SIMS SLG alternatives

[localzuk]

Ok, so another thing I've been asked to look at is the SLG part of our system. ie. parental reporting.

 

Obviously, SLG is not the only option but my Google-foo is not working properly and I'm having difficulty finding alternatives.

 

Can anyone point me at such alternatives?

[apeo]

We use slg here but i did hear good things about these guys:

 

Insight

 

Theres also bromcom but I have no idea they're any good or not:

 

http://www.bromcom.com/mcas.asp

Edited February 1, 2011 by apeo

[Sylv3r]

From what I have seen of the Insight product and from other NM's in the area - it sounds cheaper alternative to SLG.

 

We use SLG here and have no problems with it and feel it is a good product also.

[localzuk]

From what I have seen of the Insight product and from other NM's in the area - it sounds cheaper alternative to SLG.

 

We use SLG here and have no problems with it and feel it is a good product also.

 

We use SLG via our LEA at the moment, but may be becoming an academy so I am finding out competing pricing so we have an idea as to what is the best route for us to take.

[mb2k01]

I use the Bromcom solution. They have to separate products which offer the featureset of SLG.

Teachers' Web Folder gives teaching staff external access to SIMS data to be able to do assessments, registration, profiles etc.

My Child At School is the parental reporting solution from them. Neither solution is SharePoint based.

[danIT]

Seen as someone has suggested Insight from Tasc, thought I'd put up OPENHIVEInsight: OPENHIVE Products Insight

 

Its a Silverlight based web application, and is part of a wider set of applications (Email, VLE etc..).

 

Theres a YouTube demo of Insight from BETT last year:

 

Doesnt have SIMS write back yet.

[Griff]

Bromcom was installed here nearly a year ago however the school are still using fully using SIMS. Take from that what you will....

[36Degrees]

We use Frog here for our website, VLE and very soon their Parental Engagement Portal as well.

[localzuk]

Bromcom was installed here nearly a year ago however the school are still using fully using SIMS. Take from that what you will....

 

Bromcom is a company, which product are you talking about?

[bossman]

+1 for Tasc Software company as they have a good product at a very reasonable price and also have other software which will enhance the data management side of your school.

 

The team are very friendly and any after sales service is excellent, very quick and responsive.

[resin1]

Keep in mind that TASC Insight is for internal hosting only, so depends if thats an important issue for you. We are not a user, but from what I have seen and heard from them, it makes SLG look silly in terms of how straightforward, well presented and usable it is, and a similarly silly price in comparison. The revamp of the user interface I saw at BETT just the other week is really nice too.

 

Griff - probably unfair to ask, but are you saying your place bought in to Bromcom MCAS and have been unable to get it working with your SIMS data in a year? Can't be down to their support surely - which is second to none usually.

[Griff]

Bromcom is a company, which product are you talking about?

 

Sorry that was vague of me..we bought into their MIS, Webfolder and MyChildAtSchool products. The products themsleves seem fine its just the implementation has not been smooth at all.

[localzuk]

Keep in mind that TASC Insight is for internal hosting only, so depends if thats an important issue for you. We are not a user, but from what I have seen and heard from them, it makes SLG look silly in terms of how straightforward, well presented and usable it is, and a similarly silly price in comparison. The revamp of the user interface I saw at BETT just the other week is really nice too.

 

Agree about the pricing! Had a quote for Insight, one for SLG and one for Bromcom's solution. SLG is wayyy out there in terms of price.

[Griff]

Keep in mind that TASC Insight is for internal hosting only, so depends if thats an important issue for you. We are not a user, but from what I have seen and heard from them, it makes SLG look silly in terms of how straightforward, well presented and usable it is, and a similarly silly price in comparison. The revamp of the user interface I saw at BETT just the other week is really nice too.

 

Griff - probably unfair to ask, but are you saying your place bought in to Bromcom MCAS and have been unable to get it working with your SIMS data in a year? Can't be down to their support surely - which is second to none usually.

 

I have heard nothing about the MCAS side of things because I think their main priority is just to get the MIS working. In terms of the support its been OK, I understand its not just down to them I think our SIMS data is probably quite messy but I think we were built up to expect more from them. Again hope this doesn't sound too negative because the products seem very intuitive in comparison to sims offering.

[mb2k01]

Just to add on to the MCAS discussion with resin1 and Griff.

I am a SIMS MIS site and we had MCAS installed at the same time as TWF. MCAS seemed slightly more fiddly for them to do, and this did look like SIMS database linking/syncing issues (I was watching as I facilited remote access for them to do the install!). I would say I had it up and working within a week - but based on a couple of hours per afternoon max. (I was quite keen to watch the install so only allowed them to do it when I was available, I dare say if I just left them to it they would have finished sooner!)

[Tapiochre]

I've seen the LP+ Parental Model and it's beautiful. Its fully integrated with SIMS.Net and is real-time so parents can see the current state of play on attendance and pupil data. What the school decides to present to the parent is down to them, but this one is very cool. As it is integrated into the VLE as a whole, it makes the knitting of (eg) attendance and what the child is doing in class so much easier.

[chris-bromcom]

Hi,

I have been reading your threads and it’s interesting to point out that with some products you can buy into just parental reporting or just teacher access from home? whereas ask yourself if your school is just interested in providing teacher access then why would you want to have to purchase other features bundled in if you not going to use them?

 

There are many alternatives out there from many suppliers, some of which are already pointed out on here, of course many of which are cheaper than SLG! Worth pointing out as one person has already spoken about it is that Bromcom MCAS and Teachers Webfolder is not reliant on SharePoint as it is a true application, so technically easier to install and use.

[Hightower]

Got to echo @Bossman's comments. We've been using Insight for around 18 months, and it's a great product at a GREAT price. You do need internal hosting, and it must be a Windows box of some sort. You also need a SIMS client installed on the box.

 

One of the best things about it, as @Bossman has said, is their after sales support. The amount of times we have wanted something changing - phone/email them, and literally minutes later there's an update to the software for us to install and utilise requested updates.

[SmithR]

Hi All,

 

Have not got a bad word to say about INSIGHT, we installed around October and its one of the best products I’ve bought in a long while

 

User friendly, Cheap, Customizable, Pulls information from SIMS + PARS or Both, It can pull information from some catering systems as well, Links in with AD so staff and students will auto logon.

We have already issued parents with usernames + passwords and all seems to run smoothly

Tasc Support is excellent and any new features, suggestions they are always willing to incorporate into their software.

 

Everyone likes this software and we have had no complaints

 

Rob

[zag]

Have not got a bad word to say about INSIGHT, we installed around October and its one of the best products I’ve bought in a long while

 

User friendly, Cheap, Customizable, Pulls information from SIMS + PARS or Both, It can pull information from some catering systems as well, Links in with AD so staff and students will auto logon.

We have already issued parents with usernames + passwords and all seems to run smoothly

Tasc Support is excellent and any new features, suggestions they are always willing to incorporate into their software.

 

Massive thread bump on this but we've just done the same.

 

Great bit of software!

 

So much better than SLG and it costs are so small in comparison.