[sims] SIMS support contract

[reggiep]

Hi All,

 

We are a secondary school running SIMS.

We currently get our SIMS support from our LA. However I have been asked to find out how much the support directly from Capita would be.

 

From my experience in the past I would guess that Capita support would be more expensive but more thorough?

 

Can anyone let me know how much their support costs are or if they have been in a similar situation?

 

Thanks

[Sivadam]

We moved from LA Support to direct Support from Capita a number of years ago. The cost with Capita depends on the modules you take and the size of the school. For the past couple of years our costs have been below those of the LA as we dropped below 1,000 pupils. This coming year we will pay slightly more than the LA as we are now back above 1,000 NOR. The LA charge a standard fee to all Secondary schools. Other LAs may give a different 'discount' however, so this might not be a direct comparison. We only pay for the 'minimum' Support license with Capita as we do not need support for the software functionality (L&D Support).

 

You need to find out if you can novate your license or if you will need to re-buy the licences. See the thread on Acadamies and Phil Neal's comments there. You would need to get a quote from Capita - which they will be happy to give you.

Edited January 31, 2011 by Sivadam

[vikpaw]

This has been discussed before. I would definitely opt for Capita direct support based on past experience with an LA and present experience with direct support (internationally).

 

Have you seen these threads:

 

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/64171-sims-support.html

http://www.edugeek.net/forums/mis-systems/66378-leaving-la-support-moving-capita-direct-support.html

 

There may already be some material out there of use to you.

 

One of the biggest things to think about is (and i think they are mentioned in those threads if not in some others) what level of support you need, i.e. how skilled are you / sims manager / sims admin users etc.? How often do you need to use support from the LA, and what do you get. If they throw in extra training at a discount, then it might benefit you if you need that.

 

If you pretty much sort your own issues out in-house and only use LA to escalate stuff, and they are just acting as a proxy, then it might be worth going direct even if it costs more, as you may save time.