MrDB

Totally forgot about this.... Well 12mths from project start they still couldnt get it to work so we canned the project and went back to eportal. SIF/ZIF however does work and is running, we eventually blamed the provider of the system for not understanding the basics of registration. They could not see that the system would need to only allow students to register on terminals that were in the rooms that they were timetabled in. They could not see a student registering in reception area and then disapearing off site.. so we walked away.. Modules for SIF / ZIF are written on a request basis so that adds time to any project in the first instance. By now though i assume a lot more interface modules have been written so the system should be a lot more simpler to implement..

36K 500 pc's, 10 servers, 400 student laptops, 50 staff laptops, web vle designer, 2 technicians. Single status will start to make a difference in salaries, my job role has now changed to "ICT operations manager" I would really expect NM to be around the 30k mark or they are doing a NM job on a technicians salary... BSF will also cause problems i fell.....

thanks for that. nice art work Working on the project has highlighted its positives and negatives. As i said earlier in this thread it just doesnt envolve one party in any development its several each needing to develop their part before the other can proceed. We are now looking at March for a deadline as new modules need to be written for SIF / CMIS.

Totally agree ZIS / SIF is the way forward and unfortunatly someone has to be the guinnue pig! Ironicly we are also one of the schools on the choping block for closure in birmingam so all this work will actually only really benifit others.... We are now in Month 4 of the development and integration and more is still to be done as it isnt secure transmition yet as its only using http not https????

how about a simple asp based file manager which points at the share using iis? Install ssl and allow download only! Security would be as on site would have to enter domain username/pass?

last time i spoke to lapsafe they had 1 engineer who was pulled of the workline to go out to clients. Also do they still supply every lapsafe withthe same key? Took us 6 mths to get all the locks changed! Also lapsafe are not sold as a secure storage system only charging stations so the Safe bit is a bit misleading!

Thirst thing is it has to comply with integration into your MIS using SIF! Dont take their word for it contact your MIS provider and ask if they have talked with them also. Many havnt and assume they can do it. Next take a look at whats out there and pick what bits you want. Rough guide would be. Messaging Forums Searchable Portfolios for graded work etc.. Access to stored files resources / students / staff / parents Timetables MIS integration the deadline is 2010 so people need to jump on this now! part of MIS integration s access to attendance data / marking / attainment etc... then look at if you want hosted service or a onsite hosting! You will probably find that most if not all will not be able to provid MIS integration so you will need to discuss whith each what they are doing to get this!!!! see note above about cross checking.... hope that helps!

We are currently undergoing the birmingham trial of SIF, to say it has been smooth is a massive understatement. One thing to bear in mind that it will enivitable involve 3-4 parties with any project taking on SIF. 1) the vle or application agent provider 2) the MIS agent provider 3) the Local MIS system support provider 4) the ZIS service provider from experience it is a 3-4 way blame exercise with each blaming eachother for delays. However as we are the pilot we will be hit by these problems more than anyone else. One thing to mention also all of the SIF agents are infact dumb agents and simply pass data no processing or checking so for instance attendance data will overwrite any existing marks within your MIS. All processing / checking will need to be done prior to sending to SIF/ZIS.