synaesthesia

I don't think I'd ever be happy using Bromcom just on what they've pulled, however it's good to recognise what they (and Arbor) have achieved in a comparatively short time when SIMS has had the monopoly for so long - and SIMS has certainly never had a "stable, fast period" for any of it's "cloud" offerings.

Well, if they can't make money selling an old product, maybe they can do it by suing those 3rd parties and schools...

I (as do most of us, I imagine!) wish! Still, like what a plumber charges - just because what's what you're being paid, doesn't make it what you're worth.

£40 cash for an experienced member of staffs time (an hour) to discuss IT... Pretty much confirms how valued IT and it's staff are within the DfE. I mean, if they were going to pay for an IT suite or even a couple of chromebooks maybe...

Only for accounts accessing sensitive data. You could, with care, run secondary with a single login (under the context of those standards, although it would obviously fail immediately on safeguarding)

Honesty, transparency. "Sorry, we've tried but can't match the price eBuyer/Amazon/Misco are offering" goes a long way.

As it's USB-C you can use any 45w compatible (or higher) charger without issue. Try just going for a reputable brand on Amazon, just don't cheap out!

Yeah, Opencore rings a bell. It's certainly not officially supported, but then again *nothing* apple does that is of any use is officially supported. I needed a newer version to be able to onboard more recent IOS devices.

Understood, unfortunately have been there and done that (with broadband, hence why I used that as an example). Promises didn't live up to reality and as a result 3 years of some of the worst reliability ensued. Transparency screwed the pooch on that occasion

Why wouldn't they have a hope if they have a product that ticks all the boxes at a competitive price? Weighting takes care of all this in the tender process already, I just don't understand why this is any different and why experience can't be a weighted consideration.

IMHO it should still absolutely be allowed, even if it carries less weight. Other people's experiences are allowed to be taken into consideration, and taking out extended members of your own institution's experience is a lot of vital information to lose out on. There should absolutely be transparency at all levels, which is why this is all public information - but if you're doing the same for something like broadband, and a certain broadband provider whos name pops up here very often is part of it and everything other than your own and everyone elses experience puts them as clear leaders for a tender... do you sign up just because "you have to show no bias" ?

No, I mean 2012. And although I thank the suggestion, the idea of paying Apple anything for this is definitely not on the cards I gave up in the end and just did it locally.

There's financial reasons too, they may have just taken onboard those schools with Arbor or have only just bought the service and at the start of a 3 year contract - that could be tens of thousands of pounds tied up and ultimately "lost", which is just as important to the tax payer.

But some of the process *is* unfair. There is no sense in not being able to use your own experiences in a tender process (i.e. they had some schools already using Arbor). They had an overall positive experience in some schools already running that service, it absolutely should count for something but some beancounter somewhere decided that they must do it entirely on a level, unbiased playing field. There isn't ANYONE able to fully do that. I understand why Bromcom did what they did, but still do not agree with it.

Awww come on, SIMS is 3 guys in a summer house...

So they're not correctly using SSL and this is our or smoothwalls issue because?

I think a majority would prefer Excel to FMS. Or maybe even Calc 123 or whatever it was called in the old days on black & orange monitors - it looks more up to date.

That is absolutely bonkers. Someone needs firing.

Please, if you're a school affected by this, make a report to the ICO. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes and may force them to start taking things seriously and do better for any future issues.

Considering power usage, physical size, more things to go wrong etc a decent CPU with built in graphics will be more than enough grunt for Fusion. Ryzen G series for instance should make short work of it.

Straight up example of why this can be an issue. Child A has moved schools due to legal complications regarding a relative. There are restraining and contact orders in place. Relative must not know the whereabouts of Child A at any point. Relative has a child at another school. Relative logs in to see their child's data on ClassCharts, yet they are presented with other childrens information. Including Child A. Relative is now aware of Child A's location. It's tenuous, but it's a good example of why this can be a MAJOR issue and should be treated as such.

We're going with EE 5G. £28 a month, unlimited data (within reason, the people we spoke to assured us that even if we hit a TB a month it wouldn't be an issue and I have that in writing just in case!) and no setup/install fees. 12 month contract.

Why on earth are they saying YOU need to lock people out? On discovery of such a breach THEY should be shutting it all down until resolved... https://ico.org.uk/

Should be instant - just be sure you're doing the right reader as typically there will be 2 readers per door (inside & outside)

This is false information. What about those DVDs that one department won't let go of, full of Flash resources and downloads from Sparklebox? Without which, entire curriculums would fall apart!