Tech companies which fail to make the cut for the government’s management information system (MIS) framework will not have “agreed to treat schools fairly”, a Whitehall official has said. Dan Baker, a commercial specialist at the Department for Education (DfE), said MIS – which collects vital attendance, payroll and admissions information – had become a “nightmare” to procure, with some schools’ data held “hostage” to prevent them from switching. Schools Week revealed in November that civil servants were drawing up the new purchasing route to shield schools from the £200 million MIS turf war. Speaking at a Schools North East event last week, Baker said: “We get lots of feedback that these are a nightmare to procure. “It’s just easier to stay with your incumbent. The result of that, though, is you are kind of locked in.” The government has said all schools with “sufficient broadband” will be expected to procure their MIS through the framework from September 2027 “under a comply or explain approach”. It will be published next summer and provide a list of approved companies. More guidance coming In a message to suppliers this week, the DfE said schools “should continue as planned” to secure MIS if they have already commenced procurement or plan to do so before the next academic year. But deals “should not exceed a three-year duration”. Further guidance will be shared within the next fortnight with those looking to start procurement after September. Baker said the framework is “going to set out the rules of the game” for MIS, assuring leaders that it will retain “innovation from the suppliers and also schools’ choice”. “While the big providers might already be providing a high level of standard, we are setting the bar,” he continued. “The ones who aren’t part of that framework basically have not agreed to treat schools fairly. That’s kind of the ambition we are trying to set.” Cloud-based suppliers The emergence of cloud-based suppliers has led to big changes in the MIS world, estimated to be worth about £200 million. SIMS, which has long dominated the sector, has seen its market share shrink to less than that of rival Arbor, according to analysis by the Bring More Data blog. Bromcom is the third most-used supplier. The changing market has seen high-profile legal disputes involving some of the country’s largest academy trusts. The competitions watchdog has also been pulled into MIS controversies. The DfE has been told that some suppliers are holding “schools’ data as hostage basically and tie it up with varying tactics”, Baker noted. The framework will make it “clear … the school’s data is their data”. An Arbor spokesperson said the company wants schools “bought in” to its tech, “not locked in”. It is “happily aligned with all of the proposed principles of the new framework”. Lewis Alcraft, chief executive of ParentPay Group, which owns SIMS, said the company was “entirely comfortable being held to fair principles”. It is “exactly what we have always asked for”, he added. But, if the DfE tries to exclude suppliers from the framework “based on officials’ perception of the fairness of suppliers’ existing commercial terms, then we don’t think that would be a workable or legal basis upon which to proceed”. Ali Guryel, of Bromcom, said his company “full intend[s] to be on the framework”. “Schools should never be locked in, and they should be able to change supplier without friction,” he said.