Serco_Rob

Sorry that you feel that way wickit. Of course I dont know each school personally but Im happy to talk to you about it, if thats what you want. I work with lots of our customer schools directly out of the thousands we work with who are very happy with us. However I appreciate if you feel that way there must be a reason. I'm simply on here to answer peoples questions where I can and to aid the debate. Maybe we can talk sometime about your views. I visit two to three schools every day that use all our rivals systems but I am not on here to discuss them - I have a lot of respect for them, and different schools have different views on the merits of each system. However we continue to have lots of schools move to us based on discussions with other schools using our software - that is where the majority of our business comes from. Regards, Rob

Sivadam, Never meant to give that impresson at all - there is a lot of parental access going on everywhere now with us and SIMS and so on. I was simply reffering to that school as an example as I know they were quite involved with Becta around parental reporting. I want to be on here to answer questions, not to score points, but thanks for pointing it out if you thought people might get that impression. Ive had some good PMs though from schools asking about the topic, so Im just helping to answer points where I can. Thanks Rob

We have been using a SAS customer management system internally in our organisation for about two months now. It is fantastic. I can do my work wherever I can get on the internet. It is certainly the way forward and a technology that is being taken on by virtually all major companies that provide software. Why pay for many powerful laptops and servers for specific purposes when that cost can be cut out. The only problem at this stage is that many schools I visit tell me they still have an unreliable internet connection, so until the government puts the planned money into broadband infrastructure it could be a while before this is a reality for many schools. At Serco Learning we have our current MIS which is in school on your server, and we also have the future which is hosted MIS. We are in both camps and will be for many years as technology and infrastructure catch up. To learn more visit our stand at BETT 2010 and have a chat with me and to see what the future looks like. Thanks Rob

As Business Development Manager for Serco I've got a pretty good handle on MIS prices from all MIS suppliers. Our MIS is based on pupil numbers, and rather than be modular our core MIS includes all aspects of key school management as well as parental access and e-registration. I visit many schools where they pay for the LA endorsed MIS but then pay other suppliers for add on systems. You have to compare the full range of functionality. It is true that where LAs offer a central license for an MIS it can be cheaper - so as Capita SIMS has historical had the percentage of the market (at the moment) there are lots of established relationships. In the same way, in the LAs where we supply our MIS to the majority of schools in that LAa we have a central license with the LA and there are economies of scale and reductions in price. I would love it if all LAs did a review of their MIS so schools could compare systems and prices. We have tried to approach all LAs in this way. Im happy to talk price with any school and justify it in relation to their existing supplier or existing setup. PM me to discuss. Thanks Rob

As all new schools and all existing schools that have renewed their license get document storage as part of the standard package every school now has it. So you can indeed attach documents such as PDFs to pupils records so that they are viewable by teachers/parents/pupils in eportal. Rob

We work with a range of partners who provide swipe cards and biometrics. If you go to this link you will find a list of all of them - they have partner integration to our database: Serco Facility for UK Schools Thanks Rob

At Serco Learning we have offered parental access for free as part of our standard MIS price for seven years. Notre Dame High School in Sheffield who were key in working with Becta around the parental access agenda and what the framework should look like have offered parental access through our Facility MIS for some time now. Im happy to discuss this with people if they want to personal message me.

Hi, My name is Rob and I am the UK Business Development Manager for Serco Learning and have been with the company for 8 years. I am aware that this isn't the arena to be giving my view on SIMS or indeed selling our product, but if anyone wants a direct answer to a direct question just let me know. It does seem that there are certain people who talk about our MIS in these forums based on hearsay and gossip. So I would be happy to clear things up in a Phil Neal stylee should you require it. In response to the last couple of points, yes we do provide parental access and it is free as part of our standard license cost so no nasty surprises come next years real time reporting requirement. We have provided parental access to schools for seven years now and also offer consultancy services from educational professionals on how to roll this out. Let me know if anyone needs any answers. Regards, Rob