ICT IT gets an F
CentraStage claims IT in UK schools is outdated, insecure and inefficient
CentraStage CEO, Christian Nagele C
entraStage, a BETT Award ICT Provider of the Year 2013 finalist, is an IT management platform with a difference – secure, affordable, advanced, remote monitoring and management in the cloud. Through its experience in managing the IT estates of over 6,000 schools in the UK, CentraStage understands the issues IT service providers face in education.
Recently, CentraStage has revealed how a large percentage of schools in the UK have limited visibility and control of their IT network, and are failing to carry out the most basic of IT support and maintenance tasks.
Anonymous hardware and software data from the thousands of PCs and servers in the 6,000 schools currently running the CentraStage solution, shows that 40 per cent of servers and workstations are missing security patches, whilst 26 per cent of devices in schools are left on overnight.
Challenges ahead
Outlining the IT infrastructure challenges that lie ahead for the education sector in a time of ongoing public sector budget cuts, with data from CentraStage showing that 50 per cent of PCs and laptops are still running Windows XP, and 32 per cent of devices are over four years old, almost half of devices in schools will either need migrating to an operating system within the next 15 months, or replacing entirely.
Whilst the statistics highlight the scale of poor IT management in schools, more importantly they call into question whether IT in many schools is currently in a fit state to support and empower pupil attainment.
More thought required
CentraStage CEO, Christian Nagele, says: “With the size of school IT estates, the ongoing pressure on public sector budgets and yet the relentless
A case in point
Kris Scruby, ICT Schools Services Manager for East Sussex County Council commented: “Since the CentraStage platform was implemented by East Sussex, the authority has seen that the percentage of ICT tasks that can be resolved in schools automatically has risen from 15 per cent to 60 per cent, together with a reduction in mileage costs and emissions for school IT support visits.
forward march of IT adoption into schools, it is no surprise that IT service providers in the education sector are faced with something of a perfect storm. “However, what is surprising is just how few IT service providers in this sector seem to have proactive, real-time visibility of the networks they are responsible for supporting. This in turn can be a real detriment to the attainment of students. “Complete visibility and control can be gained by leveraging the efficiencies and scalability of cloud computing – which I firmly believe is the most affordable and viable option for IT management in schools. Regardless of where the device is, what network it is on, what OS it is running, the service provider can ensure the device is secure, available and optimised. This will ultimately mean teachers can get on with teaching whilst utilising the IT investment safe in the knowledge the devices are secure and in good working order.”
“We now have total visibility and control of over 7,000 devices across 150 schools and can keep the environment secure, patched and stable - housekeeping now takes minutes, not hours, and we can focus on ensuring that IT in our schools is optimised for supporting teaching and learning.”
The holy grail, according to Scruby, is to demonstrate how ICT is improving attainment within schools: “We are starting to develop the reporting capabilities in CentraStage; with the monitoring we have in place, we feel the next logical step is to bridge the two.”
Crucially, Scruby believes CentraStage can pay for itself: “During the last summer holiday period, over six weeks we found that nearly 25 per cent of computers were left on in school - a lot of devices using a lot of electricity. This summer we can plan to turn those off remotely.” Scruby concludes: “The word innovation is often overused, but when it comes to controlling my network, CentraStage really does break down procurement barriers many schools face today because it is pay as you go and requires no capital expenditure.”
uwww.centrastage.com
March 2013
www.education-today.co.uk
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