When Will My Institution Receive ZIMS?

ISIS projects that it will take through 2012 for the entire ISIS global community to changeover from ARKS to ZIMS. Clearly, a period of transition will take place as more and more ISIS member institutions adopt ZIMS while others are still using ARKS. By the end of 2012, we expect that to be an ISIS member will be to be a ZIMS user.

The 143 institutions that invested funds early in ZIMS development will have the choice to receive ZIMS first, and we expect most will choose to do so. It is not too much to say that ZIMS owes its existence to these early investors. After that group of early donors, institutions that pay the ZIMS fee soonest will receive ZIMS soonest.

Many ZIMS early investors made multi-year pledges. Many institutions will choose the two-year option to pay their ZIMS fee. The ISIS policy is that the first received payment, whether payment in full or 50% partial payment on a two-year payment plan, determines your institution’s place on the ZIMS deployment schedule.

With ZIMS, for the first time ISIS will be able to fully serve aquariums’ needs. There will be a separate, parallel deployment schedule for aquariums. As in the schedule above, aquariums that pay the ZIMS fee first will receive ZIMS soonest. In accordance with this new full level of service for aquariums, the discounted annual ISIS membership fee paid by aquariums will end with delivery of ZIMS to them, and aquariums will then move to the same annual ISIS membership fee schedule that applies to zoos.

As we draw closer to deployment, ISIS will provide further details about how your institution can prepare for the ZIMS changeover and how we will schedule specific dates for your “big day.”