Migration-X is designed to overcome the key challenges schools face if they do not have possession of their own SIMS SQL backups; often because schools are using SIMS Connect or SIMS NextGen.
If you are one of those schools or simply interested in our market-leading solution, you can find out more about Migration-X in this news article.
For peace of mind, Migration-X’s development and utility is based on ESS SIMS’ Report Generator and accompanying APIs and in no way uses SIMS SQL backups. Consequently, Bromcom’s Migration-X solution removes any opportunity for ESS to allege that Migration-X infringes ESS’ intellectual property rights or breach any existing contract/s between Bromcom and ESS.
In 2003 The Office of Fair Trading accepted Voluntary Assurances in relation to SIMS that access would be provided to SIMS for the transfer of data to a SIMS competitor. See The Guardian’s coverage.
Before ESS, Capita Plc was the owner of SIMS software. Since that date Bromcom has accessed SIMS for the purposes of data read / write and, since circa 2008, for the purposes of migration.
Furthermore, in early 2024 the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) looked again at the issue of the limited access that ESS’ competitors and schools had to SIMS for the purpose of migrating data. Owing to developments in the MIS market since December 2023, which the CMA noted included ESS’ declining share of the market and the fact that new migration methods had been developed by ESS’ competitors, the CMA was of the view that using ESS’ API and SIMS report generator was “less burdensome on schools and less error-prone than the options that were available to schools when ESS first objected to the use of database back-ups for the purposes of switching MIS supplier”. The CMA also stated that “such methods are likely to be improved further in time to migrate schools that wish to switch to a competitor’s MIS by March 2025”. It therefore concluded that it was appropriate to close the investigation on grounds that it no longer constituted an administrative priority. The CMA concluded that it “is keen to ensure that the MIS market is and remains competitive and that schools are not put under any unnecessary burdens when they have chosen to switch supplier in relation to MIS or any other products or services.”
Migration-GS
The long standing and established migration process based on use of SIMS SQL backup is now called Migration-GS to distinguish between the two methods. Migration-GS remains Bromcom’s “Gold Standard” in terms of a migration process with the most extensive data scope in the MIS market and as managed service. However, schools that are uncomfortable being potentially harassed by ESS for alleged breaches of their IP / contract by using SIMS SQL backup now have Migration-X as an option, keeping in mind its reduced scope in comparison to Bromcom’s Migration-GS. Whichever option a school, Trust or LA chooses, be it Migration-X or Migration-GS, Bromcom has your back.