DavKellyPro

You can put in redundant (and relatively cost-effective) broadband by using small routers which allow you to plug in mobile dongles. For those odd times you really need a connection, a £25 TP-link box with a £25 O2 dongle and £5 worth of data on it is a really small price to pay to ensure at least a couple of megabits of connection! We've suggested that to a few schools who've asked - it's rough, and certainly not ideal, but it means that the 0.1% of time your internet connection goes down, you can just flick a switch and maintain mission critical stuff until your main connection comes back online.

No worries - the DfE have been giving it to free schools to use when speaking to suppliers, but it would come in handy for any school looking for a new MIS.

Hello all, Quick disclaimer - I work for Arbor! Just to pitch in quickly, I think that deciding on an MIS is just about asking the right questions - making sure that your school's unique needs are fulfilled as far as possible. We've created an unbiased 'questions to ask any supplier' document to help free schools with the decision, which I'm happy to share with anybody. Dave

Sounds pretty reasonable - horses for courses! It sounds like you've gone through much the same process as we have. Congratulations on the build!

Haha, longest wait for a reply ever?

Disclosure: I work for an MIS provider called Arbor. We've recently had to go through these sorts of issues, as we're now pushing out into schools in the UK. To be fair, they aren't insurmountable, just challenging. It helps if you've got some good financial backing, a robust business plan, and some experienced UK educators on the team!