Should You Send That Email? Here’s A Flowchart For Deciding
Email is broken. There’s too much of it, no one can agree on how to use it, it’s too easy to send, which encourages a glut of CYA CCing, and there are spammers. Online IT Degree (which is apparently the real name of a real website) has ventured into this fray with a lighthearted flowchart, designed to help you decide whether it’s really worth sending an email.
If you know how to get the most out of your ICT spend, you don’t need a huge budget to provide up-to-date technology in your school. David Jenkinson, deputy principal at a sixth-form college in Gosport, shares his top ten money-saving tips …
Server virtualisation – running separate virtual servers on a single computer – can yield huge cost benefits, from saving on equipment to reducing the need for energy, room space and air-conditioning.
“We had got to the point where we would have had to extend our server room,” says David Jenkinson, deputy principal at St Vincent College, a sixth-form college in Gosport, Hampshire. “Now we just have two boxes running a virtual server environment and we’re saving several thousand pounds a year on electricity alone. We’re also saving about £10,000 a year in breakdown costs, which are expensive and cause disruption to staff and students.” Virtual servers are also easier to upgrade, he says.
One key way to save on ICT comes when you initially come to buy the hardware and software. Research the market, and make sure you get your specification correct for what you want to achieve – too low and you will need to upgrade it; too high and you will be wasting money.
“If I look at what we have bought over the past 18 months, we’ve saved more than £60,000 through effective procurement,” Jenkinson says. “For instance we’ve spent up to £10,000 on Wi-Fi equipment, when some quotes were as high as £50,000 for the same thing.”
Going direct to a UK manufacturer will yield bigger discounts, better warranties and more support than you will receive from any middleman or purchasing contractor, says David Wybourne, sales director at Novatech. “It makes a massive difference.” It also makes sense to buy local: “You’re far more important to a local company than a foreign giant, so they will go to greater lengths to look after you.”
Whatever it is you’re purchasing, buying in bulk always increases discounts, so teaming up with other schools in groups of three or four can really boost your purchasing power, says Wybourne. “If you’re not sure who you could team with, use online forums – they don’t have to be local.”
We all want to be green, and saving resources can also mean saving money. Upgrade components rather than replacing entire machines; use energy-saving software; schedule PC shutdown; ensure your suppliers will recycle used equipment for free and, critically, always look at total cost of ownership over the equipment lifetime.
Many schools replace PCs every three years, but do you have to do it that often? St Vincent has moved to a five-year rolling replacement cycle, saving money on both purchase and depreciation costs. “Given that you can now buy PCs with a five-year warranty for both parts and labour, it makes more sense,” says Jenkinson. St Vincent even has an arrangement with a local university (who replace PCs on a three-year programme) to take over and make use of the perfectly good last two years of their computers’ lives at a very low cost. “In these hard times you need imaginative solutions.”
Schools should consider running “thin client” networks – cheaper machines with little processing power that rely on servers to provide the processing power to fulfil computational tasks – as part of their ICT mix. St Vincent is reviewing this as a cost-saving option: “It would probably work well in general IT suites, but not for courses using specialist software,” says Jenkinson.
Technical support for students and staff can be a drain on ICT staff resources, so organisations should look to develop online support systems as far as possible, allowing users to gain access to help directly. If you can provide some of the more obvious solutions and make them self-serving, it will save you time and money, freeing up skilled staff.
Different rooms in your school hold different amounts of ICT equipment, but is it being matched efficiently with class needs? “We’re investing a lot annually in IT, so we want to make sure we maximise the efficiency of its use,” says Jenkinson. “It’s about making sure IT suites are not booked out without being needed just because they are in a convenient place.”
In a few years’ time the whole pattern could change, with schools increasingly just providing wireless networks and students using their own laptops or tablets to connect – subject to security protocols. “We are already seeing 250 users using their own devices across a week, and that will grow,” Jenkinson says. “We hope this will reduce our requirement to replace and upgrade computers – the focus will then shift to enabling students to log on.”
more news coming on monday but for now…..
Another great guest post, this time from Amy in our purchasing team.
the alledged lemon-drizzle cake
The best part of social networking sites for me, is connecting with people who have the same interests – and listening to people that I think have important things to say. I can connect with people all over the world that are on the same slimming world plan or people that all have the same interests in films or books, simply by following them (without the nightvision goggles of course) and using #hashtags. Twitter a year ago to me was confusing and seemed pretty pointless, I didn’t understand it and anyone that knows me, knows that when I have something to say, it’s not going to be in fewer than 140 characters.
So when I was encouraged to join twitter, just to see what happens, I resentfully signed myself up… A year later and I prefer it to Facebook, I get more enjoyment ‘tweeting’ that writing a status, and no one gets mad if you send 5 updates an hour.. at least I don’t think my followers do.
The reason for this blog post is to think about just how influential things like twitter can be, for this, I’d like to give you an example of a Twitter conversation I had over the weekend….
Over the weekend I started following a local pub that I had heard good things about from some friends, this pub has a modest follower count of 140. They tweet a lot about their menu and offers they have, over the weekend I decided to Tweet back that they were always making me hungry and didn’t think anything of it. I got on with my Sunday dinner and baked a cake. My other half replied to my tweet saying the food sounds amazing, but it would struggle to meet the standards of my lemon drizzle cake…. And these are the tweets that followed:
The Pub replies to us both: ‘ we’ll happily steal the recipe if you’re sharing!!’
I’m a lot braver when I’m on twitter so I thought I would try being cheeky, ‘I’ll happily bring the recipe and a free cake if you swap it for a free meal ’
The Pub replies again ‘But that wouldn’t be stealing! ’
And in Kicks my banter ‘but you would gain two very happy customers, that would tell all their friends and twitter tweeps! Eh?’
Worth a try?
The Pub replies ‘you are proposing bribery are you???’
I think there is nothing to lose here, it’s just some friendly chat ‘I’d like to think of it as more of a friendly trade of goods, you get cake… and we get food ’
The pub didn’t reply after that… I guess they have better things to do than entertain customers that want a free meal, but hold on, I have 240 followers that can see this conversation, and my other half has 130.. that’s a lot of people the Pub have reached out to, that probably didn’t know about them before…
I got a reply from them this morning… ‘Friendly trade sounds good! How about a Sunday Roast for you both in exchange for your cake?’……….
………We are going to head over in a couple of weeks for a free roast now, and I’m taking them a cake…if the food lives up to its great expectations I might let you all know where this place is!!
Now this sort of interaction is quite a phenomenon to me… does anyone else have stories like this they can share?
Editor’s note: we thought that @TheTrooperInn should get a mention in advance and Amy can let us know later if their food matches their social media nous.
So far, so interesting, but what’s this doing on the Novatech blog?
One of Novatech’s specialities is our ability to build bespoke PCs, to very detailed specifications, to handle very specific tasks. And this ground-breaking research was made possible by a cluster of Novatech machines. To explain a fiendishly complicated process in simple terms, the University of Edinburgh’s researchers needed to count a vast number of genes and DNA and then cross-reference them with another huge number of data points from other research into people’s mental capabilities at various ages. It was not only a long job, but a slow job too that required billions of calculations to be made without error.
There are super-computers capable of this task, but the five and even six-figure price tags were prohibitive for the University’s fabulously titled Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. The Psychology Department’s database manager Dave Liewald has been using Novatech for many years, so approached us to help assemble a series of powerful PCs, that working together, could handle the complex computations, quickly, accurately and within his tight budget. Novatech duly delivered and the cluster of PCs (with a combined might of 80 processors and 120GB of RAM) set to work on some very big sums.
If you are interested in how genes effect the deterioration of brain power as we humans age (and a lot of Psychologists are), then results were truly enlightening and a real break-through in our understanding. The University of Edinburugh were rightly delighted with the media coverage and acclaim, and, although we don’t pretend to understand the report entirely, so were we.
The full report is here in Nature and a slightly more ‘layman’ report in the Guardian here and below.
DNA research suggests genetic differences could account for up to half the difference in individuals’ intelligence. Photograph: Nick Gregory/Alamy
‘Genetic differences between people account for up to half of the variation in intelligence, according to a study of more than 3,000 individuals.
Intelligence is known to run in families, but no single genes have yet been identified that can be reliably linked to mental ability. Instead, researchers think, many hundreds or thousands of genes could be involved, each with a small influence on a person’s overall intelligence.
“It has been getting clearer and clearer that any genetic contribution to traits on which people differ – like height and weight – comes about from large numbers of gene differences, each with very small effects,” said Prof Ian Deary of the University of Edinburgh, who led the research on intelligence. “We thought that was one possibility for cognitive ability differences, and our results are compatible with that.”
To test his idea, researchers looked at more than half a million locations in the genetic code of 3,511 unrelated adults. Each of these sites is where people are known to have single-letter variations in their DNA, called single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). These variations were correlated with the individuals’ performance in two types of psychometric tests that are established in assessing intelligence: one test measuring recalled knowledge (via vocabulary) and the second measuring problem-solving skills.
They found that 40% of the variation in knowledge (called “crystallised intelligence” by the researchers) and 51% of the variation in problem-solving skills (“fluid-type intelligence”) between individuals could be accounted for by the differences in DNA. The results are published on Tuesday in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.
Previous work on the environmental and genetic contributions to cognitive ability has been based on comparing intelligence in identical and non-identical twins, or studying it in people who were adopted. In the study led by Deary, the conclusions were gleaned from direct testing of people’s DNA. “It is the first to show biologically and unequivocally that human intelligence is highly polygenic [involving lots of genes] and that purely genetic (SNP) information can be used to predict intelligence,” Deary wrote in the journal paper.
Though the researchers now know the proportion of the variation in intelligence that is likely to be a result of genes, they do not know which genes are likely to be most important in determining intelligence. “If they can be found, and if we want to follow them up, to find out some of the mechanisms that underlie successful thinking, our best guess at present is that the number is huge. It could be many thousands,” said Deary. “That could be a limitation to progress using this type of research.”
Dr Simon Underdown, senior lecturer in biological anthropology at Oxford Brookes University, said human intelligence was a “stunning product of our evolution“. He continued: “This paper brilliantly demonstrates that the genetic basis for our intelligence is not the result of a simple mutation in a single gene. Rather, the diverse range of genes that appear to influence our ability to think must have been actively selected for over hundreds of thousands of years. That we display such genetically influenced variation in intelligence across our species further hints at how important cultural, as well as biological, evolution has been to the human story.”
Earlier this month the education secretary, Michael Gove, announced plans to overhaul how computing science is taught in schools. Gove, who described the current systems as “off-putting and dull”, wants schools to be free to design their own ICT lessons, with input from leading industry employers and academics, in order to create a generation of young people able to work at the forefront of technological change.
But with schools already facing budget cuts, where will the money come from to pay for the new information and communications technology (ICT) needed to implement Gove’s plans, which will come into effect this September?
For schools looking for extra funding sources for ICT, these are hard times. A decade or so ago, there were special grants available, but John Morgan, head teacher at Conyers School in Yarm, Stockton-on-Tees and former president of the Association of School and College Leaders, says those days are over. “In the years of plenty, there used to be special targeted, ring-fenced grants to put ICT into schools,” he says. “None of that exists now.”
While the government has allowed money from the devolved formula capital grant, which covers costs like buildings, to be used for ICT hardware, that too has been cut. “That can accrue over a few years,” says Morgan, “although it has also been massively slashed, from hundreds of thousands to tens of thousands.”
But even with the cuts, schools recognise the importance of maintaining ICT spending, and few will have started to spend less on it. The answer is to be more creative with what you have, not least because quality ICT is a growing influence on parents’ choice of school, says Duncan Payne-Shelley, finance director of IT provider Novatech.
“If you see a nice new ICT suite [the school] seems forward-looking, but if you go round and see tired IT, you tend to think the school is tired,” he says. “These days even in state schools, head teachers increasingly feel as if they are running a business, so to attract more pupils it’s important to have good IT.”
For Caroline Anderson, director of administration and resources at Christ the King Catholic School in Nottingham, the answer has been to hire an innovative IT director, give him free rein, and use the savings to reinvest in ICT.
“Instead of me trying to make IT decisions and telling him what I wanted, [I gave] the person with the knowledge and the tools the autonomy to do the job,” says Anderson.
This approach has paid off many times over as the IT director has introduced a range of money-saving initiatives, from server virtualisation, which means a single server can do the job of four or five servers; to thin client technology, which reduces the amount of data held on individual hard drives and the subsequent cost of extra memory; and an internet telephony (VOIP) system, which uses the internet to provide telephone services. The savings have allowed the governors to approve a programme of reinvestment into the IT budget with a view to anticipating future trends and staying ahead of developments, Anderson says.
“It’s a creative thinking approach– not just saying what’s available now so what shall we buy, but what will be available in three years’ time, and how can we adapt new technologies? We’re keen to talk to new companies to get [pre-released] versions of software, for example – we trial them and get them at a reduced rate.”
For some schools, the solution to creative financing has meant exploring leasing options – renting equipment for a fixed period (typically three or four years) with payments coming out of operational expenditure.
“If I’m a headmaster or bursar and my capital budget has been frozen, the ability to replace my kit within the operating budget, which is under my control, is appealing,” Payne-Shelley says.
Almost all the costs of owning ICT can be included in a lease, from the monitors and mice to the school’s telephones – as well as software, warranties (though not accident insurance) and installation fees. At the end of the lease period schools can usually return their equipment, extend the lease to prolong its usage, or replace it with new equipment on similar terms, or some combination of these.
David Tull, leasing manager at specialist IT lessor CHG-MERIDIAN, says that while new equipment can seem expensive, hanging on to old kit has its price as well. “Budgets are under pressure, but the costs of ICT ownership can actually increase as an ICT estate gets older – if you’ve got 30 children in a classroom and the computers aren’t working, it’s a lot of downtime.”
Companies such as CHG-MERIDIAN offer compliant operating leases, with payment profiles to match incoming grants and budget structures. And as the equipment is provided up front, a three-year lease can effectively triple a school’s buying power, Tull says.
Getting creative, then, can bring long-term benefits for less cost overall – a tonic for our times.
We’ve started the process of adding product videos to our website – but here’s a handy preview.
The Elite Professional range of laptops has been designed specifically for the business user with class-leading speed, security, functionality and reliability. All Elite Professional laptops are the perfect combination of form and function with understated design and future-proof features like docking stations and fingerprint readers.
In a change to this blog’s usual style of gentle reportage and whimsy we have opened the floor to all and any Novatech employees to write something useful. So first out of the blocks is Ryan L. Drake, one of our technical support advisors (he helps make people’s sick machines better). He wisely advises that Novatech are not responsible for the content of external links. Now read on.
Issues with Crashing, Freezing and Blue Screens of Death - A crash course in D.I.Y. Testing and Diagnosis.
(image from PC Hacks)
Are you having problems with freezing, crashing or blue screens when you are using your system or playing games? I can advise that you run the following diagnostic tests on your machine to check the physical hardware components. Please bear in mind this is a crash course – the science behind the tests will not be explained in this article. All of these tests will run on systems running Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Many tests are also offered in bootable versions which can be used with any Operating System.
This is quite technical and a relatively long read so if you are struggling with these tools, maybe it is best to give it to the professionals – you can contact us on 02392 322 500 – we offer many diagnostics and repair services at competitive prices. A basic overview of these services is available here: http://www.novatech.co.uk/fix. Also our technical support team will be happy to help you through this should you wish to persevere – you can contact them on the same number. This support is of course free and is included for the lifetime of your product as a Novatech customer. Our technical team is based in the UK at our Portsmouth branch.
These are some of the exact same tests that we would run on components and PCs when they are in-house to diagnose problems. You should avoid using the system whilst the tests are running wherever possible. You should complete them from top to bottom, but make sure that you have read the summaries of each before running the tools!
Most of the tools will advise simply either PASS or FAIL. The graphics tests are different so please read the section below regarding these. Once you have achieved a PASS the required number of times, you can move onto the next test, eliminating that piece of hardware as the cause. If you get a FAIL, then you have identified a faulty component, and that component will need replacing – please see here for how to go about that if it was purchased from ourselves and still covered by warranty: http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?24835 You should continue to run the other tests after replacing the faulty component, to ensure all faults are picked up. All of these pieces of software are of course freeware and following this process will significantly help you/us diagnose the problem with your computer.
If you are seeing Blue Screens of Death (also known as BSOD):
If you are seeing a Blue Screen before the system crashes, please make a note of the error code – it will look like 0x000000XX. This page can help you identify the cause of the problem using the error code from the Blue Screen – http://www.aumha.org/a/stop.php You should then pay particular attention to the components that are suggested as being the cause of the problems. If your system is rebooting immediately after flashing the blue screen, please follow the process below to get the system to stop and show the error.
1. Turn on the PC
2. Press F8 repeatedly during boot. You will get the Advanced Boot Options menu. If you see Windows loading, you have missed the point where it checks for the keypresses. Go back to Step One and try again.
3. Choose “Disable System Restart on System Failure” from this menu, using the arrow keys and return key to select the option.
4. The machine will now boot to Windows – if/when the computer blue screens, it will stop at that point until you power off the machine.
If you are contacting our technical team, the Blue Screen error code will be very useful and should be provided so that we can give you the best possible support.
Major Hardware Component testing:
MEMTEST86+ - RAM memory test – http://www.memtest.org/ – full usage instructions: http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?375-Create-perform-a-memory-test-and-understand-results%28updated%29
You should run Memtest86+ at least twice; preferably overnight, to ensure that all faults are picked up. This test is much more advanced than the built-in Windows memory test, and accordingly has a higher success rate when looking for faults. This is available in a bootable version only.
SEAGATE SEATOOLS – Hard disk drive test (works on all brands) – http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads/seatools
You should select the Long Generic or Long test to ensure that the drive is fully tested. If you have a solid state drive or a Western Digital drive in your machine then one should use WD Data Lifeguard Diagnostics instead (see below). This is offered in both bootable and Windows versions. Please be advised you will likely suffer total data loss if your hard disk drive has failed.
WESTERN DIGITAL DATA LIFEGUARD DIAGNOSTICS - Hard Disk Drive (works on Western Digital drives only) and Solid State Drive (works on all brands) test – http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=613&sid=2&lang=en
You should use this tool only if you have a Western Digital Hard Disk Drive; or a Solid State Drive (from any manufacturer). If you have ran Seagate Seatools (above) then you do not need to run this test. You should select the Long Generic or Long test to ensure that the drive is fully tested. This is available for Windows. Please be advised you will likely suffer total data loss if your hard disk drive or solid state disk has failed.
PRIME95 - CPU and RAM stress test – http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=103
You should select the Torture/Burn-in test when using this tool. This will stress the CPU, RAM and Northbridge (part of your motherboard) to its maximum capabilities. You should run this test for a minimum of one hour on a non-over clocked system, or for a minimum of 24 hours on an over clocked system (please be advised over clocking voids warranties with CPUs, and often also with RAM and Motherboards too). This tool is available for Windows only. If you have a fault on this test, you should run Memtest86+ again just to ensure that RAM is not the cause.
Graphics testing:
I would advise first of all that you download the most up-to-date drivers for your graphics card. For NVIDIA cards, the link is www.nvidia.co.uk or if ATI or AMD the link is http://ati.amd.com. I can advise that you can then run some graphics stress software to see if the graphics card has any problems, and this would confirm or disprove a fault.
I can advise that you run the following tests at least once, but preferably twice or even three times to ensure full testing:
3DMARK06 - Graphics stress test – http://www.futuremark.com/benchmarks/3dmark06/download/
FURMARK – Graphics stress test – http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/
You need to look for graphics issues and freezing whilst the test is running – the score itself is not important (we are diagnosing a fault, not benchmarking). Please see below for some examples of graphics issues. Please also be advised that these tests are designed for cards of all ranges, so on a low-end/older card you may experience low frame rates. This does not represent an issue unless you are seeing some of the problems below.
If you get the graphics problems below, but only in particular games/applications, then I would contact the manufacturer of the game/application (EA, Crytek, Activision, Rockstar Games etc) for a patch or hot fix. Hardware faults would manifest (show up) on all hardware accelerated graphics programs.
Before being certain of a graphics fault, one should try with the most recent drivers first, and then roll-back to a previous driver version to ensure that it is not a bug in the new drivers that is causing your problem.
Examples of Graphics Issues often representing a graphics fault:
Screen tearing:
http://www.tweakguides.com/images/GGDSG_19.jpg
http://www.coplanet.it/userfiles/n1239910191-image001.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing
Graphical Artifacts:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/142/323201457_7feb65fe53.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/708/gpu2.jpg
http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/hs158.snc4/37249_1398864263177_1579398251_906650_448122_n.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/66/screen0003qb7.jpg/sr=1
http://hwzone.co.il/reviews-files/pc_problems_guide/artifacts.jpg
http://www.legionhardware.com/images/review/Nvidia_GeForce_9600_GT_Overclocking_Guide/Artifact.jpg
The following problem is a screen/monitor issue rather than a graphics card fault:
http://www.aguntherphotography.com/files/reviews/dpf/dead_pixels2.jpg
http://www.naijiu.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/dead-pixel-44.jpg
http://cyberarenail.com/CA/lcd-broken.jpg
http://www.bndlaptoprepairs.co.uk/UserFiles/Images/cracked-laptop-screen.png
Further diagnosis (if the above has not isolated your problem):
If your problems continue after you have ran these tests (i.e. they all came back with no faults found), then you should move onto the next stage.
The next stage is to fully update your system using Windows update. You should install optional updates also, especially if they are driver updates.
If that does not fix the issue, then reinstalling your Operating System to eliminate any Software issues is the next stage. Make sure you have backed up your data first! If you have a preinstalled system from us, then please see here for a full guide: http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?24298-Reinstalling-your-Windows-Vista-or-Windows-7-Pre-installed-system. You should run the hardware tests from top to bottom again once you have done this.
Usually, if you reach this stage and are still having problems, it suggests either a motherboard or power supply unit (PSU) fault. Unfortunately the only way to test these components is to swap them out with spares. There are no testing tools available for these – unless your motherboard manufacturer provides one for your specific model (this is only usually the case with very high-end boards). If you do not have spares available, then I advise that one should book the components in with us for testing – please contact our Aftersales/Technical department regarding this on 02392 322 500.
I must advise at this stage that Novatech do not sell products on a trial basis – so if you purchased an item you would not be able to return it if it does not fix the fault with your system (see returns procedures and policies here: http://forum.novatech.co.uk/showthread.php?24835).
PS – looks like Windows 8 will do things differently…. but that won’t be for while yet.
(pic from Mashable)
(revised and edited on 19th January 2012)
Most schools now know that a good level of ICT is vital for the development of their pupils, but where does the money come from to finance it?
David Wybourne, sales director of Novatech took part in the Guardian ICT Leadership site’s Q&A webchat with Sam Ellis, the ASCL’s funding specialist on Tuesday January 17 2012. It brought up some interesting debate and a lot of questions about the future of ICT in education. Click here to see the whole session and David’s tips for saving money on ICT.
As digital literacy becomes ever-more important, the provision of ICT in schools is as critical as it is varied. While most headteachers would like to prioritise the level of spend on ICT, inevitably budgets are tight – and getting tighter.
All forward-looking schools understand the importance of keeping pace with technology, in terms of attracting pupils in the first place and then having the ability to develop those pupils to successfully enter an increasingly technological world, but where does the money come from?
More creative financing ideas could be the answer. But how can new approaches to fund-raising make a difference? What are the best ways to maximise a shrinking budget? How can the procurement process be streamlined – or overhauled – to offer real cost-effectiveness? And where does the responsibility for it all lie?
Answering these questions and many others will be Sam Ellis, the funding specialist at the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL). A former teacher, deputy and acting headteacher, Sam took up his current post at the ASCL in September 2010, representing, supporting and training members, as well as developing a range of funding and curriculum analysis tools.
Sam will be joined by Novatech’s sales director David Wybourne.
Sam and David will be here – live – to answer your queries between 1pm and 2pm on Tuesday 17 January. You can post questions in advance on the Guardian site here, or join us for the Q&A on the day.
Very useful article on the Guardian ICT Leadership site
Price, performance and compatibility are just some of the issues you need to be clear on when deciding on your school’s ICT procurement strategy – but what else should you be considering?
When looking to procure new ICT, senior school managers should consider not just the purchase price of equipment, but compatability with existing inventory and additional costs such as warranties and support. Photograph: Alamy
Information and communications technology (ICT) is a key teaching tool. It costs vast amounts of money. If you are a headteacher, your staff look to you to take a leading role (and the governors all have their own, different, opinions). It’s a tricky scenario familiar to any senior manager making a decision on ICT – and budget cuts are making the decisions ever harder. However, a bit of background knowledge and a clear strategy for procurement can make all the difference.
The first task is to be absolutely clear about the specification. If you’re buying new laptops for students, for example, will they be running processor-intensive multimedia software or will they just be used for internet access? How long do you plan to use them – and are requirements likely to change over that time? “Don’t go for the cheapest on the market, but choose something that will take the workload, and you won’t need to replace it in three years,” advises Imre Homoki, ICT network manager at Cams Hill school in Fareham, Hampshire.
Next, do your research. Find out what technology other schools are using and whether they are happy with it. Some schools club together to share advice and tips. Although schools’ ICT agency Becta has gone, you can consult other independent sources of advice, such as NAACE (the ICT association) and the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT).
Price is critical, but make sure you’re looking at the whole picture, which means the total cost of ownership over a product’s lifetime, not just the purchase price. What are the additional costs of warranties, insurance, technical support, maintenance, replacing damaged parts, or lost productivity if the equipment breaks? For example, Tim Hatch, Intel’s education business manager, says that many schools are choosing free, open source software over expensive licences. This can make sense, but it’s important, he adds, to be aware of hidden support costs and to take into account the investment you’ve already made.
Similarly, Julian Morgan, assistant headteacher at Chatsmore Catholic high school in Worthing, West Sussex, recently worked on the procurement of a wireless network and a set of netbooks for students. He found that interviewing the shortlisted candidates rather than relying on a quote was a good way of finding out how well suppliers understand the particular needs of schools.
“When we bought the wireless network, some people presented their product in terms of how technically adept it was, but not in terms of how it would benefit our students,” Morgan says. As he points out, a school that has 600 or more concurrent users will place greater demands on a wireless network than a similar-size business where not everyone uses the network at once.
Compatibility with existing equipment should also be a key part of the procurement decision, says Neil Willcocks, head of ICT at Neville Lovett school. “If you’re buying PCs, get a few from the companies you’re looking at to come on the school network and see how they work. You can get a situation where it doesn’t matter how fast the PC is, it doesn’t necessarily interact with the school network very well.”
By the same token, taking on a mishmash of suppliers is asking for trouble. “People make a mistake when they jump from technology to technology, supplier to supplier,” says Homoki. “Eventually they look at inventory and they don’t know where things are. It’s best to have just three or four core suppliers, for hardware, software and printers, so if there is a compatibility issue, you know where to go to.”
Finding out exactly what technical support is on offer is a crucial part of assessing a supplier’s offering. Willcocks says his school chose a local supplier for the school’s new desktop PCs because it didn’t want to have to wait days while equipment was sent away for repair: “We didn’t pick the cheapest one, but they provided us with a good service. If there are any problems, we can just get them to pick stuff up or we drop stuff in and there’s a fast turnaround.”
Finally, Tim Hatch recommends looking at different payment models. By renting equipment or adopting cloud computing, schools can leave capital budgets untouched, instead paying a fixed, predictable cost from the operational budget that has the added benefit of reducing carbon footprint. Hatch believes this model will become increasingly popular over the next 18 months: “You know on a monthly basis where you are, and you can build some level of sustainability into it as well.”
