This article is designed for schools who are migrating to Arbor using GroupCall's Xporter on Demand. It details the process, prerequisites and steps that are needed to ensure your migration is successful.
Arbor migrates schools' data over the SIMS API using a tool called GroupCall Xporter on Demand. This means that there is no database backup needed and once the tool is set up and configured correctly, the migration will happen in the background.
- Arbor migrates primary schools once, on their booked migration date. This is the data that they will go live with.
- Arbor migrates secondary schools twice, a test (dummy) migration on the third week of their onboarding journey and a final (live) migration on their booked migration date. This is the data that they will go live with.
The migration tool migrates all of the student, staff and guardian data they need to effectively run their school. It is not a complete migrator and will not bring over all data that is recorded in SIMS. It is therefore important that they review all guidance within this help centre so that they have a plan for any additional data they want to manually migrate to Arbor.
Migration timelines
- Primary school migrations begin at 4pm, 5 days before their booked migration date. We expect the migration to complete within 3 days.
- Secondary school migrations take place in two parts, the initial (dummy) migration and the top-up migration.
- Secondary Initial (dummy) migration: The initial (dummy) migration begins at 4pm, 5 days before the expected dummy run date. We allow 3 weeks for the initial migration to complete. The length of time it takes for a secondary migration to complete varies depending on a range of factors, including: server specifications, internet upload speeds, the size of the database and the stability of the connection to the server (server uptime).
- Secondary top-up migration: The top-up migration begins at 4pm on the date of the booked migration, which is expected to complete within 1 week.
Overview of terminology
- GroupCall Xporter on Demand is the tool that Arbor uses to migrate the data over the SIMS API. We use a trusted third party API partner called GroupCall. Lots of schools commonly use this to connect third party applications to their MIS.
- Arbor Secure Upload Portal is the tool that schools use to agree to Arbor's terms and conditions.
Accepting Terms and Conditions using the Secure Upload Portal
Each school moving to Arbor using the GroupCall migrator is given a unique Secure Portal which they can use to confirm they accept the Arbor Terms & Conditions, confirmed they have completed data checks, and are ready for their migration to begin on the agreed migration date.
- Primaries will receive these details via email in week two of the onboarding (17 days before the booked migration slot). If they have not received these, please reach out to myonboarding@arbor-education.com
- Secondaries will receive these details via email on Tuesday week one of your Onboarding. If they have not received it, please reach out to their dedicated Onboarding Manager.
Log into your Arbor Secure Portal
The school's Project Lead will receive access to the Secure Portal in two emails from Arbor (these can be forwarded to another appropriate staff member if needed):
- The first email will contain a link to access the school's unique Secure Upload Portal and a username that they should use to log into the portal
- The second email will contain the password to log in to the portal.
Confirm details in the Arbor Secure Portal
Once they have received the link to the Secure Upload Portal they need to action the following before the end of their second week of onboarding.
- Accept Arbor's Terms and Conditions
- Agree to complete data cleanses in their current MIS by their migration date
Configuration of GroupCall Xporter on Demand
Schools need to configure GroupCall's Xporter on Demand to allow Arbor to migrate data over the SIMS API. Some schools may already have installed Xporter on Demand to connect other third party applications to their MIS however they should still follow this guide.
Approve data sharing via GroupCall Xporter on Demand
- Schools will receive an email from xodlive@groupcallalert.com with the subject “Invitation from Arbor Education to sync your MIS data and complete your setup” and should click 'Begin Authorisation' to begin the process of authorising the data migration with Arbor.
- Follow the steps in this guide which was created by GroupCall directly to approve the data sharing between Arbor and SIMS via GroupCall's Xporter on Demand.
Installation of Xporter on Demand
If schools do not already use GroupCall Xporter on Demand they will be prompted to install this before continuing with the setup steps. There are two options when installing GroupCall Xporter on Demand:
- Self Install where schools are responsible for installing XoD, ensuring the prerequisites are completed and data sharing is enabled correctly
- Guided Install where the GroupCall onboarding team guide schools through the process. We strongly recommend booking a Guided Install so GroupCall can install on their behalf and ensure everything is set up correctly.
Note: Xporter on Demand (XoD) should be installed on the computer that houses the school's data. If the data is held by your Council, Local Authority, or partner, they will need to install this on their end to enable the migration to occur.
Check GroupCall Xporter on Demand is running
Schools who already use Xporter to connect other 3rd party applications must check that it is installed and running correctly. You can check this going through the following steps:
- Schools can find the Xporter Management Console on your desktop or start menu
- Open the Xporter Management Console
- Click the Services tab from the left panel
- Locate GroupCall Xporter and check that it is currently running
Prerequisites for a successful migration
Once schools have set up GroupCall XoD and accepted the terms and conditions, they must check these prerequisites before their migration to Arbor begins.
Check the 'Xporter user' permissions in your SIMS system
When schools set up GroupCall Xporter on Demand, a user is created in SIMS. This user is known as the 'Xporter user'. The permissions listed against this user account must have access to all the required areas in SIMS so that GroupCall can access and migrate all the required data. Instructions on how to check this can be found here 'Check Permissions of the SIMS user'. Schools must check that the 'Xporter User' has access to the following areas of SIMS:
- Assessment Co-ordinator
- Cover Manager
- Exams Officer (if you are a secondary school)
- School Administrator
- Senior Management Team
- Personnel Officer
- Third-Part Reporting
Note: Personnel Officer is the recommended permission for maximum compatibility, however, if you are not comfortable with this permission, Personnel Data Exporter can be substituted. Read GroupCall's guidance for further information: Best Practices: Xporter and MIS Permissions. If any of these are missing please make sure they are added to the SIMS Xporter User before your migration.
Check SIMs server prerequisites
We highly recommend installing GroupCall Xporter on Demand on a server. Installing on a workstation can result in poor uptime of integrated services. Click here to view Server Pre-Requisites.
Ensure your server is left on
Schools must leave their SIMS server ON at all times. Arbor can only access your data when servers are online, so this is an essential step to ensure we migrate your data successfully and on time. If your SIMS server is turned off, then the migration will fail and the migration will be at risk.
Be available during your migration
Ensure someone is available via email over the holiday in the school. Ideally the Project Lead or IT Lead should be available to check their e-mail during the holidays to ensure they can pick up any important information about the migration status and success.
Retaining your full data backup
The migration to Arbor via GroupCall includes six years of historic student, staff and guardian data from SIMS which is compliant with statutory data retention rules. We recommend that schools obtain a full backup of their data from SIMS which they can store on their school server if ever needed.
What happens next
Arbor will perform daily 'Health Checks' on the data to confirm that their will be no issues once the data migration begins. Once schools have installed XoD and agreed to data sharing we will run checks on the above prerequisites to ensure everything is set up correctly.
If any of the above health checks come back with an issue, the Onboarding team will contact the school to discuss their next steps and options. If everything is ok, Arbor will migrate their data on their scheduled booked migration date.
Overview of key documentation
There are various resources available to help schools with the set up of GroupCall Xporter on Demand that are listed below.
Configuration guides
- GroupCall data authorisation guide
- GroupCall Xporter on Demand initial installation guide (Required if doing a self install of XoD)
- GroupCall server prerequisite guide
- GroupCall MIS permissions guide
Migration scope guides
- Complete guide on all data migrated via the SIMS API
- DfE guidance on data retention for schools in England
- DfE guidance on data retention for schools in Wales
- Advise on importing additional data outside of the scope of the migrator for schools in England
- Advise on importing additional data outside of the scope of the migrator for schools in Wales
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