SIMS - Direct Support from Parent Pay

[webby74]

Good afternoon everyone,

 

Our LA SIMS Support Team will no longer be offering SIMS support from April next year. They are fantastic, offering top notch support, so it's a real shame. We are looking at lots of options, including moving to another MIS so we can stay with them for support, along with looking at alternates like Bromcom and other SIMS Support Services. We are meeting after half term with all the relevant stakeholders with in our school to discuss options. 

 

One member of SLT is really pushing for staying with SIMS, does like change and just wants to go direct to SIMS/Parent Pay for support. He hardly ever uses the current SIMS Support, and can't see an issue.

 

So basically, I'm looking for reviews on what direct support is actually like? 

 

Andrew

[NetworkDirector]

I really would not recommend going directly to SIMS/Parent Pay for support because they are awful when it comes to direct support, when we cancelled our contract with our support provider, we went to SIMS for some support and it took weeks to get a response and someone to support us. When we had SIMS we used a third-party support company, we used Schools ICT, which were great when we needed them. I would definitely go for a Third-party provider like Schools ICT or others.

 

But completely depends on your situation and what you are willing to pay. If you want to wait weeks at a time for a good response from SIMS support then go ahead, otherwise I wouldn't. On other MIS's, we ended up trialing Bromcom, but the UI is super clunky with loads of menus that are more confusing than not, and when we had a Trial of Arbor that was good but timetabling wasn't too advanced with multi-day structures unavailable unlike SIMS. We went with Arbor though because training was much easier than with Bromcom since it was more intuitive and easier to understand for the teachers. I would move away from SIMS purely because NG is not ready at all, and they are pushing that when it's ready.

Edited Thursday at 11:55 by NetworkDirector

[psydii]

Counter point, we pay for the full service with days of support, training and even emergency data manager cover. They are pretty swift and comprehensive.  Not at all to the same as LA support where everybody has known each other for years and people go the extra mile for each other. But good enough while we get our ducks lined up for a full review of MIS and adjacent solutions.

[NetworkDirector]

10 minutes ago, psydii said:

Counter point, we pay for the full service with days of support, training and even emergency data manager cover. They are pretty swift and comprehensive.  Not at all to the same as LA support where everybody has known each other for years and people go the extra mile for each other. But good enough while we get our ducks lined up for a full review of MIS and adjacent solutions.

It's a mixed bag with all MIS providers, SIMS isn't the only one, you can get good customer support, and then bad at times, pretty much every MIS provider and provider in general are good and bad. SIMS is great for having everything in the MIS, and it connecting to all the apps like Class Charts that SIMS can't do, I can't say Bromcom and Arbor do that very well at all. Bromcom shoves all the features into it, and then everything is just unfinished and jank, and Arbor is too simple, SIMS get's everything just about right, except for it not being cloud-based and NG isn't near ready at all yet. I really don't understand why NG is taking so long, I actually like SIMS as a desktop MIS, we managed it ourselves and it was actually alright, the contracts were annoying to be locked into but except for that, everything was fine. It was SLT that wanted us to change because of the contractual issues.

[SIMS_Customer_Support]

On 22/10/2026 at 12:33, webby74 said:

Good afternoon everyone,

 

Our LA SIMS Support Team will no longer be offering SIMS support from April next year. They are fantastic, offering top notch support, so it's a real shame. We are looking at lots of options, including moving to another MIS so we can stay with them for support, along with looking at alternates like Bromcom and other SIMS Support Services. We are meeting after half term with all the relevant stakeholders with in our school to discuss options. 

 

One member of SLT is really pushing for staying with SIMS, does like change and just wants to go direct to SIMS/Parent Pay for support. He hardly ever uses the current SIMS Support, and can't see an issue.

 

So basically, I'm looking for reviews on what direct support is actually like? 

 

Andrew

Hi @webby74,

 

Just to provide some clarity around SIMS support arrangements.

 

Where a support partner no longer offers SIMS support, you will continue to have access to support directly from ParentPay Group or through our wider network of approved service partners.

 

Your current support arrangements will continue to be in place until 31 March 2027, with alternative support options available from 1 April 2027. By the end of November 2026, we will be sharing further details via email with your school, including a list of approved service partners within our network, so you can explore the available options and choose the support arrangement that best meets your school's needs.

 

Our priority is to ensure continuity of support and make any transition as straightforward as possible for your school.