[acs] Progresso...oh...!

[s1monb]

Have been following Progresso's development quite closely. Were due to go live a couple of times, saw data in their transition environment earlier in the year and we panicked it was so bad! We pulled the plug on our migration and it is currently TBC as far as we're concerned.

 

Had a call today from our Serco rep to tell us that they are not going to migrate any more schools over to Progresso (from Facility) this year because there have been so many problems. Talking to a colleague via SSAT and they've told me the same story and that they are considering dropping Serco completely and going to Aspen or Integris.

 

Can anyone else share good or bad stories of their Progresso migrations (or build up to failed ones), that could help us and others make a considered decision with all of the info please?

 

Thanks

 

Simon

[wensleydale]

Have been following Progresso's development quite closely. Were due to go live a couple of times, saw data in their transition environment earlier in the year and we panicked it was so bad! We pulled the plug on our migration and it is currently TBC as far as we're concerned.

Had a call today from our Serco rep to tell us that they are not going to migrate any more schools over to Progresso (from Facility) this year because there have been so many problems.

 

Same here. We have so many problems with e-portal that we were looking forward to an improvement with progresso, but now they have dropped the migration 3 times and we are looking into end of next year if SERCO ever get it right.

We are now looking into alternatives.

 

Regards

Wolfi

[6Foot2]

We are still expecting [scheduled] to move over to Progresso mid October.

 

Do I take it from this:

 

...Had a call today from our Serco rep to tell us that they are not going to migrate any more schools over to Progresso (from Facility) this year because there have been so many problems...

 

that we may not be moving over at that time?

 

I ask because we are currently deep into preparations for our move. We have not been told of any developments to the contrary. Also [for reasons too involved to detail here] the move has consequences for our network that I am currently making plans to whereby I can minimise those consequences.

 

Watching this thread with interest...

[s1monb]

We are still expecting [scheduled] to move over to Progresso mid October.

 

Do I take it from this:

 

 

 

that we may not be moving over at that time?

 

I ask because we are currently deep into preparations for our move. We have not been told of any developments to the contrary. Also [for reasons too involved to detail here] the move has consequences for our network that I am currently making plans to whereby I can minimise those consequences.

 

Watching this thread with interest...

 

Hi Dave

 

From what I understand those who are in the process of their migration will have it completed, but don't quote me on that!

[6Foot2]

Hi Dave

 

From what I understand those who are in the process of their migration will have it completed, but don't quote me on that!

 

OK. Thanks.

[GREED]

This is very bad news for all schools involved with current or near future migrations from Facility.

 

Should anyone be interested in knowing more about Aspen MIS as a fully web based (and better ) alternative to Progresso, particularly given these problems, do just contact me.

[Tallwood_6]

Information seems so sketchy around progresso and the organisation of schools migrating to it I doubt the picture is entirely clear from a serco employees perspective. We signed all the relevant forms and where looking at migrating next year but despite giving dates it just looks like names go in a hat. Communication is just utterly non existent you have to trade a vital organ to get an onside demo and we've still not been given access or permission to speak to any of the pioneer sites.

[wensleydale]

We hardly getting any support from SERCO regarding our e-portal problems. They say they had to put all support to progresso.....I assume they are busy to sort their prison service out!

I am quite sick of this ever demanding HW upgrading CMIS, long support phone queues and no fixes except upgrade your hardware.

If I had to make a decision what SIS I would go for, it would not be Facility nor SIMS! Had them both!!

Well, that's my personal opinion!

Edited September 17, 2012 by wensleydale

[wensleydale]

This is very bad news for all schools involved with current or near future migrations from Facility.

 

Should anyone be interested in knowing more about Aspen MIS as a fully web based (and better ) alternative to Progresso, particularly given these problems, do just contact me.

 

Hi Graham,

can you PM me? I am very interested.

Wolfi

[wensleydale]

Hi Dave

 

From what I understand those who are in the process of their migration will have it completed, but don't quote me on that!

 

Nope, we were in the process of switching over in the halfterm holidays (2 times delayed already). Got the dreaded phone call today, saying they will not transfer us to progresso until the problems are solved. We are expecting a date in late 2013!

Edited September 17, 2012 by wensleydale

[s1monb]

Nope, we were in the process of switching over in the halfterm holidays (2 times delayed already). Got the dreaded phone call today, saying they will not transfer us to progresso until the problems are solved. We are expecting a date in late 2013!

 

Oh dear, that's not good news at all!

 

It's very frustrating because I like Facility and it works well for us, but it's so old fashioned and you have to do so much in a manual way, where a modern MIS should be thinking for you, but this kind of service from Serco is so bad and so disappointing.

[Edu-IT]

This is very bad news for all schools involved with current or near future migrations from Facility.

 

Should anyone be interested in knowing more about Aspen MIS as a fully web based (and better ) alternative to Progresso, particularly given these problems, do just contact me.

Ooh! Kick them while they're down...

[penfold_99]

This is very bad news for all schools involved with current or near future migrations from Facility.

 

Should anyone be interested in knowing more about Aspen MIS as a fully web based (and better ) alternative to Progresso, particularly given these problems, do just contact me.

 

When will the SIF agent a available for Aspen?

[Oaktech]

Hmmm... we were supposed to begin our move in the next half term, I might call our rep and see if there is news? This could be bad as we are essentially nursemaiding our server and 3 installs of facility along at the moment.

[6Foot2]

I was told this morning that we are now not moving over until April.

[GREED]

Ooh! Kick them while they're down...

 

Not specifically James, I like the product and think it will be good when it is finished, however this does not excuse the way they appear to be treating customers for what we all know is the most important system in a school these days.

 

 

... Plus, this is a perk for paying the sponsorship!

[GREED]

Hi Graham,

can you PM me? I am very interested.

Wolfi

 

I got your email, responded

[GREED]

When will the SIF agent a available for Aspen?

 

It's on the list of things to finish tweaking Ian, although we are using Groupcall Xporter now for customers to extract data and interact with 3rd party applications (of which many do these days!)

[Colettej]

We went live in recent weeks. School has been on its knees since. Functionality of Progresso is full of bugs and errors, and we are seriously disappointed with both the product and the service.

i could not recommend Progresso, there is a serious amount of work still to be done with this product.

[GREED]

We went live in recent weeks. School has been on its knees since. Functionality of Progresso is full of bugs and errors, and we are seriously disappointed with both the product and the service.

i could not recommend Progresso, there is a serious amount of work still to be done with this product.

 

 

Is it useable? At the very least can you access the data, is it correct?

[Colettej]

Connectivity is poor, often very slow.

seen no efficiency gains since facility.

very few reports - extracting information is near impossible!

 

Not good!

[PaulHarrington]

I understand the frustration of those that are eager to get on and start benefiting from the advanced features of Progresso. The decision to delay transition of schools is not one that has been taken lightly and I would like to take this opportunity to explain why and what this means.

 

We have been running a Pioneer program with a number of early adopter schools to whom we are extremely grateful. During this Pioneer process we have identified a series of improvements to both product and process to make the adoption of Progresso for future schools run as smoothly as possible.

 

Key elements of this improvement program include:

 

• Product enhancements directly requested from live schools

• Additional Training courses to provide increased knowledge to end users

• Improvements to the data transfer mechanism to allow for modifications to models to take immediate advantage of the advanced functionality in Progresso

 

In order to deliver this program and gather continual feedback from customers we decided to focus on the schools that are currently live and to restart the transition of schools in a phased approach.

 

To any schools that have posted on here and are experiencing difficulties please DM me and I will arrange the appropriate support.

 

We have attempted to contact all schools and are now on the second phase of call backs which will be completed by the end of this week.

[DeBarra]

We went live in recent weeks. School has been on its knees since......

 

Look on the bright side at least they have compensation on offer Coupons & Promotions

[ntm1275]

@PaulHarrington

 

Do these delays also cover schools wanting to move to Progresso from another system - SIMS etc

[PaulHarrington]

Connectivity is poor, often very slow.

seen no efficiency gains since facility.

very few reports - extracting information is near impossible!

 

Not good!

 

I have tried sending a DM to you, perhaps as a brand new member with your first post to this forum you have not found this feature yet. Please let me know which school you are in so I can ensure we direct the right resources to support you.