Education THE TRIPLE
BOTTOM LINE TIGHTROPE
Education procurement leaders are under pressure to cut costs, decarbonise estates and accelerate digital transformation, all while safeguarding learning outcomes. Rebecca Tyler, Head of Local Government & Education at SCC, explores how smarter sourcing, lifecycle thinking and collaborative planning can keep all three priorities in balance.
A
Rebecca Tyler, Head of Local Government & Education at SCC
s a vendor-neutral, solutions-led partner working with over 300 technology providers, we design services around
outcomes rather than products. In education, that means helping trusts, colleges and universities modernise securely, operate sustainably, and extract maximum value from constrained budgets. Tat challenge is particularly visible in
education, where procurement leaders are being asked to solve three problems at once. Tey need to stretch tight budgets across ageing estates and rising demand; show credible progress against sustainability commitments, oſten under scrutiny from governors, auditors, parents, and staff; and they need to modernise technology so that teaching, learning, safeguarding, and administration are resilient in a world where digital expectations keep moving. Tese priorities collide most visibly in the device lifecycle. Laptops, desktops, tablets, and peripherals
sit at the heart of inclusive learning, staff productivity, security, and data. Yet for many trusts, colleges, and universities, the refresh cycle has become a patchwork of postponements, emergency purchases, and cupboard spares. Tis tends to increase support tickets, reduce battery life and performance, and create hidden energy costs. It can also store up risk, because devices that should have been decommissioned safely are
24 | March/April 2026
oſten leſt unmanaged, and an unmanaged device is not just waste, it can be a data exposure. At the same time, the procurement landscape
has shiſted. Te Procurement Act 2023 sets objectives for covered procurement that include delivering value for money and “maximising public benefit”. It also requires contracting authorities to have regard to the National Procurement Policy Statement, which elevates policy priorities, including social value and mission-driven outcomes, into everyday procurement choices. So how can education procurement leaders
meet sustainability goals while protecting budgets and continuing to modernise? A practical starting point is to stop treating sustainability as a separate workstream and instead embed it into the technology lifecycle decisions already being made.
Where sustainability becomes real: the device lifecycle In education, the device lifecycle is shaped by constraints that are specific to the sector. You have blended fleets across staff and
students, and oſten across cohorts with very different needs. You have safeguarding and data protection obligations that are not negotiable. You have fluctuating usage patterns, with peaks around term starts, exams, and assessment
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