Tag Archives: education

Don’t over react, just take care

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We’re fond of a good infographic at Novatech and our friends at Lapsafe sent us this little gem.  We can of course supply their magnificent mobile storage and charging trolleys - which is probably good as close to half of all education establishments have experienced serious hardware theft in the last few years…  Their sage advice on their blog is worth reading:

“Firstly, don’t over react, just take care. Think about how you secure your ICT at the moment, and take steps to improve it. Choose how you store your laptops and other devices carefully…” (more)

It’s also handy reminder that the theft of a laptop can have wider repercussions than the aggro of replacing the hardware.  If you like a good fright, have a read of their news pages of their website.

Novatech launches specialist education division

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Award-winning, Hampshire IT company Novatech, has launched a dedicated education division, and showcased the latest in specialist school technology at an event for leadership teams in Winchester on Wednesday 1st December.  Despite the uncertainty facing schools about future budgets, the company believes that the time is right to offer its considerable expertise to the education sector.

Head of Novatech Education, James Durrant says, “Novatech has been working with schools for over twenty years and we are ideally positioned to use the specialist knowledge that our team has accumulated to help schools get the most out of constrained budgets.

In some ways, the economic climate has given school leaders the chance to look at new ways to buy and support their ICT infrastructure; from the kind of hardware students and staff use, to out-sourcing the management of the networks and servers that link it all together. The government has made it clear that schools need to innovate rather than just cutting essential equipment.”

The event on Wednesday showed that there is now a wealth of technology available that not only can simplify schools’ ICT operations, reducing installation and running costs but also ensuring that both students and teachers get the best out of state-of-the-art systems.

The event featured seminars from major technology companies including Intel, interactive whiteboard manufacturer Smart, wireless network specialists Meru, Hampshire Council’s Hosted Schools Service and Novatech themselves.

The advent of developments like touch-screen tablets and more powerful wifi networks are radically changing teaching and learning, but technology in the classroom is only half the story.  Novatech are also working with other providers to change the way that schools manage their ICT.

James Durrant added “So much of a school’s ICT budget is consumed on the nuts and bolts that link the administration and the pupils, so we now aim to offer a full range of services where we take care of, and support, a school’s technology, from pupils’ laptops to the new generation of virtualized servers that can radically reduce running costs.”

Novatech have recently added to their impressive list of accolades, by winning another prestigious award, The E-learning Foundation’s ‘Most Supportive Supplier’. The Foundation’s ‘Home Access Awards’ 2010 recognise those schools that demonstrate excellence in the implementation and development of “Home Access” initiatives. These awards are open to all schools across the country who have instigated successful e-learning projects to provide children with home access to technology for their studies.

Novatech’s Top Tips to saving money on ICT for schools.

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Novatech’s Top Tips to saving money on ICT for schools.

1 Strategy & Planning

Make a detailed plan and calendar of what equipment you will need and when. Most schools refresh a lot of equipment every three years, but this is not always the most cost-effective use of budgets– savings can be negotiated with suppliers if you can show them a long-term purchasing plan.

2 Know the real cost

The price of the actual hardware is only part of the cost.  What does each machine cost in power use, extended warranties, support, external and internal maintenance, staff wages and upgrades?  Cheap products can be more expensive when factoring all the other areas.

3 Buy direct & buy local

Go direct to a UK manufacturer who will always be able to offer bigger discounts and better warranties and support than any middle men or purchasing contractor.  Most are members of approved purchasing frameworks and their components are identical to big brand name suppliers’.  You’re far more important to a local company than a foreign giant so they will go to greater lengths to look after you.

4 Question why you use a middleman

What do you really get from a specialist purchasing company and do the perceived discounts really add up as a long-term advantage? Middle men work on small margins and are unlikely to be able to offer the comprehensive and reliable support of a UK manufacturer.

5 Invest in infrastructure

The expert consensus is that wifi is the future and your networks will need to be strong to cope with so many mobile devices.  A robust system that can handle multiple logons and heavy video-streaming loads is a must. This does open opportunities to reduce cabling and other hardware costs with parental contributions and grants for ‘a device for every child’ projects.

6 Finance & leasing

Why buy machines outright? Schools have perfect credit rating and huge savings can be made by leasing or even renting hardware.  Manufacturers like Novatech now offer machines on a monthly payment plan that includes comprehensive warranties and support – Hardware can be factored as a monthly cost rather than a capital cost.

7 Collaborative and Federation buying

Buying in bulk increases discounts and by teaming up with other schools in clusters, as a group of secondary feeder schools or as informal federations gives radically increased purchasing power.  If you’re not sure who you could team with, use online forums – they don’t have to be local.

8 Refresh

You don’t buy a new car if all it needs is an oil change and new brake pads. Think the same with PCs.  Would a new graphics card or motherboard extend the useful life of your hardware?

9 Bespoke machines

Think what the machines will be used for – do all your machines need huge memory space, high-def screens and high-powered graphics cards?  Manufacturers like Novatech can build bespoke machines that cut out unnecessary components to reduce unit cost.

10 Harness technology changes

The new generation of hardware has energy reduction technologies that can reduce power consumption by up to a third.  Utilise energy saving software to ensure idle machines are powered down automatically and laptop charging trolleys don’t run unnecessarily.

www.novatecheducation.co.uk

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