Is the sale of SIMS by Capita a good thing for the market?

“I have now spoken to a number of people inside and outside of the MIS space, and everyone is asking the same thing: do I think the sale of SIMS by Capita is a good thing for the market?

My answer on the whole is yes.

Capita, for a number of years, have been good custodians of SIMS and you can see this in the success it had for so long.  However, their market share has undoubtedly started to decline in recent years.

But SIMS can be rejuvenated with a new owner that understands how the education market works and allows SIMS to make decisions that are in the best of its customers.  I really do hope that educationalists are part of the board and the decision making process.

My understanding is that SIMS Primary is almost ready. It may not meet everyone’s needs 100% right away but it’s important it is released in order to gain feedback and improve.

SIMS Secondary is being built in a way that slowly allows schools to engage with it on a module by module basis. For example, SIMS Options is a SIMS Secondary cloud solution and Exams is due to follow, so secondary schools will be using SIMS8 with a SIMS7 core initially.

There’s lots of opportunity for SIMS under a new owner, but the MIS market is now more competitive than ever. It will be interesting to see what happens!”

Author: Nick Finnemore, Director

Capita will look to sell its education software solutions (ESS) unit for at least £500 million as the listed business services provider’s board this week prepares to approve an auction (as exclusively revealed by EducationInvestor Global this week and reported on Capita’s website)

This includes SIMS, and after the recent acquisition of Pupil Asset by Juniper Education, looks like more change is afoot in the UK MIS sector.

But what will this actually mean?

Capita SIMS has by far the largest market share across England, Wales and Northern Ireland with 75% market share across the board. This means whoever ends up acquiring SIMS are going to pick up a LOT of school and academy customers – over 21,000 in total. Tons of opportunity to use it as a platform to sell additional services and solutions.

From the SIMS users point of view, most will see the idea of new owners and fresh investment as a good thing. Many are frustrated with waiting for a cloud solution to materialise when all other suppliers are SaaS.

That frustration is often echoed by the LA MIS Support Teams based around the country who support schools and academies in using SIMS on a day-to-day basis

Ultimately, we hope the downstream effect will be greater and faster innovation so teachers and leaders can benefit from less siloed data, manage daily school life more efficiently, and improve in learner outcomes.