How to prepare for migration around your SIMs contract expiry date

This article is designed for primary and secondary schools who are moving to Arbor from SIMs close to their SIMs contract expiry date. 

What happens at SIMs contract expiry date

Migrating via the SIMs API using Groupcall Xporter on Demand

If you are migrating via the SIMs API using Groupcall Xporter on Demand there is different advice depending on if your host your data on site (for example in the server at your school) or the data is hosted externally, either by SIMs or a local partner. 

• If your data is hosted at your school site you should not lose access to SIMs however your current system may become read only after your license expires. We recommend that you ensure your migration is booked before your SIMs contract expiry date. You should have access to SIMs after your Go Live completes to complete your post Go Live data checking.
• If your data is hosted externally either with a local partner or SIMs Connected, it is highly likely that you will lose access to SIMs on the expiration of your SIMs contract. It is important that your migration and your post migration data checks are booked before your SIMs contract expiry date. 

Migrating via SIMs database file

If you are migrating via a SIMs database file there is different advice depending on if your host your data on site (for example in the server at your school) or the data is hosted externally, either by SIMs or a local partner. 

• If your data is hosted at your school site you should not lose access to SIMs however your current system may become read only after your license expires. We recommend that you ensure your migration is booked before your SIMs contract expiry date however you should still have access to upload your data to Arbor after your contract expiry date.
• If your data is hosted externally either with a local partner or SIMs Connected, it is highly likely that you will lose access to SIMs on the expiration of your SIMs contract. It is important that your migration and your post migration data checks are booked before your SIMs contract expiry date. 

Note: Please contact your onboarding manager directly or onboarding team on myonboarding@arbor-education.com If you are unsure if you are migrating via the SIMs API (using GroupCall Xporter on Demand) or via database file. 

What steps should I take when migrating around my SIMs contract expiry date?

If you are migrating around the date of your SIMs contract expiry date there are steps you can take to ensure you still have access to your data after expiry date. 

• Prepare to use paper registers: Arbor will aim to release your site to you before your contract expiry data or after the holiday immediately after your contract expiry date however you should prepare to use paper registers if you chose to bring your migration date forward.
• Produce a report of essential student, staff and emergency contact details
• Ensure you have a copy of your SIMs database file saved somewhere at your school for you to refer back to. 

Ensure SIMS is updated to the latest version

Time is of the essence when migrating close to your contract expiry date and it's important that everything runs as smoothly as possible to complete the migration before your contract expires. Schools that host SIMS on their own servers must ensure SIMS is fully updated to the latest version before and during their migration. This includes both major releases and smaller patches, and schools should be prepared to apply updates as needed throughout the migration process.

Occasionally, issues arise that can only be resolved by updating SIMS or applying a patch to fix a bug affecting the migration. Schools should understand that failing to complete these updates, or to resolve bugs impacting their migration, may result in the migration being unable to finish or lead to missing or incorrect data being migrated to Arbor.

As SIMS progress with their NextGen roadmap, more services are moving into the cloud, and they have advised that patches may be released more frequently to support this work. The GroupCall migration method relies on a number of complex SIMS reports, many of which are affected by these ongoing changes. Keeping SIMS fully up to date helps ensure these reports run correctly and reduces the risk of avoidable migration delays and may be necessary to complete your migration to Arbor.

For more information about the Migration Process, including guidance on what migrates, please visit the Migration Help section of our Help Centre.