GREED

Haha brilliant, I love that each link is different too!!!

If anyone else wants to book in a time please do contact me, spaces have filled up so fast I am going to be dead by Saturday evening with all the interest! If you want a specific booking, avoid Friday at the moment as it is fully booked out!

In those days you were but the learner.... now you are the master! Reference to you still being on the 'Dark Side' hehe!

Unless you sponsor the forum of course

Oh those were the days @vikpaw Lost count of how many times I installed the SIMS server!

I gotta say I have had nothing but positive responses about Insight in all my school dealings. A perfect example of a specialised product focussing on one aspect of MIS delivery and getting it spot on right, not trying to do too much out of their comfort zone. Hats off to them!

mwahaha typo of epic proportions, VDE is what I meant, Virtual Desktop Environment. And yes @vikpaw Aspen runs put the power of the mind and positive thought!

What about Groupcall Emerge, which cashes the data so there is no 'internet is down' sillyness, you have access to the information you need, just pick the ipad up on the way out... ...or in fact any web accessible MIS would give you the same facility... *cough* Let alone scenarios of printing every register every day just in case, the business of sitting there waiting to print a set of registers IF IT WERE A REAL FIRE is stupid!

Some form of VDU is required.

Agree with John, just because SIMS interfaces with Frog, Eclipse, Groupcall et al, does not mean others don't. It is very worry to see a number of 'my mate down the road has it so it must work' or 'SIMS must work because so many still use it' comment still. Being selfish for a moment, Aspen is revolutionary it the way it works, the offer to schools and groups of schools in particular is outstanding. Yes we have only a few schools compared to Capita in the UK (at the moment, and globally I would say we probably break even!), so does that mean Aspen is not worth a look? And just to give support where support is due, I have seen the Bromcom system and it too is very tidy and should always be looked at before deciding SIMS is the 'only' choice out there. We know Progresso is having it's problems and I genuinely hope that the acquisition helps the product over this year.

That is very limiting if you will only consider LA supported MIS options, just about every supplier including us welcome direct support!

Do it, look forward to seeing you there! If nothing else it can reaffirm you have the right MIS for your school, and I am happy with that!

Aspen MIS, from Follett and supported by BT & Novatia, will be at BETT 2013 on stand E62. Please come along to see Aspen MIS in action, talk to some of our customers and partners. Exciting new features and partnerships in the UK are set to be announced at the event. If you want a dedicated demonstration of Aspen MIS, feel free to PM me and we can arrange a time/day to visit the stand and speak to either myself or one of our technical experts. Look forward to seeing you all there! Graham

That's fine, thought it would be the case. As long as the customers know about them.

I hear more problems are in the works today John... Can anyone get hold of the CMIS/Progresso team on the phones? BTW I am not stirring, this is reported from contacts and customers to me today.

So very glad I got the Follett team to book up early... we're all in the Radissen Blu (something like that).

I think the word tender is a little general in this context. You still need to look at 3 quotes, regardless.

The extraction process is, from our guys perspective, easy, as the database fields are tagged and related, and processes have be built to identify every piece of information required to extract. As for the syncing, think that is a 1-2-1 conversation

We can all do that mate I say all, I know we can!

Ok let me wade in here and answer some excellent points made! I think it is worth us having a chat still as there are several options open to you, contingencies and the likes that might mitigate such issues. Upgrading the internet line, having at least one redundancy there is critical for schools these days, not just for MIS but for general day to day use, email, VLE etc etc. +1 for that! It is the way everything is going now, including the use of VDUs throughout schools up and down the country, so even more is taken away from the local school. Whole datacentre is a bit much, just a couple of higher end servers will do us nicely... *cough* *cough* *smiles* just keep watching

I miss Mike!

I wonder if I/should I comment... No, that's not fair, they do a good job!

Fully agree, but it is there to help. I'm not saying you at a secondary school would not be willing and able to take the time. The issue comes for smaller school, maybe primary schools, that don't have the time or expense to spend on such. Gathering requirements, seeing the systems, asking questions, talking to existing customers... that is a good start! If it is an actual tender, there are huge hoops and procedures to follow/jump through often which are not necessary but are policy. But you know what, each to their own! It has to be right for the school. SIMS is not right for every school, just like Aspen MIS is not right for every school (there, I said it!).

That is what the IMLS framework (and soon more frameworks!) were designed to help schools with. Going out to full tender is a costly and resource heavy process. I'm not saying don't look around, and do ask questions of course. Be wary of words like tender though

Well... I wonder who I would pip for! I'm going to be objective for a moment and say you need to look at what is the most important thing for your school? Yes SIMS integrate (at a cost) with lots of 3rd parties. It is interesting sitting on this side of the fence to find out just how 'integrated' some solutions actually are (not just with SIMS but with everyone!). Actually, Aspen is at various stages of integrating with "double figures" of 3rd parties across just about all sectors. If you want something that gives you, out of the box, access anywhere, anytime, any system, any device, and connection, with access for staff parents student and anyone else you can think of, with no data syncing, complete application/portal customisability, right down to code level if you wan to... then give me a buzz So many school use SIMS because it does the job, and if that is what you need, then great, it does a good job! If you want to have a system that meets your needs as an MIS, VLE, Intranet, Document Management System and Communication Centre, that you can help shape it to meet you exact needs... well... Every MIS does the basics, that really should not be a consideration any more. It is not an MIS if it can't do attendance, exams, timetables... What does it do to make life easier for you and your staff... that is the good stuff!