SIDE (Super Ifu Deployable Experiment) is being proposed as a new instrument for the GTC 10.4m telescope on La Palma. It will be a wide-field fiber-fed spectrograph of intermediate resolution, highly efficient in multi-object and 3D spectroscopy. SIDE will feature the unique possibility of performing simultaneous visible and NIR observations for selected spectral ranges. SIDE will produce unique data sets and open new opportunities to understand our view on galaxy formation and evolution and it will provide new insights on the physics of the dark universe. In this talk I will give a brief instrument overview and review the status of SIDE and its pathfinder, the mini SIDE. The SIDE project is lead by the Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucia in Granada (Spain).