Interfacing guidance notes for third-party developers

Capita Education Services are committed to providing open interfaces to its software.

Under the terms of our warranty, rather than allowing direct access to the SQL tables, schools are required to use products which access the SQL database via SIMS Business Objects; direct writing to tables is not permitted because that would by-pass validation rules and could cause the SIMS database to fail.

For those companies wishing to read data from the SIMS system, the SIMS Reporting Engine or Third Party SDK is available and would be our recommended approach. It’s highly customisable and optimised for extracting data from SIMS.

For those companies wishing to write back to the SIMS system, a detailed set of Interface and Architecture documentation is available to assist companies with interfacing to our software. Most companies are likely to want to work together under a partnership agreement with us and so will not require this level of documentation, however if required it is available on request and at no charge. For all queries regarding this documentation and a copy of our standard non disclosure agreement which must be signed before the documentation is released, please contact our Partner Manager David Grashoff at david.grashoff@capita.co.uk

Consultancy/Testing

Capita is able to provide consultancy on interfacing and is able to provide test services at a rate of £1000* per day + VAT + expenses. Lead times can be lengthy and, therefore, you are advised to contact us as soon as possible.

Partnerships

If you feel that working closely with Capita would offer your company benefits, we do have a number of partnership schemes that could be of interest to you.  These benefits do in certain circumstances include Agency or Reseller Agreements.

Correspondence

Please address any correspondence relating to any of these matters to David Grashoff at Capita Education Services Head Office in Bedford.

*Prices current at time of publication