[acs] Transfer to server

[Ryan233]

Hi everyone

 

Well i have worked in many schools and its the first time i have came across Serco Facility MIS system. Now the situation is that the school have pulled out of the local council,so we have just brought some new computers to replace these ones. How the council setup serco was just to create a partition on the computer it self and run it from there then before the receptionist goes home she pops in a backup tape.

 

I wanna move all this data off this computer and put it on the server so it will be backup on a weekly basis.What would be the recommended way to do this?

 

map a drive with everything from that drive?

[robk]

There is most likely a SQL database on that machine somewhere which will need moving etc, If the school has no support from the LA perhaps a call to serco may be in order? Moving the database and re-installing the software (and assocated client files) is something that is very doable, but you will want to be able to back up the system and have support in the process.

[themightymrp]

If CMIS has been installed on a workstation it is possible it may have been setup to work off an Access Database. Either way, if its Access or SQl, moving it onto a server should be straightforward. On the server, assuming you are going to use SQL, you will need an appropriate SQL plugin for your backup software i.e. Backup Exec. This will allow backups to run whilst the system is running which makes life easier. To automate CMIS backups you have to use a SQL backup procedure, the built in Facility software backup feature is manual only

[Oaktech]

I'd call serco and talk to them, you'll be paying enough for support, best get your money's worth. If you explain the situation i'm sure they will be helpful.

[Ryan233]

I have called serco there have refused to help because im not part of the school on their system.

 

I think this may be more trouble then i expected haha

[Oaktech]

In which case you need to get someone higher up the foodchain to call them and explain whats going on, because if you aren't supported you won't get updates and eventually the school will get into all kinds of grief with the DfE as the data exports won't give the info required as the updates change what gets exported. They will probably have to part with money.

[themightymrp]

+1 for what @Oaktech said. You need to be supported in order to get the updates to be able to do Census reports etc. There should be somebody higher up with details registered with Serco (the head maybe?) who will have to have you added onto the system.

 

I can give you a fairly good set of instructions to do the data move but you need to get yourslef sorted with Serco first

[Ryan233]

+1 for what @Oaktech said. You need to be supported in order to get the updates to be able to do Census reports etc. There should be somebody higher up with details registered with Serco (the head maybe?) who will have to have you added onto the system.

 

I can give you a fairly good set of instructions to do the data move but you need to get yourself sorted with Serco first

 

Basically no one has details registered with serco, the local council took the agreement out with serco for there schools, there support. There installed for the school prt of the support cost.

[Oaktech]

then you need to speak to the LA or get the head to write a letter to serco explaining, to get your details registered so they will speak to you. I think, if you've come away from the LA you will need to get your DfE number re-registered with serco so you become your own entity with them. This WILL cost money! Edited May 21, 2012 by Oaktech

[andydis]

hi ryan it looks like you might need to look at the bigger picture here.

you are running a MIS with NO external support and no Local authority support, correct?

[themightymrp]

hi ryan it looks like you might need to look at the bigger picture here.

you are running a MIS with NO external support and no Local authority support, correct?

 

Good point!

[michael2k6]

Ryan,

 

This sounds like a recipe for disaster long term. If the school have pulled out of support with the LA, they will need support from us and they'll need new releases etc otherwise they won't be able to completely legal requirements such as census returns. Given that there was one last week it's possible theyre behind already and don't even know it.

Please PM me your details so that I can put the right people at Serco in touch with the right people at the school, and the authority. Let's fix the roof before it rains rather than waiting for a downpour and everyone involved getting soaked.

 

Thanks

Mic Sanderson

Customer Success Manager

Serco Learning

 

 

 

The above post is my own and does not represent the opinions of my employer or their associates.

[Ryan233]

Ryan,

 

This sounds like a recipe for disaster long term. If the school have pulled out of support with the LA, they will need support from us and they'll need new releases etc otherwise they won't be able to completely legal requirements such as census returns. Given that there was one last week it's possible theyre behind already and don't even know it.

Please PM me your details so that I can put the right people at Serco in touch with the right people at the school, and the authority. Let's fix the roof before it rains rather than waiting for a downpour and everyone involved getting soaked.

 

Thanks

Mic Sanderson

Customer Success Manager

Serco Learning

 

 

 

The above post is my own and does not represent the opinions of my employer or their associates.

 

Just to let you know its working fine now. Cmis is only run off a excel database so no sql needed. Mapped a drive and then put the shortcuts on the users desktop.

 

Its working great there now.

 

The school are moving over to RM mis system in the summer holidays,so this will do until then

[michael2k6]

Hi,

 

It's either not Serco software or it's not running in Excel - just for anyone else out there, it might be running in access on a peer to peer system if in a primary school rather than putting SQL on one of the clients.

Sounds like you've found a solution in the interim, if you've got any issues post back. Bear in mind that if one of the other machines on the peer to peer still has an open connection to the database then any automated backup of the mdb file you have isn't going to do much.

 

If i were you i'd be looking to set a startup in the BIOS of that machine at a particular time followed by a scheduled batch file of xcopy to ship it over to the server, then another scheduled batch to shut said machine down.

Or move it to the server, point the dsn at that, and schedule a shutdown script on the client machines so that if there's anything left on overnight it's shutdown before the normal server backup takes place.

 

Mic