigating, but is depending how much functionality you need, can get pricey. From DT23's list, we used to use Scholar Pack and primary staff seemed to like it but we rationalised senior and primary to Progresso. PM me if you want more in depth info on progresso. I've not seen Engage or Bromcom, but I would add one to the list that's not yet widely used but growing, and that's SchoolPod.

[elsiegee40]

@DT23 it doesn't take much searching to find that this subject has been a hot topic recently in the MIS forum. Have a look at this for example

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/179527-looking-new-mis-bromcom-sims-rm-pupil-asset-7.html

 

Vendors, suppliers and anyone else with a commercial interest

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Edited April 22, 2017 by elsiegee40

[mjk]

Whilst nothing beats a proper list of requirements, based on what you said I'd agree with mjk that iSAMS is worth investigating, but is depending how much functionality you need, can get pricey.

 

iSAMS pricing is tiered rather than per pupil, so a large school can get every single module for less than the basic SIMS costs. For smaller schools it doesn't work out so well.

 

I couldn't agree more with the list of requirements ! I often find that SLT don't seem to be able to supply such things!

[RootsSchImp]

My pro tip would be rather than approach the exercise as 'how can we replicate exactly what we do in SIMS in a new MIS?' to ask 'How can a new MIS improve our school's efficiency, allow us to work smarter and reduce our spend on third party software'.

 

Areas I would look at (where I think SIMS is weak) are general workflow (if x happens, y needs to be notified, z outcome should happen etc) and parental engagement. I don't know if you use Learning Gateway but when I last saw it it was expensive and a bit rubbish. I think better school-home data sharing should come as standard on an MIS.

 

Good luck with the search.

[2ilent8cho]

Our staff find iSAMS much friendlier and easier than SIMS, so if having a nice GUI and easy to use is high up the list definitely have a look at iSAMS. Plus its 100% web browser based which i love and has Apps for Parents, Teachers, Students for both Smartphones and Tablets running iOS and Android.

[Guest MD5T]

Bromcom is quite a good system which is entirely web based. Good support and very stable

[vikpaw]

My last school I moved from SIMS to Engage, and our Group schools are on Engage. Love it. Better suited to independents.