Considering BYOD/Devices - Read this list

Follow me on Twitter

I thought about a new post regarding IT Schemes and BYOD.  The idea behind this is to keep it short, simple and to the point.

I’ve created plenty of posts/pages about this and if you have the time they are all linked at the bottom.

So bullet points away:

• ·         Depending what scheme you offer – research, test and research some more.
• ·         Visit Schools and push hard for the bad points (like it or not, many Schools will not want bad press and potentially can lie – I know).  It’s important to remember this part, every School does it and rarely fully admits the negative side.
• ·         If choosing tablets – remember they do not do everything a Mac or a PC can do.
• ·         An Apple device can’t do everything a Windows PC can.
• ·         Android v Apple tablets – There are differences but depends what you want to do exactly.
• ·         List what you want before you make a device choice.
• ·         Free does not mean – good.  Nor does it mean support is available.
• ·         Tablet Apps although more reliable – when problems occur you’re alone.
• ·         Companies may lie and tell you “we support devices” – triple check (no joke).
• ·         Companies will say yes to sell you their product, take what they say with a pinch of salt.
• ·         Provide devices with staff which match in size, spec and type to what Students will use – to test and test some more.
• ·         Size makes a difference when browsing the internet especially with interactive websites.
• ·         Browsers make a difference, what works in Internet Explorer or Firefox may not work in Safari or Google Chrome.
• ·         This is a big undertaking and requires a lot of people to be involved.  This requires senior leadership/teachers direct involvement.
• ·         The scheme leader should be a person of power, this becomes fundamental to your curriculum which impacts teaching and learning.  Grades/Ofsted!
• ·         Keep it consistent, it must work and remember to evaluate the status of the scheme often to improve.
• ·         This is very different to having a device at home that the everyday user has for 30 minutes a day.  This is a device that could be used all day or for a couple of hours.  Everything must work and be straight forward.
• ·         Consider the real reasons you are doing this Scheme, scrutinise it heavily and make sure it’s the right decision.  Question yourself if this is about self-ambition or about children’s learning.
• ·         The Students will download games etc., urge them not to – that these are devices for learning.
• ·         You may not be able to deploy what you want easily and quickly, educate Staff to know how to get 25 students installing software, updates or Apps.
• ·         Windows devices will require windows updates and restarts/reboots often.  They are not designed to be on standby all day every day like a tablet.
• ·         Plan, plan and plan some more exactly what software will be used.  Usually 3 months later someone asks “can this go on all devices” – most of the time the answer will be no.  Who sits the Students down to install this software?
• ·         Avoid the Apple Lover, the Salesman, the Rep – These people will say anything to get you to say YES.
• ·         Some Students are not going to be as “advanced” as you think.  They may be able to do difficult tasks while still ignoring the simple ones.  Don’t take anything for granted.
• ·         Involve everyone, work together and listen to each other.  If you have to delay a scheme by a year – do it.

Support levels to remember:

• ·         Teachers/Support staff will need to know how to use, support and do day to day tasks on these devices.
• ·         IT Support will need to know how to trouble shoot and support.
• ·         A bigger range of devices creates less consistency especially regarding support from all staff.
• ·         Ask who supports what:  Who teaches a Student to use word, internet, printing, email etc.  Who supports a broken device.

Security:

• ·         Not every device will have the same security options.
• ·         Web filtering at School is important.
• ·         Wi-Fi security is important.
• ·         Create a separate VLAN>SSID for Student Wi-Fi (This one is for the IT tech team).
• ·         Educate Students, Parents and Staff to keep safe (you will need refresh sessions often).

Failures, damages or forgotten – The plan B or What IFs:

• ·         Have a plan B in the event of failures/damages.
• ·         Any forgotten devices should be marked down similar to missing uniform.
• ·         Insurance is a high recommendation – damages happen.  Also make sure what is covered – device parts not affecting usage may not be protected.
• ·         Make sure you have extra strong cases, bags that offer the ultimate protection – no joke.
• ·         Extended warranties is a must.  Failures occur and with devices going from A to B all day – this increases failure rate.
• ·         What happens when 25 Students arrive without 25 devices, what if it’s 20 or even 15 devices.  Ask these questions for the What Ifs.

The Cloud options:

• ·         If you go Cloud > Google, Drive, Apps etc. – Remember it WILL impact broadband (ignore those who say it won’t).
• ·         Apps at times will not work unless they are updated, sometimes they can also stop working – They’re not 100% reliable.
• ·         It’s good but how reliable has your internet access been in the last 12 months.  When it goes down, you potentially can lose more.
• ·         Your IT team can’t fix the Cloud.  When Google goes down it goes down regardless of the screaming you’re doing.
• ·         Google Drive/Gmail is pretty good so give it a real shot but some of it is out of the Schools power/control.  It’s free though.

Set out a clear structure of what is expected of everyone and make sure it is followed.  A Scheme can work but anyone who claims it’s not a mission is not being honest.

Always picture yourself with a full class of students, consider the potential risks and problems.  Do not assume it will be smooth sailing.

Read all the blogs and articles you can but look for the finer details.  A lot of posts will not include questions regarding repairs, problems and the day to day issues you can have.  These are usually because it’s an outside blog not someone who actually works on the Scheme.  Find people who are experienced of working directly with BYOD and mobile devices.  Unfortunately I don’t find many of these blogs or even articles.  Instead I find links to School websites that offer BYOD but as we all know they will not openly tell you the dark side of devices.

Final piece of advice – Listen to the pragmatics.  They ask the questions you should.  If mistakes are made and the schemes struggle - the Students are the ones that lose out.

Time for those LINKS and more LINKS.  Theses are all done by my self with quite a bit linked from other websites.

This post is roughly about the cost of "Free of IT" Schools.

Schools Costs with no IT

Articles that seem to reap a lot of praise on technology in Schools yet show little to no experience of being involved.

Articles that "praise" EduTech

Want to buy a device for your self?

Want to buy a device, heres some advice

The questions or perhaps answers Education never asks or wants to know?

Perhaps Education needs to open it's eyes?

The costs of IT, some times no one really truly sees it.

IT - The bigger picture of costs

A simple update on our current status.

An Update on BYOD Schemes

Using phones or perhaps mobile devices in the classroom.  Remember safety is paramount no matter what some say.

21st Century Technology - phones - With 21st Century Problems

Education, EduTech - It's all every where but has to be done right.  Very useful for BYOD/Mobile devices.

Education - Technology - EduTech

What is Cloud, can it be a benefit?

Cloud or not to Cloud

Mainly covering how much of a nightmare it can be, current issues faced and generally will open your eyes.  This also states progress of a company that provided a Scheme that effectively left us on our own.

BYOD Schemes - Pros, Cons - The nightmare

Why BYOD/Mobile Technology is damaging Teaching and Leaning

I've been reading a lot of articles lately in regards to mobile technology and BYOD in education.


The not so Technical capable
A lot of the time unless you work in IT full time, you generally will not have the knowledge of terminology nor understanding.  After all if you are a teacher you will spend every day educating students and not learning to understand technology.


VLE


Five myths about classroom technology


I chose these two as prime examples, both are completed by some one who has a speciality field and it's certainly not the technical. 


The first one talked about Virtual Classrooms but this all boils down to one thing - Any Where Access.  This term is referred to when you want something created at work but you can access it on holiday, while at home and all you need is a device with signal (4G/Wi-Fi or cable).


There is a no physical hardware for virtualised systems.. wrong - there is a physical device for everything on the internet.  The term Cloud is a bit like Wi-Fi where the "Fi" doesn't actually mean anything, it's a simple non techie designation for the every day user.


Everything you save will be saved to a physical server with a physical disc.  It could be stored any where in the world.  As a result there is a lack of actual education towards the students, we are creating in their minds that technology is simple every day.  It's easy to maintain, use and pay for which sadly in the real world it's not.


The second one talked about internet filtering shouldn't be so strict, wrong.  We have a duty of care to protect Students at School.  They can be bullied at School which is why we have to hammer that hard, so what if they get bullied at home? that's not the attitude to have.  If a student can get bullied at home you don't ignore bullying on site.  If a student is racist at School you don't ignore that because the student can be racist at home.  They are real life issues that require tackling.

Teaching a student that there is "a reason why filtering exists", educates them in to realising that's how systems are setup every where.  Even service providers are now by default blocking inappropriate materials which requires the parent to "opt out" why? for safety of children.


I once dealt with a case where a student was being bullied on Facebook, that student refused to delete that person because she wanted to know "what was being said".  Instead of reporting it asap and blocking that person, it escalated to a much severe incident.


Educating the students doesn't always work which is why you have a plan B - Internet Filtering.  And in the day and age of extremism we have even more responsibility to protect children - they are after all children.


The people who vote against filtering are rarely those who deal directly with student behaviour - coincidence?


5 Reasons Organizations Embrace BYOD


This one, doesn't exactly show what the 5 reasons actually are but there is one.  AnyWhereAccess which I have mentioned before, if you are able to access all your work anywhere this is the biggest benefit.  BUT what has this got to do with BYOD?
Nothing actually.  Most people have access to IT in some kind of way, but why BYOD?  I can't produce professional work on my latest iPhone.  I can't spend hours and hours typing up reports or going through budget spreadsheets so why would I just have a phone?


This is where it makes no sense, the article writer has not actually spent time doing BYOD instead he has simply pointed out that more and more people have mobile technology.  I use my mobile for email, internet and Apps.  I have a calendar on it for meetings and of course instant messaging plus phone calls.  I can't exactly do my job on it, I can't use it to remote on to systems to do maintenance with it's small screen.  I can't restore any work, alter data drive sizes, reset the endless amount of passwords and generally perform 90% of my work.


I can do some of it but again with it's small screen does it make it a "productive" method? No.


This is why again it goes back to my original assessment that a lot of people reviewing technology actually have minimal experience of actually using it.  Spending time with kids, less tech savvy adults and the general public.  People want things to "work" and work fast, to have everything they need at a click of a button which is why BYOD schemes are failing.  When they fail - they are costing tens of thousands...


Fit For Purpose
It should always be this title, if you go on holiday and don't plan on producing work.  Having access to your emails is great on the phone.  If you plan on being productive does it make sense in just using the phone?


As an artist creating a painting you would always have the correct tools, likewise for any job out there.  So I say to you - use the right tool for the right job.


iPad Apps


Again, looking through the above.  You see a lot of wonderful Apps and some of them I have personal experience with.  Not all of them are the full versions of the product when compared to software versions installed on Windows/Macs.  What's also not mentioned is the fact where is the Office replacement?  Productivity is very important for Ofsted and results, if you don't get them right the School suffers and so does educating students.


There is a severe lack of "fit for purpose" on technology and it creates that blindness because people protect their jobs and don't necessarily want the truth out there.  It's very easy for anyone to claim "this is great and works" but to put it through every day life with students is a very different subject.


I take one look at the first paragraph - "In case you hadn’t noticed, I’m quite a fan of the iPad (the Lollipop Nexus 9’s not too bad either). Not because of its design or because its by Apple or any of that, but because of its keen heritage in the learning arena"


Unfortunately what is not mentioned is the fact that iPads have not long actually caught up with education.  When they were first invented, every School wanted one and realised there was no management controls - nothing.  Only lately could you actually manage them simply and easily.


BUT that's not what this is about, it's the learning side of things which again - The iTunes store only has around 10% better quality apps and availability.  With the GooglePlay store fast catching up, after all the iTunes store is older than Google's.  Yet according to this article writer, it's keen heritage in the learning area.  Even though Apple has only made learning a priority in the last 3 years - not really a heritage to learning and certainly not "keen".  Microsoft have been a major part much more than Apple in education plus business's (that includes learning) yet even M$ have been far behind what education is about.  Likewise for the iPad, Microsoft have had to fast catchup to what learning is about with Office 365, email, tools and even the new "Whiteboard".


So again, this assumption that Apple/iPad have has that keen heritage to learning is sadly a lie.  It would be similar to claiming a brand new football team has a lot of history after a few seasons.. which wouldn't be the case for a new team, new board, new stadium etc.


The simply fact is this is about being that pro "Apple" and "iPad".  Which I have talked about plenty of times before, don't hide the fact you are pro Apple and don't pretend it's not the main reason why.


Simply state facts so people don't get the wrong information.


The Salesman
I've already covered quite a bit about the salesman, he or she will not care in any way about you.  They don't care about the impact on teaching and learning nor budget issues for the School, their main purpose is to sell you what they have.
Having met many salesman over the years and proved that even the most friendly ones can con/over charge you I can only say they always have their own intentions.  Even consultants will have their own preference and will want to prove their own opinion as fact.


In my job I have no choice but to prove best value, fit for purpose and what I know will give the least amount of issues and least amount of work required for teachers.


Always keep an open mind, avoid looking at what seems 'pretty' and make sure you have a problem that requires solving.  People simply have a habit of buying something then deciding how they can use it instead of thinking how to use technology before the purchase.

VLE's, Portals, Platforms - AnyWhere Access

Follow me on Twitter
A few years ago the Government had this great idea of forcing Schools to get a VLE.  Call it what you will it essentially means - Anywhere Access.


On paper the whole idea was great and I understood it.  The way it was done really was poorly executed and companies didn't even have products that were ready nor fully functioning.


What kind of programs are completely ready? None.  This is why Universities have setup their own systems.  So let's start with what should Anywhere Access provide:


Students

• Access to the data area - Google Drive or One Drives are perfect examples.
• Timetables, calendar information and diary dates.
• Access to software, apps and programs - call them what you will.
• Email, chat and general communication tools.
• Learning materials, course books and documentation.
• Useful links to external sites - even department specifics.
• Assignments, tasks, work and send back to the tutor.
• Single Sign On
• Linked to other systems e.g. Cashless Catering/Printing
• Video content
• Compatible with most devices

Teaching Staff - All the above plus:

• Ability to access Student assignments.
• Lesson planners.
• Ability to create all the Student materials.
• Marking, assessments and data entries.

As you can see, this is a very long list and unfortunately people don't quite realise this was what VLEs were all about.  The idea that it didn't matter where you was but with WiFi/Internet access you can potentially do work.


No Internet Access
For many years I had been told that Internet access would never be widely accessible due to costs and Parents not knowing anything about IT.  How wrong were they?  Well let's just say they were beyond wrong and it was obvious the way technology was going with more devices relying on Wi-Fi.
Now we see Wi-Fi offered in restaurants, buses and now cars.  The people who went against this are the same ones still lacking any ability to look ahead with technology.  They are the ones usually holding Schools back and concentrate too much on the finer things.


Only ten years ago the % of Parents that had Wi-Fi was around 35%, now it's roughly 99% with very few Parents who don't have access.  How do I know this? I've worked at multiple Schools in the last 6 years and the number has never been below 90% in that time and it's still increasing.


Out of a single year 99% adds up to 2-4 Parents which in my current job for year 7 is a spot on assessment.  How do I know these results? I've done surveys over the years.


What's interesting is the ones who say Parents still don't have internet access are the same ones who claim Students can't survive without their facebook.


When things work in a School, the next task should always be future planning, perfection and new technologies.


Why the rejection?
In simple terms - most don't want them, don't want the work, can't afford and don't see what they can really bring to a School.  Every month that passes, Schools and companies want more external access to everything.  How do I know this? because now we have a dozens of Staff access all sorts from home and not just their data areas.  A lot of Staff use email at home (as shown by endless amount of surveys showing workers do this).


What to use?
There are plenty out there to choose from, some are costly, a few are free but depends what you really want from the system.


Moodle
The greatest positive over this one is that it's free.  Unfortunately that is the only really good benefit.  To sync up to your data system without costs is no easy task and requires a bit of time/patience.  This also goes towards setting up a decent system of Moodle.  The basic install on to a server isn't a problem (you will need a reliable piece of kit if this becomes important).  We currently use this and it's setup, done and rarely have to do any work.  Only issues we tend to deal with is keeping staff in the know how.  Developing Moodle though would require more time and some one who is clued up.  You wouldn't be able to trust a newly employed technician to get this up and running in a few weeks.


The biggest negative over Moodle is that Support doesn't exist other then online forums although you can pay for it - support does exist on that front.


Google Freebies and Office 365/Azure- Although not quite a VLE
The likes of Gmail, Docs and even this Blogger but the problem with all these freebies - they are pretty basic.  When you compare Google Docs to say Office 365, it's a no win scenario for Google.  We attempted an entire year to use Google Docs and unfortunately there are many functions not available.


Frog
This one has huge potential, the idea of Frog was that Students loaded this no matter where they were and got everything.  Unfortunately when I last used this setup there was several issues and it seemed that maybe they took too much on and concentrated too much on quantity of functions/services instead of quality.  The idea that it was easy to create online content, lessons, homework all in a single area really is appealing.  The massive and biggest negative is the cost.  The huge cost wouldn't be so bad if there was rarely problems and all the current functions at the time worked.  Their technical support was also inconsistent.  At times you may find issues are quickly resolved and other moments you can wait weeks, months and even a year for problems to be fixed.


RealSmart
Little potential, no ability to link up to your AD system and generally not worth it.  The positive on this is it's low cost £4000 a year compared toe other major VLEs.  Unfortunately I can't say anything else that is positive other than they use the Google Apps.  Having met one of their trainers and had the dictation of scrapping Microsoft in favour of RealSmart and Google you can probably guess I wasn't too impressed.  Anyone who works in our job will know the big picture that it's not a simple switch over to one system to another.  You have too many implications which have been covered in other posts.
So this VLE is a simple system to share online content and assign - that's really it.


The above VLEs are ones I have personal experience in although there are plenty to choose from my only advice is ask your self - what do you want before you purchase a VLE.


And remember the implications:

• Impact on broadband bandwidth (peak times)
• Costs (annual costs, additional Staff)
• Training (Staff, IT Support and Students)
• Administration (general admin work)
• Administrator management (IT Support, maintenance)
• Fit for purpose (does what you want)
• Reliability (bugs, failures and downtime)
• External access

So much money wasted

So it's that time of year where I have to review our asset data.
One thing that must be kept up to date is this information ready for the AUDIT.  If they ask where a piece of kit is you must be able to show them.
Looking through the servers you kind of see how much the School has spent on it's current stock.  How much does it add up to? over 20K? 30K?  No - Almost £60,000.  That's roughly £7500+ a year on servers.
This is why Virtualization is considered to be the better financial sense not just about reliability, redundancy and future proofing.  If the School had originally planned up to 10 Years down the line for servers like it can on Networking.  It would have gone down the line of my "Dream Plan" which is all apart of different other blogs I've made.

Adopt a Primary

Virtual Server

System from Scratch

So a simple two Virtual Servers, an Exchange box and a authentication Domain Controller.

The total cost of the above if done for our specifications is £30,000.  Which still only covers half the current costs of all the servers.  We could have also spent quite a bit of money going down the SAN route for our storage needs.  The servers could have been over egged for a 10 year plan.
What does that mean?  You don't hold back on storage, memory or processor to make sure you are setup for 10 Years.  It means you have a built system which is reliable and no extra costs down the line - except out of warranty failures which wouldn't be too costly.
Not always able to plan 10 Years - I completely accept this.  Not many knew IT would be very important today.  Now though should Schools look to go for a 10 Year plan when it comes to the "Core" system.  Considering how we spend on the Network side of things but we neglect the servers?
Considering "Cloud" options are still not good enough to consolidate everything externally, we are probably 10 Years at least from that.
Which of course goes back to the title - how much money has been wasted not just lack of planning but the ever changing world?
Now with more budgets being squeezed are we going to see more IT failures?  With Schools pushing for more BYOD or reverting back to PC setups - again how much money is wasted?
I know the major problem in all the above but that's discussed in other posts.

After that Bank Holiday

The weekend after bank holiday and a few weeks to go before the next half term.




Few things I had to discuss first day back :

• Our Data Drive considerations again.
• Should certain Staff have access to phone my mobile.
• IWBs for the new area.
• Possible Cabling completely redone in a department.

Data Drive - Again
We've come up with a temp solution to a major data issue on expanding our server.  The bad news is this isn't permanent and will add fuel to the fire of buying a new one.  Although we are still seriously considering Cloud, compared to the costs of 1GB broadband or even half that - is it cost effective to purchase a SAN setup?


My Mobile
This has popped up occasionally, originally I had allowed Staff to call me directly in the event of any emergencies.  The bad news is, this was no longer being used for emergencies but as a way to bypass standard Help Desk procedure.
Found my self getting phone calls for minor Website updates, Printing issues and if some one is on their way to an event (even though some one was).  The last straw was being called up on my day off over a minor problem which could have gone to my team.  So enough was enough and I put a stop to it.  This returns to another issue in education, where as people have (usually) no choice but to stick to the preferred way of contacting IT Support in Schools this is pretty much how people feel like.  In a large company you wouldn't see workers leaving their areas to report problems, you would have no choice but to phone/email and join the queue.  A lot of places don't even have On Site Support which again means following standard procedure.  Which is why Schools do not resort to external IT Support - they rely on that Hands On ASAP approach.


Interactive White Boards
Going to make my self a little bit clear on these, I do not believe in them.  When Schools are having no issues with grades and results without these - every School should be able to make do.  IT is about making life easier and simpler.  Which is why our classrooms have PCs > Projectors, this means no messing around with cables and laptops.  This allows the Teacher to walk in, sit down, log in and turn on the projector.  Which provides that Teacher with a working setup of IT.  They are able to broadcast any work to that Student which can be prepared any where in the world with IT Access.  Smart Boards are a way of helping Staff interact with Students, but you would think they already knew how to do that?  Teaching Students that their life/education is important which seems to be doing the trick - after all we have seen a rise of stress for youngsters in education.


Considering the £1000-£4000 cost for an IWB/All in one setup and witnessing they are not being used (even with constant training being offered)?  How much money had been wasted to stick all them in every classroom (we have around 80-100).  We are talking about the possibility of £100,000 to £400,000 being spent over a 2-3 Year period.  Ever want to ask why Schools are losing their budgets?  Because of the waste happening.  Then you have to remember that the equipment will most likely not last 10 Years - meaning replacements of another £1000 - £1500 if looking at cost effective measures/equipment.  You seriously have to consider budgets in regards to Smart/Promethean Boards.  p.s  Yes I am aware of iProjectors.


Overhaul of a Department
One thing I really enjoy, tearing out all the old and putting new.  This isn't just about making it work, look better but future proofing for the next 10+ Years.  Every cable will be pulled out, new switch cabinet setup dedicated to that department and of course new trunking etc.  This also allows us to put new PCs/Speakers which I hope to budget for.  The setup currently is very messy, unreliable and untidy - some are very poor.  Although it's not in my budget plan I tend to save a few grand which would allow me to do this.
Due to the amount of recording we do, we will know what sockets will be pulled out so we can disconnect from the current switch.


Once this area has been finished, it will be a huge chunk out of our current planning for improving the state of IT Site Wide.


Don't agree? Suffer the same? don't be afraid to comment!

Non-Existant Budgets of IT

The Government's official approach is that Schools are not having their budgets cut.  This is sadly the lie, what they actually mean is extra funding for certain facilities is no longer available.  Disability benefits are slashed, County Support has been cut and Schools are looking after more and more children.  So one of the many factors being his is - IT.  How to survive?

1. Get the suppliers to fight - show them the prices you can get
2. Forget Branded PCs
3. Provide what's needed, not what you would like
4. Don't be set in your ways
5. Look at alternatives and play/test
6. Consider Cloud
7. Review your annual licenses, facilities - are you using them?
8. Virtualise Servers
9. Permanently fix problems

Number 1
When ever I get my "Forced" Governor quotations I don't consider this a need for them, instead I consider this a must have for me.  Tell the suppliers what you can get some where else.  Get them to fight each other for your business.  They need you - remember that.  I once got a quote of a PC for just around £300 for the spec I wanted and this was after I had already received a 30x quote.  The quotations were all similar from about 5 suppliers - some high end some not so.  I started the bidding war for my business by telling them what each other had quoted us for.  Four of them immediately started dropping the prices, I updated each other with those prices while also knocking of my own few pounds.  The end result was a PC with the same spec I wanted, same make etc - £211.  The monitors I also managed to knock off £20, projectors £15, sound bars £35 and a few other bits and pieces.  Now not only was my first initial quote of 30x PCs just at £300 I also mentioned that we was after closer to 100 of them.  It became a cat amongst the pigeons.


Number 2
Why branded PCs? are the internal components any different? No.  Are paying for specialised towers? No.  Are you paying them to be made in the local County? No they are all being made generally - China in a warehouse.  This is sadly another "Set in their ways" moment.  100 Branded PCs vs Non Branded and we managed to save thousands.  Branded PCs in the same spec would have cost around £350 each and another £20 on top for the monitor.  The failure rate of our non Branded?  2 in 250 over 3 Years.  The Branded? only 1.  Is it worth the additional cost of an extra failure rate?


Number 3
Provide the spec of the machines that are needed by users, not super fast that will never be used by them.  Unless you are doing a mass amount of professional demanding work which need that extra punch there is no reason you should be getting high end spec machines.  After 5 years they will be no different than simple spec - by simple spec I mean at least Intel i3s not Celerons.  I avoid Celerons because they do tend to age badly - in my experience.


Number 4 and Number 5
Be open minded to alternatives, try them out for your self.


Number 6
I am considering Cloud which I will cover in another post, not that I want to but because of the "Savings" I can make to the School.


Number 7
A lot of Schools in my Years have spent tens of thousands on external services that do not get used or get used enough.  When you start to question Staff about pulling the plug, they start advertising it to other Staff.  They prove what the software can do to everyone.  At times you will find that software isn't known but others, you may find its simply not being used and can be scrapped which means money saving.


Number 8
One of the first things I did in my current job when I arrived was quick review over everything.  The networking, the servers, IT Suites, state of the classrooms IT setup and what the day to day jobs were for the Team.  The first main one was buying a Virtual Server.  We had almost 20 servers and had spent an average of £2,000 every single year for a new server every time some one wanted a new facility.  Course the School wasn't planning ahead, they would buy a basic server with a bit of storage and voila - done.  Virtual Server although very expensive at under £10,000 allowed us to make a massive impact not only for the future development but replace any failing servers and much more.  I will cover more of this in another post.


Number 9
The easy one, permanently fix problems so you don't have to visit them again.  If this means you need to fight your corner for a better budget today or to make sure IT Support are doing IT Support - Do it.  Each hour you cut down a year later through permanently fixing problems, is an hour you can better spend saving the School money through projects, cutting down issues and generally making things better.  This will also be covered in another post regarding IT Support.


Don't agree? Suffer the same? don't be afraid to comment!