synaesthesia Posted March 15, 2011 Posted March 15, 2011 Folks, We've got a lot of conflicting information at our school and would like a little unofficial advice before we go wading into Capita. We want rid of SLG. It looks very much like we're going to replace it with WebAnywhere's moodle integration product (which we really, really like for it's simplicity and the fact it embeds nicely into Moodle etc). Can anyone recall from the top of their heads, if they've had SLG removed, if there's any contract involved, if there's any fee to remove/disconnect the service etc?
irsprint84 Posted March 15, 2011 Posted March 15, 2011 Well didnt this cost you alot at the time? We have it and I m no fan but we paid 10k for it
synaesthesia Posted March 15, 2011 Author Posted March 15, 2011 It did - but with changes of finance management etc finding that information (along with any contractual paperwork, as they seem to have hid that as well) is like getting blood from a stone. Hence the post
vikpaw Posted March 15, 2011 Posted March 15, 2011 It's like any other module, you pay a licence fee, and then annual maintenance on top. In addition there is the customary installation fee and compulsory training. After that you pay only annual maintenance. If you say you don't want it, i guess you just stop paying the annual maintenance, and they presumably send you patch to delicense or it's included in your next upgrade. If you're using the hosted service then it's even easier. There may be some work involved to stop the ADP machine doing it's nightly thing, but you could just turn off the service. There shouldn't be any charge for disconnecting, but you never know! It's just a shame to stop the service after all the initial costs, and work involved in setting it up. I guess you've done some analysis and the benefits of the new system will outweigh the losses...
vikpaw Posted March 15, 2011 Posted March 15, 2011 It will almost certainly be for 1 or 3 years. Shocking! Really? Have to sign up for more than one year for hosted service? I was just thinking of how the self-hosted system works.
synaesthesia Posted March 15, 2011 Author Posted March 15, 2011 Indeed, we've given it a lot of thought. SLG works quite well with very few problems which is always a bonus. However, despite forthcoming promised improvements it doesn't seem to cut the mustard with the actual users of a non technical nature. The replacement we're looking at gives us far more control, does everything we need (and will meet what the government may or may not want) and more to the point we can set it up to the liking of the users. Plus anything that boosts the use of the VLE is a bonus. Certainly seem some *wonderful* examples of it in use and the developers have been more than accommodating in adding features. Hopefully it was just a 1 year contract
vikpaw Posted March 15, 2011 Posted March 15, 2011 fingers crossed. let us know what the details are when you find out.
synaesthesia Posted March 15, 2011 Author Posted March 15, 2011 Cheers. I wonder if they have a test system for folks to peruse at their pleasure. Might be useful to some other folks.
GrumbleDook Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 IIRC schools were offered options of 1 or 3 years deals ... some took 1 year, others took 3 years. The only folk who would know are Capita or the person who has the quote and/or invoice. If you have signed a 3 year deal ... then you might be able to negotiate leaving early but it will probably cost you (I think you would be into your 2nd year by now anyway). Sorry I don't have more info.
CAM Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 Minimum 1 year makes sense. If you pay the yearly maintenance, may as well get use out of it.
synaesthesia Posted March 16, 2011 Author Posted March 16, 2011 Called them for the second time this afternoon after unsurprisingly not getting a call back first time round. Got through to someone helpful thankfully - turns out we've a year contract that's only just been resigned! The joys of communication
vikpaw Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 That's not so bad, if you do parallel running for the next year, so you have continuity, especially if you are giving parents access, and can iron out any issues in migration.
synaesthesia Posted March 17, 2011 Author Posted March 17, 2011 Our thoughts entirely Plus whichever way we go next year, it's just a case of turning one off so there's no loss in continuity too.
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