Last week we joined MATs, LAs and the Bromcom team for an exciting day of learning, networking, and inspiration at the annual Bromcom Shard Event. There was a great lineup of expert speakers and engaging workshops; here are 7 things we learnt at last week’s event:

 

1. There is still a huge appetite from schools to participate in an aggregated MIS purchase, and there were some brilliant stories from LA Support Teams who helped make this happen for their schools.

 

2. MAT and school leaders want data that can help them make informed decisions, not just on attendance and academic performance, but on areas such as:

• Financial performance
• Operational efficiency
• Culture
• Staffing & HR

 

3.  Support Teams are increasingly looking to support multiple MIS so they can meet the needs of their schools, irrespective of which MIS they use – they support the process, not the product. It’s a positive step for everyone as the relationship between schools and local support is a close one, it’s something schools usually want to continue.

 

4. Using AI alongside MIS data can and will make a difference to schools . . . but it really does need to be handled with care when it comes to users understanding children’s data. It’s an interesting conversation

 

5. Academies and MATs have often led the charge in moving to a new MIS as they’ve tended to go to market and look for new cost-effective, innovative cloud solutions shortly after academisation. However, the rate of switching MIS amongst state schools has also accelerated and actually shows signs of increasing if anything! In 2018 77% of state schools used the then-dominant supplier SIMS, this has now fallen to 55% in 2023 (it will be interesting to see what the next census data shows).

 

6. A huge priority for MATs when they look to test the MIS market is understanding all the separate products and subscriptions they currently buy in to which they potentially wouldn’t need when they switch MIS. Across a MAT the savings really do stack up and can be used to fund staff or be reinvested in teaching and learning.

 

7. Strong professional relationships and great customer support are everything in our sector. It was great to hear so many individuals praised as we heard about the various journeys MATs, LAs and schools had been on switching MIS.

 

There’s definitely plenty of change going on across the sector and it’s clear that MATs and LAs want the very best solutions for their schools – both in terms of value and outcomes. It will be interesting to see what happens next!

 

Thanks again for the invite, Nick loved presenting a session and we enjoyed catching up with friends and colleagues 🙂

 

 

We’re kicking off the summer term with our next #FinnemoreFireside, this time with Derek Hills,  Director of IT, Systems and Data at Ark, a charity and network of 39 schools that aims to transform children’s lives through education.

 

Derek has a wealth of experience leading first-class Data and IT teams, having previously worked with other MATs including Harris Federation and David Ross Education Trust before taking up his role at Ark. He knows the MIS landscape well and we had an interesting chat about what the future of MIS might be, including topics such as:

 

• Where does Derek’s passion for data and analytics come from, and why does he love working in education?
• What can be achieved by sharing data, info and best practice
• Where he sees AI fitting into technology budgets and the broader education landscape
• Are schools getting enough out of their edtech and systems, and are they utilising it effectively?
• Consolidating solutions means investment can go into teaching, but what are the challenges around open data policies?
• The importance of working in partnership with suppliers and forming long-lasting relationships
• What Derek would like to see more of from edtech companies

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve spoken to many schools, Trusts and LA support teams about the options regarding the 3-year ESS SIMS contracts, so it’s great to hear that there’s now some clarity as to what to do next.

 

Basically, if you’ve been thinking about exploring alternative MIS systems you can now take advantage of the new 12-month break clause following the recent Competition and Markets Authority judgement.

 

The CMA has published its decision to accept commitments from ESS that enable certain schools (meaning those which had considered switching providers but concluded they did not have sufficient time to do so) to apply to an independent adjudicator for a 12-month break clause. If granted, the clause will allow them to exit their current three-year contract with ESS and choose an alternative provider, should they so wish.

 

 

– This is good news for schools that wanted to go through a procurement exercise for their MIS but felt they didn’t have enough time as they can now apply for a 12-month break clause to give them time to test the market.

 

– What’s not so great is that there’s a limited timeframe to get your application in and you’ll need to provide a supporting statement. Schools have one month to apply, from 10^th January 2023 to 10 February 2023.

 

 

You’ll be told whether you are successful by 31st March 2023, you then have 12 months to choose a new supplier, giving you time to switch by March 2024.

 

There is no downside to applying. It’s worth doing to buy some time so you can take a proper look at the MIS solutions out there. You’re not under any obligation to actually move supplier and you can always change your mind and do nothing.

 

If you’re happy with your existing SIMS contract and terms, then of course this probably isn’t for you. However, if you would have liked to test the market but couldn’t do so at the time, here’s the link to the application form and the guidance

 

We’d also recommend looking at the support options available as many local school support teams are completely MIS agnostic; they support the process, not the product. They can often help you with your market-testing exercise and are able to support your MIS implementation as part of your overall IT strategy and School Development Plan too.

The MIS sector in England continues to be in a state of flux and there are currently no signs of it settling down. Schools and MATs continue to switch suppliers, businesses and support teams are changing the way they operate, and new partnerships and being formed to enhance the value suppliers offer.

 

Is this a good thing for schools and MIS users? We certainly hope so, with change comes innovation, but I can see why MIS can feel like a pain in the backside as opposed to an opportunity to improve things for some schools and MATs.

 

Here are some of the big talking points in 2022 and our predictions for 2023

 

 

The challenges around ESS’ move to direct licencing and 3-year contracts continue

When ESS announced to all its schools that they required them to licence with them directly (as opposed to via an LA licence deal) and that all contracts would be for 3-years now as opposed to one, there was a great deal of pushback from schools culminating in a challenge from them and a subsequent investigation by the CMA.

 

ESS, having offered various incremental ‘break clauses’, is now proposing a ‘New Break Clause Offer’ which will allow some schools to apply to break their contract if they can provide ‘objective evidence of a clear intention to switch’. The application will then be assessed by an independent adjudicator. Whether or not the CMA feel this is fair and workable remains to be seen. At the time of writing, the investigation is still open but the decision is likely to be soon as the last CMA consultation period closed in December 2022.

 

Our predictions: given just how many schools are affected by the ESS decision to change their terms, it’s likely the CMA would have received many responses during the last consultation period – both from schools and suppliers alike. Is it realistic to ask schools to provide written evidence of conversations – that would have likely happened verbally – in order to be able to apply to move? Is the application process itself so complicated that it puts schools off and they simply stick with what they’ve got? All questions the CMA will be considering, but we can see this rumbling on into 2023.

(**UPDATE** on 10th Jan 2023, the CMA published its decision to accept commitments from ESS that enable certain schools (meaning those which had considered switching providers but concluded they did not have sufficient time to do so) to apply to an independent adjudicator for a 12-month break clause. If granted, the clause will allow them to exit their current three-year contract with ESS and choose an alternative provider, should they so wish. More details on our blog here, schools have until 10th Feb 2023 to make their application.)

 

 

The rate of churn in the market continues at an even higher rate than expected

The most recent census figures are out and show that, over the past year, 2,734 schools have moved away from SIMS to alternate MIS suppliers. It means they’ve lost 18% of their market share in one year, probably higher than anyone expected. It also means that lots of challenger MIS are gaining ground with Arbor and Bromcom being the big winners, and lots of other new and existing MIS suppliers continue to gain ground (I’d recommend checking out Josh Perry’s blog for a detailed breakdown of market share by supplier).

 

Our predictions: Is this likely to continue into 2023? Everything indicates that it will. The school census figures are a good indicator of what’s going on but they always give a slightly delayed view on the market; they tell us which MIS the school used to submit the census, but they don’t reflect any recent procurements or new contracts schools may have entered into (e.g. the recent West Sussex procurement).  In the face of an enforced 3-year contract, many SIMS schools scrambled to move to an alternate MIS and there are still migrations in progress. We know that more schools, academies and MATs also intend to test the market there but felt that they couldn’t run a fair and thorough procurement within a limited timeframe (we talk about this below).

 

The acceleration in churn we’re seeing is not just due to contract issues though. There is a real desire for new solutions which offer schools something different, and which better meets the needs of MATs.  Bromcom and Arbor have made significant gains, and the primary-focused cloud MIS (Scholarpack, RM Integris and Horizons/Pupil Asset) have held fairly steady.  There are also new players out there which schools are happily choosing to switch to. IRIS Ed:Gen was the next fastest grower, and Compass Education is already busy getting schools live here in the UK.  ET-AIMS and Go4Schools have new MIS offerings which are sparking interest, and Satchel recently announced that they intend to build an MIS too. There’s lots of potential for growth and a very high likelihood that we’ll see more churn.

 

 

What’s next for Support Teams

The role and nature of school support teams continue to evolve. As an LA team, only offering support for one MIS option feels more and more precarious as the level of churn amongst schools, academies and trusts increases each year. However, by and large, MATs, schools and academies often still want to buy into local support – they still want to work with the colleagues with which they’ve built such great relationships.  As a result, the number of support teams forming partnerships with MIS providers other than SIMS has increased drastically, and many now offer multi-MIS support. The progressive teams understand that the priority is helping their schools achieve their goals, and it’s something they plan to continue to do in the future – irrespective of the systems they use. They “support the process, not the product”.

 

Our predictions: unfortunately, those LA teams that only offer SIMS support to their schools are going to find it harder and harder in the future. LAs no longer hold a SIMS licence in perpetuity as was once the case as ESS mandates that all schools licence with them directly so LAs are no longer a route to a preferential SIMS licence deal. ESS is offering its own support contracts directly to SIMS schools at a favourable price so these teams may find that some of their schools won’t buy into their MIS SLAs at all. In addition, we’ve heard anecdotally that ESS plans to discontinue the annual entitlement rebate that has traditionally been available to LA teams in return for them supporting SIMS. For many, it may mean there is no longer a viable business.

(N.B. we have a new #FinnemoreFireside coming up with Catherine Tallis, Director Of Business Services at Herts for Learning Ltd where we discuss the challenges above – watch this space)

 

 

An increased focus on procurements

As indicated by the amount of churn, it’s clear there are likely to be more procurements underway than ever. Depending on the size of the school or trust, this can be a complex process involving stakeholders from across all areas of operations, teaching and leadership.  At any one time, an MIS supplier will also be responding to multiple tenders so we’d definitely encourage the use of a framework such as  G-cloud or Everything ICT. It helps the process run smoothly and helps guard against any legal challenges.

 

Our predictions: We anticipate school and MAT requirements becoming more high-level and strategic as it becomes clear what brand-new cloud-based MIS can help them achieve. While lots of requirements have tended to focus on functionality in the past (e.g. can you take a register, can you submit the census) these are things that all MIS can do. A decision which is made purely on basics and price rarely gets schools and Trusts what they need.

 

We’re starting to see Trusts ask more of MIS suppliers in terms of how they will help them meet their own overall strategy. For example:

 

• How will the MIS help them meet Carbon net zero targets by 2030?
• How will the MIS provide the insight on students we need to successfully run a national academy chain?
• How does the MIS help us allocate budget to staff resources accordingly based on effective pedagogy?

 

Being a straight admin/office tool is not enough anymore, Trusts are looking for software partners with long-term benefits.

 

 

 

The desire for cloud solutions continues

There has always been a strong case for a school to move all its systems to the cloud, and this was brought into sharp focus by the pandemic.  Anytime, anywhere access became absolutely crucial as school staff were unable to gain physical access to buildings. Even when they could, many students were still attending school remotely so there had to be solutions in place to cope with remote learning – it caught a lot of people out and accelerated cloud strategy.

 

The argument around TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) is now more important than ever as, once again, schools find their budgets being shrunk so any way to save money has to be considered. Cloud solutions mean that schools don’t need to buy or house a server so there are all the associated power and air-con cost savings that go with it.

 

Carbon targets and a successful net zero strategy are also becoming a higher priority for schools as we head towards 2030, they want to waste as little energy as possible and the cloud helps them get there.

 

Our predictions: schools will of course want to move to the cloud where possible and all the MIS suppliers understand this. The fast-growing suppliers are cloud-based as you would expect, and ESS has a cloud strategy with its Next Gen solution planned for the future.

 

For schools and Trusts who find themselves with a client-based MIS for the foreseeable future, there are other options out there to help your cloud strategy. For example, suppliers can sometimes help with this directly, and school support teams such as Scomis offer SIMS hosting so you no longer need to buy and maintain servers.

 

 

 

 

Partnerships, mergers and acquisitions

There has been so much acquisition activity around MIS in recent years and this continued in 2022 with RM announcing the sale of the division that includes the Integris MIS to The Key Group. When the deal goes through, The Key will have around a 33% MIS market share in the English-maintained sector (across Arbor, Scholarpack and Integris) which makes them a huge player, second only to ESS SIMS which currently has around 56%.

Suppliers of MIS-adjacent solutions have also continued to form fruitful partnerships as it becomes clear that there’s not a ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution for schools and Trusts, and flexibility is everything.

 

Our predictions: We’re seeing increased merger, acquisition and partnership activity amongst support teams too. For example, it was recently announced that School ICT Services Ltd had been acquired by Oxfordshire-based provider of education ICT services, Turn IT On.

 

We’re also seeing more and more LA support teams working in partnership with each other in order to pool expertise and deliver valuable services to their schools. For the reasons outlined earlier in the blog, we see this sector in particular as one to watch as the nature of SIMS support teams changes.

 

 

 

So, all in all, an eventful year in the sector and we can see more change coming in the future. While it feels like a lot of battles are currently being fought around contracts and agreements, we’d really like to see what’s coming next in terms of innovation.  Who’s out there redefining the role MIS will play in schools in the face of changing requirements?

 

 

We’d love to hear what’s next and look forward to working with suppliers, schools, Trusts and support colleagues throughout 2023.

We’ve been privileged to speak with even more edtech and industry thought leaders throughout 2022 as part of our #FinnemoreFireside chats, and the insight they provide us and our community is invaluable.

 

So thank you Jonathan Coyles of EO Consulting for talking to us about how Trusts can become more energy-efficient, hit carbon targets, and save money at the same time.

 

Thanks to Mike Donoghue for giving us an insight into how MATs work and what is important to directors, leaders, governors, staff and learners.

 

It’s great to speak with entrepreneurs from across the edtech industry so thank you Lawrence Royston for getting involved and giving us your perspective.

 

Thank you to Stephen Bilboe for talking to us about changes across the international and independent education sector, and what the future might hold in terms of MIS.

 

Our chat with marketing and PR guru Cath Lane is essential listening for everyone who owns or leads an edtech business, thanks for the great advice.

 

Thank you to Andy Kent for talking to us about his focus on innovation and culture to help all levels of the education sector.

 

We welcomed Phil Neal back for a follow-up chat to discuss changes in the world of school management systems.

 

We spoke with Martin Baker of The Safeguarding Company about the lessons that can be learnt from the Child Q case.

 

And finally, we were delighted to speak with Matt Woodruff, Vice President of Analytics and AI at Community Brands UK, for an insightful conversation about data and machine learning.

 

We’ve thoroughly enjoyed making the series and already have some great sessions ready to go in the new year including a discussion on school support with Catherine Tallis, Director Of Business Services at Herts for Learning Ltd – watch this space!

 

 

Have a great Christmas break, looking forward to sharing more with you all in 2023! 🎄

 

Best wishes from Sarah & Nick

 

——————————————————————————-

 

Subscribe to our YouTube channel and get notified when new videos go live, or join our mailing list for tips on future-proofing, MIS news, growth strategies, and much more.

Next in our #FinnemoreFireside series is this Q&A session from before half term with Matt Woodruff, Vice President of Analytics and AI at Community Brands UK.

 

A data professional and PhD candidate in the field of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence in Education, Matt has a prior background of 25 years in technology applications and consulting in Europe and the US.  He’s founded companies specifically addressing how technology can support more effective decision-making at all levels to improve outcomes and identify ways to be able to ‘do more, with less’ – more important than ever in today’s economic climate.

 

Matt and I had an insightful conversation about data and machine learning, including:

• What is AI? The acronym is bandied about a lot, and here Matt gives a very strong definition of AI and more importantly Machine Learning
• We talk a lot about the benefits of using contextual data with machine learning
• What is the future of the use of data and how expansive can it support Teachers, Students and Parents
• What needs to change? How ‘open’ should data be?
• How is Community Brands supporting schools, and what’s next for the company?

 

It’s an interesting listen – especially for those of you like me who are interested in data and where the next innovations in analytics will be. Enjoy!

 

 

According to DfE census data, the past three and a half years have seen an increased trend towards switching MIS amongst schools in England.

The headline story is that SIMS market share has dropped the most, from a huge 77% to a still healthy 60%, and three main challenger MIS have emerged, between them winning 27% of the market: Bromcom and Arbor across all phases, and Scholarpack in primary schools. There are also plenty of other challengers – each of them gaining ground in their own way (I’d recommend checking out Joshua Perry’s Bring More Data blog for details and analysis).

 

 

What’s behind this trend and is it set to continue?

 

The reasons schools choose to move in the first place are varied.

 

• Many convert to academies and sometimes they join a trust where a different MIS is in use, so they switch as part of the joining process. Other times, they’ll use their change of status to academy as an opportunity to look at the MIS options available to them now that they are no longer under LA control.

 

 

• Maintained schools are switching MIS too. For many, the traditional model of them being able to buy into an LA-purchased and supported MIS has disappeared. Councils in England are rarely able to retain budget or mandate solutions, and the largest MIS supplier (ESS SIMS) has taken the decision to ask all their schools to contract with them directly instead of via an LA licence, for a three-year period¹. For many, this change in terms prompted a market-testing exercise which led to a new MIS being selected.

 

 

• Schools, academies and MATs are increasingly aware of the cost and efficiency gains they can make by switching MIS. Schools are looking to save money on multiple systems and save time on back-office processes, and MATs are looking to centralise more data and operational workflows. This is a huge driver and one that is likely to increase over the next few years.

 

All these factors are ongoing. Academy conversion continues to happen, and single academies are increasingly joining larger, more established MATs.

SIMS schools who wanted to go to tender for their MIS but felt they didn’t have time to complete a proper procurement exercise resulted in a large group of them seeking legal advice on the matter which is now being investigated by the Competition & Markets Authority (CMA).¹

There are countless case studies of schools and academies who will tell you about the huge improvements moving MIS supplier has brought about, almost always accompanied by big cost-savings.

It looks like change is set to continue. The question is: how fast?

 

 

How likely are schools to switch MIS supplier in the next 12 months?

 

In Spring 2021, The Key sent a survey to all primary, secondary, special schools and pupil referral units in England on the subject of MIS which produced some fascinating insights, including (amongst other things):

 

• What’s most important to schools when looking for an MIS, and how likely are they to move supplier
• How effective MIS are at saving schools time, and how well schools supported
• How intuitive are MIS solutions for new users, and do they give schools the right tools for the job in terms of collaboration and data?

 

The Key sent out a similar survey in Spring 2022 so, using these results, we’ve been able to compare how opinions on MIS have changed and gain some insight into what schools might do in the future.

 

 

The survey asked schools how likely they were to consider changing supplier in the next 12-months. The results indicate that almost 16% said they were either ‘likely’ or ‘very likely’ to move in the next 12 months which is around the same as last year – if this is a reflection across the whole market then we can expect the trend of switching MIS to continue in the next year or so (you can find the full results plus analysis by supplier in The Key’s blog post “What do schools feel about their MIS?”)

 

 

 

 

While the distribution of results was broadly similar to 2021, the trend compared to the previous year showed some polarisation towards either end of the scale. More respondents said they were ‘very likely’ to move than last year, but an increased number of respondents said they were ‘very unlikely’ to move too. There could be a few reasons for this:

 

• A sizeable group of schools have switched MIS recently so the appetite amongst this group for them to switch again will be very low; it usually makes sense to embed a new MIS fully and explore everything it can do before deciding to change again.

 

• A lot of schools will be in a multi-year contract with their MIS so moving MIS may not be an option they could consider in the short term. (However, some suppliers do give schools the option to switch to them mid-contract without double-paying, e.g. Bromcom and Arbor )

 

• At the other end of the scale, the increase in appetite amongst schools for moving MIS will likely be for the reasons outlined at the very beginning of this blog: when a new contract is required (be that through the school’s academisation, or an existing contract coming to an end with an LA or supplier) it prompts the need for a fair and rigorous tender process – even if that school, academy or trust is pretty happy with the incumbent supplier. There are a number of frameworks in place to help schools and MATs through this process e.g. G-cloud, Everything ICT, etc.

 

• Finally, the increase in schools saying that they are very likely to move MIS in the next 12 months could purely be down to the fact that they are not happy with their existing supplier. This could be down to the way it works (or doesn’t work) for them, the support they receive, cost, customer service, or any number of other reasons.

 

We’ll be exploring what’s important to schools, academies and trusts in future blogs – subscribe to stay up to date.

 

 

 

 

¹At the time of publishing this blog, the CMA has stated that they need further time to investigate and has not yet announced the action they intend to take.

 

Last month, Nick caught up with former Capita MD and creator of the SIMS MIS, Phil Neal, to discuss the various changes in the education sector. As the MIS market continues to evolve and Phil gives his view on:

• The ongoing tender in Northern Ireland and what might happen there in terms of MIS supplier, as well as Scotland and Wales
• The challenges of developing an MIS to meet specific, regional-based, statutory requirements: is this a distraction for MIS suppliers?
• The big changes in the England MIS market, with views on ET-AIMS, Compass Education, IRIS Ed:gen, Juniper Education, Bromcom, Scholarpack and Arbor
• The recent decision by ESS to move to three-year, direct contracts for all schools and potential ramifications
• How more MIS solutions within the UK market might actually lead to less innovation  in the long term
• How machine learning can be used within MIS to create something truly unique
• The importance of Support Units and the role they play alongside schools

 

As always it’s fascinating to get the views of someone who has worked in the MIS sector for so long and knows the various stakeholders so well.

Where do you think the MIS market is heading and who will be the long-term winners?

 

 

Just before Bett this year, Nick caught up with Lawrence Royston, Founder of teamSOS, to talk all things edtech.

Lawrence is one of the true entrepreneurs of the Edtech market. Along with his partner Joanne, he started with GroupCall messenger, the first SMS messaging system for schools in the UK, then built Xporter, supporting Third parties to have a generic way to integrate with MIS data, before looking at how they could provide deeper insights in the data they were already transferring through GroupCall XVault. He’s also supported GDPRis and has recently started a new business in teamSOS, an incident management and compliance tool for staff in Education and NHS establishments.

 

We’ve split the interview into two parts to make it easier to digest. In part one Nick and Lawrence discuss:

• What it means to have an entrepreneurial mindset
• Working with partners (and family!), their symbiotic skills, and how this is a great asset in business
• The thinking behind teamSOS, where the idea came from, and the problem it solves
• The importance of listening and learning from users
• ‘Successive approximation’ and continually iterating solutions to help better meet the needs of your customers

 

In part two they talk about:

• What advice would Lawrence give budding edtech entrepreneurs based on his own experience?
• Getting work/life balance right
• The effect of recent market changes: how consolidation makes space for speedboats!
• The innovation bubbling away in the background within smaller businesses that lead on vision and integration
• Modernising technology (case in point: walkie talkies)
• Their approach to pricing and delivering value
• How making school staff feel cared for attracts and retains the best candidates

Enjoy!

Towards the end of 2021, Nick caught up with Andy Kent, CEO and Founder of Angel Solutions who create innovative, web-based applications to help all levels of the education sector. Their tools are used nationwide, as well as internationally, from pupils, teachers and school leaders right through to local authorities and large academy chains.

 

Some of the questions Nick asked Andy include:

• Your business is unlike many others as you really focus on innovation and culture; what does innovation mean to you?
• What do you think is important for businesses and establishments to consider and take stock of right now, especially after Covid?
• With so many new technologies entering the market, what will your approach be to these new technologies and when to introduce them?
• What advice would you give to edtech businesses and startups?

 

We’ve split the interview into three parts to make it easier to digest. In part 1, Nick and Andy discuss innovation and culture at the circus (for those of you who have never visited, Angel Solutions offices are themed as a circus), and the impact of Covid on businesses.

Part 2 focuses on their ‘freemium’ model and advocacy, usage data and customer success, and showing value through usage and data. They also chat about changes in edtech and the challenge this creates.

Finally, in part 3 Nick and Andy cover ‘best of breed’ solutions, what’s new in edtech, and the future direction of Angel Solutions.

 

Enjoy!