Jump to content

ESS SIMS 3 Year Contracts

DavidYoung

By DavidYoung
in MIS Systems

 Share

Recommended Posts

coolhands

coolhands

Posted
Posted
The Spring 2022 release of SIMS and FMS has moved to the 4 April to support the release of our SIMS Next Generation programme. As part of this release for the first time we will be checking that customers are eligible to use the software updates included in the release. We call this an eligibility check.

 

The eligibility check ensures that SIMS and FMS software updates can only be used by schools who have or had an annual entitlement agreement that was current at the time the software update was released.

 

More aggressive strategy? Does this mean schools that don't have to migrate for the extra 6 months can't update to spring release? Or is everyone that is leaving already having to leave before that? I thiought some had gained an extra 6 month window?

localzuk

localzuk

Posted
Posted
More aggressive strategy? Does this mean schools that don't have to migrate for the extra 6 months can't update to spring release? Or is everyone that is leaving already having to leave before that? I thiought some had gained an extra 6 month window?

You're still a paying customer if you're in that 6 month window.

howartp

howartp

Posted
Posted
More aggressive strategy? Does this mean schools that don't have to migrate for the extra 6 months can't update to spring release? Or is everyone that is leaving already having to leave before that? I thiought some had gained an extra 6 month window?

 

Those who are leaving in 6 months have already renewed their contract; they have opted-in to permission to break the contract in 5.5 months time. So they are eligible for the upgrade.

 

The email did amuse me though; it presumably implies/confirms what I thought - that once you have a SIMS contract and access to SOLUS, you could theoretically cancel your contract at any time but still continue receiving all updates ad infinitum.

  • Thanks 1
simpsonj

simpsonj

Posted
Posted
Those who are leaving in 6 months have already renewed their contract; they have opted-in to permission to break the contract in 5.5 months time. So they are eligible for the upgrade.

 

The email did amuse me though; it presumably implies/confirms what I thought - that once you have a SIMS contract and access to SOLUS, you could theoretically cancel your contract at any time but still continue receiving all updates ad infinitum.

 

I wonder if any schools have done that and are now slightly bricking it...

paulkerton

paulkerton

Posted
Posted

DRM for SIMS!

Wonderful, I'm sure this has been implemented securely and there won't be a simple way around it.

 

Nice to see that the Q1 promise for "SIMS Next Generation" has already slipped into Q2.

  • Thanks 1
haci

haci

Posted
Posted
DRM for SIMS!

Wonderful, I'm sure this has been implemented securely and there won't be a simple way around it.

 

Nice to see that the Q1 promise for "SIMS Next Generation" has already slipped into Q2.

 

I can absolutely see this working without issue, what could possibly go wrong!

no matter how much I try it looks like we are staying with sims :(

I can only hope things like this do cause enough issues and they eventually decide enough is enough.

  • Thanks 1
DrCheese

DrCheese

Posted
Posted
DRM for SIMS!

Wonderful, I'm sure this has been implemented securely and there won't be a simple way around it.

 

Nice to see that the Q1 promise for "SIMS Next Generation" has already slipped into Q2.

 

I look forward to it slipping into Q3... then Q4... then.. some point in the next 3 years - Probably about 5 minutes before our next renewals are due.

  • Thanks 2
Sir

Sir

Posted
Posted

SIMS customers without current annual entitlement agreements will not be able to access or use the Census menu option in SIMS, since this has been updated as part of the Spring 2022 release and FMS customers without current annual entitlement agreements will be unable to access the CFR menu options, which has also been updated in the Spring 2022 release. All other menu items will function normally.

Is this a legal duty of schools per chance? :rolleyes:

howartp

howartp

Posted
Posted

Just arrived from ESS re Next:Gen

Preparing for SIMS Next Gen

 

To get ready for SIMS Next Gen, your schools will need to make some changes to SIMS Service Manager. This is the first-step on our journey of innovation, and will enable us to automatically update SSM, removing the burden of manual updates typically required when releasing new features.

 

This guide will help your school complete these changes. If you’re a Hosted school, you’ll receive your updates in the usual way. If you're struggling to complete them please contact your usual support provider.

 

Supported by us?

 

If you're having issues, please log a case. If you require assistance we have a support service coming soon - to find out more register your interest here.

 

As part of the Spring release, we’ve made changes to the SSM user-interface – so things might look a little different. You can find more information on the Spring release here.

 

Video:

https://fast.wistia.net/embed/channel/8866nn7tk5?mkt_tok=ODIwLVFOTS0xNzIAAAGDO41KLb_uPZ0s9iB4EQPjiC-hAz9d3bXnm5Jmv9Ic1z6FD8EtuvG-hV6WTI9FQ3utf0RwHbEkX1vl59BKxNKQ76EqlCWFwFP-FapdZEh6KA&wchannelid=8866nn7tk5&wmediaid=mei91h5jis

 

Guide:

https://customer.support-ess.com/csm?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0051097&sys_kb_id=85bfaa671bce09909f2142a7b04bcbb1&spa=1&mkt_tok=ODIwLVFOTS0xNzIAAAGDO41KLcFYhHhEnqkZ4SgHTeRoEDI0NWpnvDdwB7pSlQLtfptWVLvzXW9i7ZhH4-5DZCF4x9ptpByggfxK6-R1SCrh_kMyf65qYjpVeMqzag

supportman

supportman

Posted
Posted

 

An entire glossy video telling people not to move away without a _single_ screenshot of their "NextGen" product. You honestly could not make this stuff up :)

 

And reading the guide it seems they have had to write yet another integration product that needs to be installed locally to get Sims to talk to the cloud.

 

Just complete madness to build on top of legacy Sims again trying to shoehorn a complicated local SQL database into a modern cloud UI.

howartp

howartp

Posted
Posted
And reading the guide it seems they have had to write yet another integration product that needs to be installed locally to get Sims to talk to the cloud.

Not sure; SIMS Services Manager already existed, and Options Online (and others) already sync their data via SIMS Online Services. I can't say if the Data Exchange Service is new or not?

Edu-IT

Edu-IT

Posted
Posted
Not sure; SIMS Services Manager already existed, and Options Online (and others) already sync their data via SIMS Online Services. I can't say if the Data Exchange Service is new or not?

I think its just an upgrade to SSM.

supportman

supportman

Posted
Posted
looking forward to deleting SSM in a couple of weeks time :)

 

The day I uninstalled Solus for the final time was one of my happiest experiences in the last 10 years of work.

 

No more updates when you go cloud, new features just appear on the Monday morning as if like magic! :)

enjay

enjay

Posted
Posted
The day I uninstalled Solus for the final time was one of my happiest experiences in the last 10 years of work.

 

I remember thinking that when I turned off an RM Connect 2.4 server :-)

  • Thanks 1
enjay

enjay

Posted
Posted
Ah those were the days :D

 

Indeed! I think about a quarter of my posts on this forum are conversations between the two of us about my Connect (2.4 or 3) network :-)

synaesthesia

synaesthesia

Posted
Posted

I'm going to take our old SIMS server out to the field, with a large Capita/ESS logo stuck on the top, and leave a selection of bats for certain staff to have a go at it with when ours goes.

Don't worry, it will be properly WEEE recycled afterwards!

 

Unrelated - if anyone has a stock of Thermite, I'll be in touch (suddenly remembers Colin Furze is just up the road...)

  • Thanks 1
AJWhite1970

AJWhite1970

Posted
Posted

We are running SIMS unsupported for 8 days (5 working days) until the 8th April and then I get to turn it off on the 11th, new BromCom system incoming shortly thereafter :)

 

Have to say the move of Spring 2022 to after the maintenance window for many expires is a bit sneaky but to be fair I can also see why, you aren’t under maintenance so you don’t get the new features….

smarties11

smarties11

Posted
Posted
Has anyone followed the instructions yet for the Services Manager update? We were on a 1.3.x version, so downloaded the new version and updated it, turned on automatic updates. The version we get updated to doesn't match what the instructions say, it's a couple of increments below but there are no further updates in package manager. Then when we go to set up DeX, you have to log on with SIMS iD however we've never used SIMS iD before so I have no credentials! Password reset doesn't find my account........ticket logged with ESS. I should have known this wasn't going to be straightforward....
smarties11

smarties11

Posted
Posted

Also, if you search the customer portal for 'next gen', a couple of documents have appeared in the last week or two relating to the "take register" piece of next gen. I know when I spoke verbally to ESS last year, they said that this module would be first. There are no screenshots within the documentation as to how it might look, but there are a few concerning details such as....

 

How often does my data synchronise between SIMS 7 and Next Gen?

Attendance Data – during peak Take Register times, every 5 minutes.

Staff/Learner/Group (Classes) – overnight.

 

For as long as Next Gen is treated as a web layer on top of the existing system it will be doomed!

supportman

supportman

Posted
Posted (edited)
Also, if you search the customer portal for 'next gen', a couple of documents have appeared in the last week or two relating to the "take register" piece of next gen. I know when I spoke verbally to ESS last year, they said that this module would be first. There are no screenshots within the documentation as to how it might look, but there are a few concerning details such as....

 

 

 

For as long as Next Gen is treated as a web layer on top of the existing system it will be doomed!

Yep agreed, and also there are already good web layers above sims such as Edulink.

 

And thats not even taking into account all the issues with the underlying database being slow and not fit for purpose any more.

Edited by supportman

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing


×
×
  • Create New...