matt40k

Most schools get an ATF file from the LA (who deal with the applications). Once that's done I thought they now just use the parent app to update their own details?

They are only now starting to introduce JasperSoft! The old Finance system was written in Delphi and used ... I want to say Crystal reports

I think the bits you are thinking off are the JasperSoft bits which are.... well the less said the better.

Irony is they use bootstrap.

Basic school finance policy should have computers\servers\etc down as an asset that has a depreciation. First year the value will drop the most then it will continue to drop until it's worthless. You can't work this out without a knowing how long the device is expected to last. Of course, you'll have some that fail that aren't covered by warranty, such as malicious damage - but these are reasons you can explain. You should have at least a high-level idea that non-IT staff can understand that the governors can discuss. For example: We have 500 desktops, 100 laptops and 5 servers. Desktops have a lifecycle of 4 years, laptops of 2 years and servers 5 years. (Desktops\servers have a longer lifespan as they are more serviceable and are fixed and therefore less prone to damage) It doesn't mean you actually replace laptops after 2 years, just in an ideal world you would. You can then say we have, say, 200 desktops that are over 4 years, but you've managed to fit SSD to extend their life. This is a positive thing as it has saved them money, but acknowledging in an ideal world, they would have been replaced. It helps deal with that situation when they need to be replaced and you've exhausted all the upgrade options it doesn't come as a shock. (The governer meetings should have discussed this sort of high level IT spending which should be in the meetings notes - which is a OfSted requirement to have\keep\publish)

Fax as a Service isn't the answer. I agree, they need to look at the problem and go, hey we could do this better - such as using online forms. But it's about to turn 2019. How many NHS Digital projects have there been? Yet here we are. If they are filling out a form electronically, printing it, then faxing it, even if they send the form as a .doc and someone at the other end is copy and paste the information into another system at the other end, it's better then them having to manually typing it in. I think they don't need one big massive project that run by some big company that will overrun, go over budget and never really hit it's targets. It needs micro improvements at individual parts of the NHS. Kinda like how Doctor's are using WhatsApp groups.

Nope! Secure Email

That's interest @deshills - wouldn't the service account only need a PBI Pro license? It wouldn't need a full Office license surely? What would be good would be if you could upload PBIX file into the MIS and it publishes it via the service account. Be interested to see how they have done the sharing permissions (integrated MIS permissions with Office365 groups), if they are using directquery or import. Also how they have dealt with the shared environment issues.

I don't understand how real-time reporting was a surprise to them? You have BI and you have MI reporting requirements and folks are going to need both. If you support 22k schools, oddly enough, you are going to need a way of users being able to create custom reports because you are never gonna need to be able to create all the reports they are going to need - some which will need real-time data. So, am I correct in thinking support units include Local Authorities? So public money is being spent to help a private company develop its software? So are they investing the same resources in others?? It just seems wrong they are subsidizing Capita, especially when there are alternatives out there already that have been production ready for YEARS. Why waste your time and money on alpha piece of software?? I can't agree about not wasting effort in PowerBI connected to SIMS, it can't be a question of just updating the data connection, the underlying data structure will change and will require a major rewrite!

Totally off topic, I love how you need to accept the schools safe guarding policy to visit your schools website... which you can only view once you've accepted it

It's not like they haven't had opportunities. I know when I was working at a LA a number of micro "schools" popped up, or a school wanted a micro MIS for dealing with summer school clubs. Could have easily build (and SOLD) a basic cloud based MIS for a few hundred pounds. It's just the management weren't interested in investing in the long term. Very much a business case for each change that must make money instantly or very short term.

What? GroupCall is going to BETT?!? I thought no-one was going to BETT these days!! (Sorry, digging about the other thread where Capita have said they ain't coming)

That's certainly another option! I hear it gets particularly powerful if you have all the other GroupCall products as the integration is excellent.

Have a look at: coscole | KiData. It's been out for years now, I know they previously did some demos at BETT which was pulling "live" data from SIMS. You can also join the SIMS data to data you have on spreadsheets held in Teams \ SharePoint

That's the whole idea of Assembly! I'm still surprised Capita hasn't started stealing a Power BI Connector!

Not so many using SIMS however, I know a number of other MIS systems are using PowerBI. Did you see the other thread talking about the next gen of SIMS?

I think the key is making sure you have backups that work and money in a pot you can spend if need be, otherwise you're playing russian roulette @AButter. I kinda agree about having spares over warranty, but each on to their own.

So out of 30 pilot schools, only 1 went full adoption. And over 200 are going over Christmas?! This is ambitious! Are they calling in santa and all his elves to help out?!? Then the full roll out in 2019 for BOTH Primary and Secondary!!! Talk about setting high targets!! REALLY looking forward to the Census returns to find out actual numbers.

That's like putting a sheet over your doorway to make your home appear secure to people driving past rather then buying a door. If only you could get a MIS that is designed to work on untrusted devices so security isn't assumed, maybe it could be web based and use that cloud people keep talking about.

Auto lock after 5 mins? Its not really a problem nowadays with Windows 10 an Windows Hello \ pins. SIMS passwords aren't really secure, for starters, they aren't case sensitive. They can be brute forced and we'll ignore most people have them written down on a post-it note either in the laptop bag, or worse on the laptop!

Use AD logins. Problem Solved

I need this thread in my life.

... or when users change their passwords.

It still might be worth doing separate costing for with and without SIMS\FMS. If nothing else it confirms your onprem solution is better value for money.

Believe the next version of SIMS is Azure only. I guess that may change in the future if they don't get the numbers