SIMS - 44% price increase in one year

[coolhands]

Last year we paid in the region of £Xk+vat for all our sims modules. This year Parentpay have invented new packages, and moved modules into more than one so you are forced to purchase different packages to retain the same functionality. 

So Assessment is within 'Optimise' but Lesson Monitor is within 'Engage'. That's an extra approx £Yk please (total is now over approx £XYk). Obviously almost every school will be using at least those 2 core items.

 

They are an unbelievable company. Can't believe there's not an outcry about this; God knows how they can do this - what are contracts for?

[3s-gtech]

Contracts are for you to pay them money, silly! Now pay them money, and I want you to at least look grateful.

 

Can you price up alternatives to the modules as an add-in? Competitors may be able to undercut the price for the functionality.

[psydii]

Pretty sure they are only just limbering up. Once Bromcom isn't  owned  by its founder (ultimately inevitable in my opinion), they will raise their prices and this with untether Arbor and SIMS, enabling them to do what they need to for the ROI expected by the PE funds that own them. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if by 2035 schools end up paying 10x what they are now.

[Gongalong]

Strange. We've just paid our annual renewal and no price increase, albeit this is the second year of a three year contract.

[psydii]

35 minutes ago, Gongalong said:

Strange. We've just paid our annual renewal and no price increase, albeit this is the second year of a three year contract.

It's the price hike they warned they'd hit you with if you didn't agree to a enter into a new 3 year contract by  December 2024 (even if your renewal is in April).

[coolhands]

2 hours ago, Gongalong said:

Strange. We've just paid our annual renewal and no price increase, albeit this is the second year of a three year contract.

 

Do you know if you now have both Optimise and Engage packages?

[Gongalong]

Yes, Optimise and Engage, and support from ParentPay. Oddly, our second year cost went down a few hundred pounds, but I didn't argue. If our next 3 year renewal goes up by 50% it might cause some head scratching here, but I think when we looked at Arbor/Bromcom they were about 50% more expensive. Coincidence?...

[bobsmith]

I can't honestly remember when SIMS was the cheap option...

[chazzy2501]

I know it is now steep enough that management are holding off "sims next Gen" to look at migrating.  This is whilst we still control our data locally.

 

 

[Gongalong]

It was definitely cheaper for us (secondary with 1,200 students), but as above it will be on a part with Arbor/Bromcom if a 50% price rise kicks in for us.

[psydii]

FWIW I do think that everyone with SIMS should be making use of SIMS NG at least to some extent. It is still fully dependant on SIM7, so it can be viable even without being anywhere near feature complete. We need 3 viable options in the MIS space, and SIMS NG needs to have users in order to develop into a robust product. 

[TechMonkey]

That's not a great take though:  We need people to buy a rubbish product from a rubbish company to make sure there is competition.

 

Unless I am missing the sarcasm from lack of Tea.

[paulkerton]

On 16/04/2026 at 16:21, psydii said:

Once Bromcom isn't  owned  by its founder (ultimately inevitable in my opinion)

Well long term, perhaps - but Bromcom are 40 this year and they've not cashed out yet!

[psydii]

Nope. Didn't say buy a rubbish product. I meant:  if you've got SIMS NG, do the world a favour and help them make it viable against Arbor and Bromcom. We will be in a very bad place if in five years the *only* choice is Bromcom or Arbor.

[Devaleth]

I have to concur with TechMonkey - I'm not sure I could advocate for SIMS in its current state simply to keep the company and product in existence. I understand intellectually that a monopoly/duopoly does not necessarily lead to innovation or customer focused products in those particular offerings. But if there isn't a unique selling point or other compelling reason beyond inertia/history then I don't think we're being bad customers by walking away in the numbers that schools have. Lest we forget, it was arguably SIMS dominance and them taking that for granted that created the environment for new offerings. The same could/would happen if Arbor and Bromcom repeat Capita's history, surely.

 

However, on psydii's later point I do agree - in fact we should be holding all the main players to account.

[psydii]

49 minutes ago, paulkerton said:

Well long term, perhaps - but Bromcom are 40 this year and they've not cashed out yet!

There are only two things that are inevitable, and both will be involved when the time comes. 

Edited April 21 by psydii

[AlistairB1983]

6 minutes ago, psydii said:

Nope. Didn't say buy a rubbish product. I meant:  if you've got SIMS NG, do the world a favour and help them make it viable against Arbor and Bromcom. We will be in a very bad place if in five years the *only* choice is Bromcom or Arbor.

 

Unfortunately I can't help but echo some of the other replies. 

 

Whilst sticking with SIMS NG to help refine the product and make it a viable alternative is a noble act, it requires schools sticking with an evidently sub-par product when superior (and often cheaper!) products already exist.

 

If a school is happy and/or committed to continuing to use SIMS, then absolutely they should try using SIMS NG to help improve the product, but we shouldn't be trying to coerce/suggest people stay with an obviously inferior product just to be guinea pigs to try and help it improve.

[psydii]

and yet... **Stares at Bromcom's reliability problems.**

 

Honestly, using SIMS NG actually primes a wide range of stakeholders to ask the right questions when you approach the end of the contract and need to re-tender. 

[LeMarchand]

Couldn't possibly be anything to do with their rapidly shrinking market share? https://www.whichmis.com/latest-mis-numbers-from-the-spring-census/

 

[Ditto]

As always, excellent commmentary at https://bringmoredata.blogspot.com/ on MIS market.