Managing budgets


Managing budgets


Navigating around budget restrictionsi The biggest issue schools have when we speak with them is their budget.Whilst budgets are remaining flat this will mean a reduction in real terms taking into account pensions, national insurance and inflation – the Institute of Fiscal Studies claims this could be as high as 12%by 2020. This means both capital and revenue udgets are under constant pressure, but there is way around this problem.


Nav gating around budget restrictions


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Technology is changing theworld andwill inevitably have a huge impact on theworld our children growup into But as technology becomes an increasingly integral part of education, so does the challenge for schools to savemoney, spend itwisely and use ICT more effectively.


. R


ecent studies conducted by RMEducation* have shown that secondary schools are


spending as much as £135 per pupil on school- employed ICT teams and any outsourced technical support; this equates to an annual ICT spend of £93,555.


ButMartin Pipe, Head of Service Design and Scope at leading ICT services provider RM


than £115 per pupil Education, suggests


spending too much value from your ICT


26


that if you’re spending more on ICT support, then you’re


investments. So how can you and not deriving the best


ensure the technology in your school is working for you – and your budget?


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One of the most effective ways to reduce ICT costs is to change the way your budgets are used. Rather than having a large capital outlay on hardware and replacing costly servers like-for-like when they reach the end of their functional service, you could become a ‘serverless school’ where services and systems are delivered to staff and students through the internet. This allows the costs to be spread through a friendlier d l


revenue mo e , and means you can opt for more cost-effective internet-optimised devices for your teachers and students.


This model not only makes financial planning easier but reduces the need for schools to build up a capital fund for future ICT purchases. Each school will have a personalised strategy shaping their approach towards becoming serverless - this could include migrating theManagement Information System (MIS) and the


commoditisation of what is traditionally very complex and expensive locally-based hardware into services such asWireless as a Service (WaaS), Filtering as a Service (FaaS) and Backup as a Service (BaaS). For example, a typical primary school will spend £1,300pa on hardware and support for their admin server hosting theirMIS, by migrating to a cloud-based service this can be realised as an annual saving.


wwweducation-today.co.uk.co.uk


Another financial benefit of this approach is a reduction in maintenance and support service costs, since cloud-based solutions have no local servers to manage, maintain, repair and in due course, replace. Usability is improved too, as staff and students can access systems from anywhere, on any internet-enabled device, rather than just within the school network. This allows Senior Leadership Teams to access theMIS from home or students to collaborate on and complete proj


ojects in the eveni Our research has


indicated that having remote ng.


support in place can be infinitely more cost- effective for schools, with on average 60%of issues resolved remotely, reducing the need for a large on-site technical team and allowing schools to concentrate on physical tasks (e.g. whiteboard problems and replacing projojector bulbs), use their on-site expertise to help embed and expand the


“One of the


most effective ways to reduce ICT costs is to


change the way your budgets are used...”


March 2016 2016


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