March 2002 — Special Feature

Print this article

Click here to receive your FREE subscription to T.H.E. Journal

The Work Behind SIF's Framework

  • List applications that will be provided by your company as part of this proposal, and identify those with SIF Agents.
  • Indicate whether each Agent is available for implementation.
  • Identify the Agents that have been tested and implemented in a SIF Showcase, Beta Site or other school district
  • Identify the version of the SIF Specification for each Agent.
  • Identify the SIF Object(s) that the Agent handles.
  • Are costs for your Agent(s) included in the costs for your software or are they separate costs?
  • How are upgrades to your Agent(s) priced?
  • Describe installation support and its cost, if any.
  • Describe ongoing support and its cost, if any.
  • Are upgrades included in software maintenance or annual service agreement?
  • If not, why?

5. Zone Integration Server (ZIS):
D'es your company provide or market a Zone Integration Server (ZIS)?

  • Is the ZIS available for implementation?
  • Identify the SIF Specification versions that the ZIS supports.
  • Has the ZIS been tested and implemented in a SIF Showcase, Beta Site or other school district? Please identify all test/implementation sites.
  • D'es your proposal include the cost of the ZIS and implementation?
  • Is there an additional cost for upgrades?
  • Are training and support for the ZIS included, or are there additional costs?
  • Describe the training and support provided (documentation, phone support, etc.).
  • If you are not supplying a ZIS in your proposal, which have you successfully interoperated with?
  • Which ZIS will you use in this installation?
  • What additional software needs to be installed and operational for your ZIS to run properly?

6. SIF Experience
Describe any specific work your company has done at SIF Showcase sites, Compliance Beta Sites or other school district implementations. For each site, provide the following information:

  • The scope, timeline and brief history of each project.
  • The role your organization played in implementation and support.
  • The function(s) supported by your application(s) (i.e., subscriber, provider, etc.).
  • Duration of your company's involvement in the installation.
  • Other Agent vendors involved in the project.
  • SIF Data Objects shared within the project.
  • The ZIS used.
  • Customer contacts (references) for each project.

7. Describe your company's plans for making your application(s) SIF compliant.

  • Assuming the formal SIF Compliance testing process is ready in late spring 2002, d'es your company anticipate that your application(s) will be ready for SIF Compliance testing at that time?
  • Identify the version(s) of your application(s) that are anticipated for formal compliance testing.
  • Any additional comments on your compliance plans?

8. SIF Support