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NEWS AND CURRENT AF FAIRS | DIARY | 05
MAKING I.T. INVISIBLE
Education IT should be invisible – argues
Lenovo Director of Enterprise and Public Sector Steve Kendall-Smith, but how can it be done?
D
elivering and maintaining always-on information access, while making sure that the work
of IT managers goes unnoticed – is it possible? It’s a question that increases in importance with the size of the institution, and it’s my job to make sure that Lenovo supports IT staff in get ing as close as they can. The fi rst question is: What does
invisible IT look like? I’m reminded of the Transport for London campaign ‘Do The Test’ a.k.a. ‘Did you see the moonwalking bear?’ Find the advert on YouTube and you’ll soon see what I mean. In more literal terms, what I’m talking about is the kind of effi ciency that allows users to remain blissfully unaware of how complex the job of an IT manager can be. How can it be done? Well, there are
barriers between the ambition and the reality. And the obstacles faced in HE are more akin to those of a large enterprise than those of a school. In both enterprises and higher education IT needs to serve a broad, disparate user-
“With a small team and a smaller budget it is diffi cult to get beyond day- to-day fi re-fi ghting. So one bat le is reducing the number of fi res. That’s why it’s vital that IT is reliable”
base in multiple locations, perhaps even diff erent cities. However, there’s an obvious diff erence
in the size of the team and the budget that HE IT staff are working with. This is the most signifi cant barrier to invisible IT. Why? Because it impedes long-term
strategy. With a small team and a smaller budget it is diffi cult to get beyond day-to-day fi re-fi ghting. So one bat le is reducing the number of fi res. That’s why it’s vital that IT is reliable. In HE it also needs to represent a
long-term investment that can be adapted over time – not the recurring
cost of the necessity to rip and replace every three years. This thought led us to the ThinkCentre Tiny-in-One, an all-in- one PC that works as an external monitor – perfect for study rooms and open access areas. The clever bit is that you can independently refresh the computer unit and the display, taking into account the diff erent lifecycles of each. Another bat le is simplifying day-
to-day management and deployments, which actually represent 80% of the total cost of ownership of hardware. Acquisition makes up just 20%. One way to reduce the daily workload
is by managing as much as possible remotely – reducing desk side service calls. Intel® vPro™ is one of many technologies that facilitate this, and it’s found across the Lenovo ‘Think’ product range. With vPro™ it’s possible to manage a computer even if it is turned off or if the operating system has failed. So, back to my initial question – is
invisible IT possible? We think yes. That’s why Lenovo Education solutions are designed with each of these unique challenges in mind. We’re proud to say that Higher Education is currently our fastest growing business segment. In fact, we’re currently working with more than half of the HE institutions in the
UK.That comes from listening to the people who know higher education IT bet er than anybody else – people like you.
If you’d like to help us learn more, and discover what Lenovo can do for you, please don’t hesitate to get in touch by calling our Education sales team on 01256 741 661. UB
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