IPPN

Published: 30 January 2019

Does your school use an external provider to provide technical support services for IT equipment/infrastructure, including computers/tablets, school network, wifi, printers, projectors, etc, and if so are you happy with the service they provide ?
If you don’t have such a service in place or if you are unhappy with the quality of service from your current provider, you may be interested in a new IPPN/PDST initiative, ‘Technical Support Clusters’, which we hope to pilot with a number of schools over the coming year.

While managing technical support is a constant challenge for all schools, it is particularly demanding for primary schools who have been unable to identify a suitable company who can provide an appropriate level of technical support at a reasonable cost. We know that there are schools who have a company which provides this kind of service, and who state that the critical difference it provides is that it creates more time for the school to focus on the teaching and learning aspects while spending less time ‘firefighting’ technical problems in their schools, and of which they have little expertise.

The purpose of the Technical Support Clusters Pilot is therefore to support schools in providing such a service:

The summary of the main stages in the pilot include:
1. Identifying a group or cluster of schools in a specific regional area who wish to join the pilot.
2. Then identifying a suitable IT company based in that region who can provide an appropriate and cost effective technical support service to the schools in that cluster
3. Develop a model that will be sustainable, so that it works well for schools but also provides a sustainable business model for a regional IT provider
4. Improve and develop the model over the pilot period.
5. Schools and IPPN to evaluate the pilot after one year, and make recommendations on whether to expand the pilot to include more schools.

We believe that this regional cluster model of technical support can work more effectively for schools for the following reasons:
1. It can create more time for schools to focus on teaching and learning while spending less time trying to manage a wide range of technical issues.
2. It can be delivered by an IT provider more cost-effectively (ie., at a lower cost per school) than if each school was managing technical support separately
3. It is based on a flexible model that can evolve to meet the needs of schools as schools technical support needs change.
4. Participating IT companies will first have to agree to an IPPN set of terms and conditions, for example to provide a high level of customer support, charge reasonable and transparent costs etc.
5. Allow a sharing of best practice from one school to other schools or from one cluster to others.
6. A constant focus on process improvement, so that over time there is a general improvement in how technical support issues are handled.
7. A gradual and planned approach to moving from being ‘out of control’ technically to having a pragmatic and organised process in place to regain control of the technical support area.
8. An improved partnership relationship with the schools IT support provider.

We believe that this regional cluster model of technical support can also work more effectively for technical support providers for the following reasons:
1. As the technical support company is working with a regional cluster of schools collectively, rather than with each school individually, the service should be easier to provide and as such should be cheaper, and use ‘best practice’ approaches.
2. As the cluster is regionally based, it is potentially more attractive to a regional provider, and as such is more sustainable for schools and for the company supporting them.
3. The Cluster model will hopefully make it easier for IT companies to employ more local IT staff and be more sustainable especially for more rural areas and schools.

As such we believe that the cluster model can be a ‘win – win’ situation for schools, their communities, as well as for IT companies who are willing to invest their time and effort to work with IPPN and with schools.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How much will it cost ?
A: The costs per school will be based on the level of support they require?

Q: Will funding be provided by IPPN or the DES
A: No, however we plan to provide a significant level of support to help in getting the pilot up and running.

Q: Is the Pilot for IPPN member schools only?
A: Yes

Q: What if I join the pilot and I don’t want to continue, can I leave?
A: Yes, but instead let’s think of the glass as half-full !!