Ogdos Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 Our HT has asked us to have a look at different MIS' to replace our SIMS install. He is especially interested in the Arbor MIS, and I wonder if anyone has any opinions or experience with it that they would mind sharing either on here or via PM. TIA
andy_white Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 We are currently migrating 4 schools from SIMS to Arbor. two are going live after Christmas and two at the Feb 1/2 term. I will be happy to talk to you in a few weeks about how the first two went. My general impressions pre migration are positive. 2
Ogdos Posted December 28, 2017 Author Posted December 28, 2017 Thank you andy_white. That would be a fantastic help.
Ditto Posted December 28, 2017 Posted December 28, 2017 Currently we are on Progresso, but I saw a demo of Arbor at a local school earlier this year. Like all MIS, some in the school liked it more than others. I also looked at a few other MIS briefly and felt SchooPod was a good one to compare with Arbor. In truth, it would make sense to look at requirements first. Is there a reason the HT has focused on Arbor?
nicholab Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 Can Arbor support Independent schools also does it have a finance product to replace fms?
Ditto Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 Everything I've seen has been about state funded schools, but I guess Arbor would be able to clarify - what are the key functional differences you are looking for? Arbor have a payments module, but I doubt it has the breadth of FMS. One other product I did look at was iSAMS which has is very much built for independents but also is more active pursuing the state sector nowadays.
XiJ Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 One of our schools introduced us to it. We ( as IT professionals) thought it looked fantastic - just the type of thing we’d build. We wanted a school prospective though so arranged a demo for a headteacher - who was blown away but it. The original school have been using a year after converting from SIMS and wouldn’t ever go back. 1
andy_white Posted December 29, 2017 Posted December 29, 2017 It doesn't have a finance module like FMS. The payment system is so parents can pay for items.
Achandler Posted January 2, 2018 Posted January 2, 2018 Didn't support 6th form either last time I heard about it.
fredbayker Posted January 2, 2018 Posted January 2, 2018 From what I’ve heard, it’s great for producing reports, however for actual day-to-day data input etc it is laborious and not user friendly. The support isn’t that great either. I know of a school that has migrated back to sims from arbor after just one year 2
nispire Posted January 8, 2018 Posted January 8, 2018 We've been using Arbor for a few months now and it seems to do the job well. We were previously using Facility. Staff love how easy it is to use. Report building has been a bit of a challenge for us - just doesn't go as far in depth as what Facility did, but we did have it completely customised!! Only downside is their support is lacking. Even when I've had a serious issue and needed to speak to someone right away I've been told I have to "wait for support to call me back" (Which once took 3 days....) 2
JayAshcroft Posted January 9, 2018 Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) Hello all, I'm Jay Ashcroft and I'm responsible for School Success here at Arbor. Let me jump straight in: Our focus at Arbor to date has been on state-funded schools and Multi-Academy Trusts. We don't actively focus on the Independent sector I'm afraid. It's disappointing to hear that our customer support has been a downside. We set ourselves very high standards at Arbor and I'd really like to hear more about your experience so far so we can learn and improve. All the best, Jay Edited January 16, 2018 by elsiegee40 1
vikpaw Posted January 14, 2018 Posted January 14, 2018 We are currently migrating 4 schools from SIMS to Arbor. two are going live after Christmas and two at the Feb 1/2 term. I will be happy to talk to you in a few weeks about how the first two went. My general impressions pre migration are positive. Be interested to hear your view on the migration. When it was first lauched they were offering a seamless hands-off migration using only a RasPi, though I suspect for a more complete migration there would need to be a more intense process.
Muhammad Posted January 16, 2018 Posted January 16, 2018 I have some experience with Arbor, however it was in FE colleges setting in Saudi Arabia, where I managed the implementation of Arbor across 5 colleges, It have some powerful features and is very user friendly. Some elements of our system were bespoke; however standard system is quite good as well. 1
vikpaw Posted January 16, 2018 Posted January 16, 2018 I have some experience with Arbor, however it was in FE colleges setting in Saudi Arabia, where I managed the implementation of Arbor across 5 colleges, It have some powerful features and is very user friendly. Some elements of our system were bespoke; however standard system is quite good as well. Laureate? to EduGeek. I was based in Jeddah for a long time.
Muhammad Posted January 17, 2018 Posted January 17, 2018 Laureate? to EduGeek. I was based in Jeddah for a long time. Hi Vik, We know each other, I worked in Khobar @ Interserve, now back in Manchester.
vikpaw Posted January 17, 2018 Posted January 17, 2018 Hi Vik, We know each other, I worked in Khobar @ Interserve, now back in Manchester. Oh, it's You! Good to see you here.
mjk Posted January 17, 2018 Posted January 17, 2018 Didn't support 6th form either last time I heard about it. is this still the case ?
vikpaw Posted January 18, 2018 Posted January 18, 2018 is this still the case ? It would be odd not to support sixth form when it was used for FE with vocational colleges. More clarity needed on ‘support’.
JayAshcroft Posted January 18, 2018 Posted January 18, 2018 It would be odd not to support sixth form when it was used for FE with vocational colleges. More clarity needed on ‘support’. We do support sixth form. Whether it is the right option for your own institution is a deeper question. The requirements of what a secondary / FE institution want from an MIS can vary hugely from institution to institution. Your best option would be to arrange a demo with one of our Partnership Managers to see it in action for yourself. All of our Partnership Team here at Arbor are former school leaders or teachers, so there's no hard sell. If you take a look and it's not for you then that's no problem! If you want to DM me I can get someone to arrange a demo for you or you can head over to the website and request one.
Banjo Posted January 18, 2018 Posted January 18, 2018 I think Arbor also have access to the DfE's national pupil datasets. I'm not sure why they would need that but they have it?
Spence_101 Posted February 23, 2018 Posted February 23, 2018 We are currently migrating 4 schools from SIMS to Arbor. two are going live after Christmas and two at the Feb 1/2 term. I will be happy to talk to you in a few weeks about how the first two went. My general impressions pre migration are positive. Would be interested to hear how it went and is going post-migration.
Ditto Posted February 23, 2018 Posted February 23, 2018 Me too. I know one local school that started with Arbor, so didn't go through a migration, any migration feedback and day-to-day usage feedback will be really useful.
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