[bromcom] SIMS to Bromcom migration - is doing in September stressful?

[JoeS]

I am a data manager for a secondary school. We were told we were going to migrate from SIMS to Bromcom over Easter, which seemed like a great time to me. Apart from Exams it is a quiet time of year, and we would have the whole summer term to iron out any teething problems.

 

Now we have been told that the migration date is potentially moving to be over the summer holidays so we will start using Bromcom for the first time on the first day of term in September. This seems like the worse possible time to do it, as it will be the busiest time of the year for most people, all the reports and functionality that people are used to using in SIMS will be totally different or non existent so everything will take twice as long (or worse!), and everyone will have forgotten all their training over the summer holiday.

I am worried that we are setting ourselves up for an extremely stressful period of time.

 

Am I right? Or worrying over nothing? Should I try and push back on this date and see if it can be changed?

If the powers that be decide on a September migration, is there anything we can do to make it less painful?

 

Many thanks

Edited February 25, 2025 by JoeS

[paulkerton]

I would assume you have some training days at the front of the year, so make sure you get a slot for even 30 minutes to remind people how to login, how to take a register etc.

They don't necessarily have to remember everything on day 1, but you should definitely train them before the summer and then give them a "these are the statutory things you need on day 1" refresher on a training day before they start.

[supportman]

I am a data manager for a secondary school. We were told we were going to migrate from SIMS to Bromcom over Easter, which seemed like a great time to me. Apart from Exams it is a quiet time of year, and we would have the whole summer term to iron out any teething problems.

 

Now we have been told that the migration date is potentially moving to be over the summer holidays so we will start using Bromcom for the first time on the first day of term in September. This seems like the worse possible time to do it, as it will be the busiest time of the year for most people, all the reports and functionality that people are used to using in SIMS will be totally different or non existent so everything will take twice as long (or worse!), and everyone will have forgotten all their training over the summer holiday.

I am worried that we are setting ourselves up for an extremely stressful period of time.

 

Am I right? Or worrying over nothing? If the powers that be decide on a September migration, is there anything we can do to make it less painful?

 

Many thanks

Easter is absolutely the best time to do it. We did it then and it was pretty much flawless.

 

To be honest, you get a test system anyway a few weeks before so its easy enough to prepare and learn, but I certainly would advise easter over Summer.

[mthomas08]

We did it Easter and perfect time. Things were chaotic when everyone returned and we dedicated our support time for Bromcom.

 

September is one of our worst periods, I will fight it with all my energy to avoid migrating at September - not unless I could persuade the HT to tell staff to avoid us unless critical.

[Synkrox]

We did September, and it went alright to be fair. Get some one-page guides ready to cover the absolute basics.

 

The benefit is it "feels" like the right time to switch. Everything from that September is in the new system, no one looking backwards trying to getting into older stuff. More time you can get on 1st day back to present the better.

 

Expect a couple of days of chaos, then a couple of weeks of medium hassles, but I think you'll get that regardless of when you switch.

 

What I can tell you without doubt is that the short term pain is absolutely worth the long term gain.

[Iain.Faulkner]

We've done it at two different times.

 

We did three primary schools at May half term, no issues at all, went incredibly smoothly.

 

Then two secondary schools for a September launch......awful. Incredibly stressful. I think though the best piece of advice I would give you is spend days/weeks testing in your demo environment, make sure roles/permissions are setup exactly how you want them (this is where our two secondary schools really went wrong with this) and staff can do everything that they need to be able to do on day one. Then training, training, training. Ensure the schools understand that they can't do everything in Bromcom in the same way that they did it in Sims/Classcharts (or whatever it is you're moving from). It's different, but that doesn't make it bad.

 

Looking back, I'm still glad we did it. As @Synkrox says, short term pain is well worth the long term game.

[AlistairB1983]

I am worried that we are setting ourselves up for an extremely stressful period of time.

Am I right? Or worrying over nothing? Should I try and push back on this date and see if it can be changed?

If the powers that be decide on a September migration, is there anything we can do to make it less painful?

Many thanks

You are definitely right to be concerned. As a fellow Data Manager, I would (and did!) do absolutely everything within my power to ensure that an MIS change doesn't take place in September (helpfully, Arbor agreed!).

 

The benefits of a 'clean break' are oversold - the clean break will come eventually regardless of when you move, but moving not in September gives you a chance to iron out problems before you have your 'break'.

 

Trying to implement a new MIS during the single busiest month of the year seems like absolute lunacy. However, if SLT are adamant that it goes ahead, I would try and get as much preparation done prior to the switch as you can.

 

* Train staff, and provide ongoing access to training materials for them in September, including 'cheat sheet' guides to cover the basics that staff (particularly teachers) will need from day 1.

 

* Spend as much time on the training site (and get others to do the same) as you can to help build familiarity.

 

* Ensure that the question of data integrity is considered by SLT - who is going to ensure your data is transferred over accurately, and when are they going to do that considering come 1st September you'll have a whole bunch of new data to add!

 

* Get help! Do not, under any circumstances, let SLT place the majority of the burden on you when it comes to the switch over. There's a whole team of individuals who need to be involved - SLT, IT, Data Manager, 'Admin' (in whatever form they take at your school). Yes, as Data Manager you'll probably be heavily involved, but it's not your job to sort out every single little thing - mainly since there's no way in hell you'll be able to do that during September when you're also trying to ensure that the new academic year is set up and running correctly.

 

 

But ultimately, try not to panic! I appreciate this is easy to say given everything above, but in reality if SLT are really set on a September switch there's probably little you can do to change their minds. Yes, it'll be absolute chaos. But you will get through it. And after that, you can consign SIMS to the dumpster where it belongs and enjoy life with a modern, fit-for-purpose MIS.

[Bromcom_John]

I have to reiterate all the good advice given already.

There is no best time to move (easter nudges it a bit but it has its own issues with volume as EVERYONE and their dog wants to move in Easter), just a least worst time and that is different for every school. Use our support as much as you feel comfortable with.

Let your deployment contact know your concerns and they will try to assist as much as they possibly can.

Use your early access to your cloud instance to build familiarity, your staff can have access as early as you need them to.

Refer to the system throughout your training, building that technical muscle memory is well worth it.

Probably the only unique benefit of a September launch from the technical side is you will have longer to get used to things than with an in year transfer.

Because we tend to recommend 12 weeks as a comfortable onboarding time frame, but that "won't" include the summer break.

So those of you who actually work through the summer break will get an additional six weeks to further familiarise yourselves with the new MIS. Its not a massive silver lining but it is one none the less.

[PotNoodleTech]

September is already usually very stressful for IT support and other Staff so it would not be my choice of months.

[maxbradley]

We moved 6 schools over summer, and then another school over Easter and I'd second everything mentioned above. One additional consideration; Parentpay, if you use it, takes 2 weeks-1 month to transition to the new MIS, and this timer starts once you have your new MIS and can create the TP user in Bromcom (All other TP systems are about a week, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Parentpay makes this so difficult). This can be a problem if you have a large influx of new students like in September, none of whom will be in Parentpay. However, if you do the move in Easter, you won't have that influx. All the students that were in before the move stay there, so you'll only have an issue with the few students that join/leave in the first weeks of the summer term.

[Rob_D]

As I've said in another thread, we moved over the summer break, and it wasn't too bad in hindsight.

The biggest problem we had was getting staff to engage with it at the end of the summer term, and then most everyone went off for the summer leaving us kind of flying blind. We wound up doing a lot of the setup, and thus finding most of the niggles during September.

I reckon you could have a pretty smooth move if you can shake out or at least identify most of your teething problems in the test environment (hopefully you can get this during the summer term), and be prepared to have key staff to come in over the break to help with set-up and learn to work the live system before the start of term.

 

I'd still try to avoid moving in Summer/September if I could.

[Synkrox]

And migrating CPOMS to consider. Similarly to ParentPay, you can't change the sync yourself and have to wait several weeks for them to adjust it. Can't recall if there was a charge, but I do remember it taking over a month.

[synaesthesia]

And migrating CPOMS to consider. Similarly to ParentPay, you can't change the sync yourself and have to wait several weeks for them to adjust it. Can't recall if there was a charge, but I do remember it taking over a month.

 

That's an odd one. No charge for CPOMS for us, and it was literally instant (well, overnight). That was just a couple of weeks ago.

[Synkrox]

That's an odd one. No charge for CPOMS for us, and it was literally instant (well, overnight). That was just a couple of weeks ago.

 

Perhaps it's improved then - good to know.

Just checked my emails and it took them 3 months for me! (2 years ago in fairness) from logging the ticket to them actioning it.

[synaesthesia]

Perhaps it's improved then - good to know.

Just checked my emails and it took them 3 months for me! (2 years ago in fairness) from logging the ticket to them actioning it.

 

3 months sounds about right for any other support call with them tbh

[Iain.Faulkner]

We moved 6 schools over summer, and then another school over Easter and I'd second everything mentioned above. One additional consideration; Parentpay, if you use it, takes 2 weeks-1 month to transition to the new MIS, and this timer starts once you have your new MIS and can create the TP user in Bromcom (All other TP systems are about a week, I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Parentpay makes this so difficult). This can be a problem if you have a large influx of new students like in September, none of whom will be in Parentpay. However, if you do the move in Easter, you won't have that influx. All the students that were in before the move stay there, so you'll only have an issue with the few students that join/leave in the first weeks of the summer term.

 

I'd second this about ParentPay. They were truly dreadful with us, I think for one of our Primary schools it was nearly 12 weeks before they managed to do everything that was needed.

[William1]

Just putting my 10pence worth! I would avoid doing September if there was an alternative like October half term. It is certainly doable in September but just its just another layer on top of an already hectic week, especially if there are serious things that go wrong. There is also the issue of training that can't be done up to the point of migration. I have done 2 schools in September, 3 in October half term and 3 in February. October is by far the best, for a secondary there is no tt issues, no exams, first census has passed and you can do all the training up to the point of half term.

[Quark]

Interesting about October half-term. Has anyone migrated mid-term? The autumn term feels easier (we're currently booked in for September)

[William1]

Hi I think for a primary or small school it wouldn't be so bad. Remember you will have gaps of data to backfill from when you do data cuts to when it goes live. In a primary there might only be attendance and student record changes in the space of the week, in a secondary there will be behaviour attendance and anything you use the mis for to backfill..

[TechMonkey]

To give the alternative view, I did an MIS migration over the summer. We did an initial data transfer Easterish time, did the training over the coming months spread out, allowed key staff to play with the initial data and then did a final data transfer over the summer holiday and then a rollover. Staff were told when we were changing, so stopped entering or adjusting data when we started the migration and then started on the new system when we were complete. We did mass training sessions with the academic staff on the inset days and concentrated on registration and retrieving pupil data as key skills. We built up other areas as we needed them, like report writing.

 

This was a Prep school, so no exams, and 600-650ish pupils. I felt it worked fine and didn't cause too much stress. This was about 7 years ago though and the school wasn't that reliant on the previous MIS.

[Quark]

Hi I think for a primary or small school it wouldn't be so bad. Remember you will have gaps of data to backfill from when you do data cuts to when it goes live. In a primary there might only be attendance and student record changes in the space of the week, in a secondary there will be behaviour attendance and anything you use the mis for to backfill..

There is a primary in our trust migrating over a weekend, and the last one that did so said it was actually a pretty good experience.

[supportman]

To give the alternative view, I did an MIS migration over the summer. We did an initial data transfer Easterish time, did the training over the coming months spread out, allowed key staff to play with the initial data and then did a final data transfer over the summer holiday and then a rollover. Staff were told when we were changing, so stopped entering or adjusting data when we started the migration and then started on the new system when we were complete. We did mass training sessions with the academic staff on the inset days and concentrated on registration and retrieving pupil data as key skills. We built up other areas as we needed them, like report writing.

 

This was a Prep school, so no exams, and 600-650ish pupils. I felt it worked fine and didn't cause too much stress. This was about 7 years ago though and the school wasn't that reliant on the previous MIS.

 

That's excellent advice and pretty much all anyone needs to do to migrate an MIS.

 

As I've said before, we migrated a 1200 pupil school in exactly the same way with 10+ 3rd party systems and it was smooth sailing really.