Your educational institution needs IT support. What should you consider before choosing a service?

Elevate your educational institution's tech journey by first crafting a roadmap rooted in your IT goals and challenges. Envision it as architecting a digital campus where each IT choice shapes the academic landscape. Consider your goals the guiding stars, directing you toward seamless integration and innovation. It's not just about support; it's a collaborative partnership where your institution's unique challenges are understood, and solutions tailored accordingly. Let your IT goals be the compass, ensuring the support service aligns with your educational vision and transforms challenges into opportunities for technological growth.

Ensuring that you have means of measuring success via tangible metrics, assigning SLA parameters and meeting monthly to compare objectives to results will create the service you are seeking. Once you have established some baseline statistics and the service is working, establish stretch goals around monitoring and automation and elevate SLAs to further improve via continuous improvement cycles.

Following 3 drivers should determine how much you should invest and what your goals should be - 1) Efficiency - How increased automation can reduce the cost 2) Increased enrollment - How much student enrollment you can increase by investing in IT. 3) Reputation/Rank - How IT can support your key IT-dependent majors, thereby boosting your rank

Start with objectives for the IT support and then define the scope. You will need IT to run the organisation, for accounting, reporting, and student interactions. If you also need content design, creation and delivery. Explore platforms like school ERP for managing and another for content. Goals can then follow for particular demographics geography, customer experience etc.

For selecting IT support in an educational institution, the goals are to ensure robust, scalable, and secure IT infrastructure tailored to educational needs, while challenges include adhering to a limited budget, meeting diverse technological needs of staff and students, and ensuring compliance with data security regulations.

TCO is huge for companies to consider - often we ignore or discount the actual total cost of ownership. Business / ensure your CIO and technology team implements this discipline. All teams / ensure you make decisions holistically. I would also nudge that you deploy future proofing cost optimization strategies for things like, cloud storage, compute, ML and AI. Consider federated concepts now 🌟

Aquí hay algunos consejos adicionales para elegir el mejor servicio de soporte de TI para una institución educativa: - Asegúrate de que el proveedor tenga experiencia trabajando con instituciones educativas. Los partners que tienen experiencia en el sector educativo entienden las necesidades únicas de las escuelas y universidades a todos los niveles. - Pide una demostración de software y hardware que utilizará el proveedor. Esto te dará una buena idea de cómo funcionará el servicio. - Pregunta sobre la formación y la certificación de los técnicos de soporte por parte del proveedor. Querrás asegurarte de que los expertos tengan las habilidades y experiencia necesarias para resolver los problemas de TI de tu institución educativa.

In my experience, the prioritization based on a business case (Net income) can help you allocate budget and resources. Decisions need to be made by a management committee independent of the business line requesting the project.

Educational institutions always have budget constraints. It may be a good idea to reach out to other similar institutions (same region / association) to understand how they handled similar challenges. It would give some pointers. Also, seeing the big picture is critical and periodic review of ecosystem IT assets helps. We found one of the school districts had 3 tools that did the same function (as they operated in silos ) in different schools. Sometimes, educational institutions can save critical budget dollars with proper analysis..

From my role in a clinical trial SMO, I've learnt the importance of bespoke IT support. Tailoring support to your specific needs, such as regulatory compliance and data integrity, is more effective than a one-size-fits-all approach. Regular reviews ensure continued alignment.

It depends on the size, type (medical, engineering legal, arts...), complexity (hardware only, software only, both), usage (admin, teaching, research, students use), and ROI.

Le support IT doit être disponible durant les plages horaires de l'entreprise. Plus il est proche et personnalisé, meilleure la prise en charge sera.

Les besoins en support IT vivent une véritable évolution de part l'avénement de l'IA mais également parce que les nouvelles générations dans les entrerprises sont nées avec des ordinateurs et des smartphones entre leur main. Ils sont beaucoup plus matures sur la technologie et solliciteront le support sur des sujets plus techniques qu'auparavant.

Design IT solutions that can scale to accommodate the growth of the institution .Consider future needs and emerging technologies to ensure long-term viability. Depending on the institution type your IT support Levels might change. Establish a feedback mechanism to gather input from users and continuously improve IT services.

Choosing the right IT support for your educational institution is a critical decision that requires careful consideration of various factors. Here are some key points to consider: Expertise in Education Sector: Ensure the IT service provider has experience and understanding of the specific needs and challenges in the education sector. Scalability: The provider should be able to accommodate the growth and evolving technological needs. Response Time: Fast and effective response to IT issues. User-Friendly Solutions: The services should be accessible and easy to use for staff, students, and teachers. Cost Efficiency: Consider the overall cost. References and Reviews: Seek feedback from other educational institutions.

When considering your IT support, delve into the diverse options available. Evaluate providers based on expertise, experience, reputation, and reliability. Examine the costs, benefits, risks, and opportunities associated with each option. Ensure compatibility with your IT goals, budget, and specific needs. This analysis allows you to make informed decisions by comparing and contrasting the pros and cons of different IT support alternatives.

Choose a solution and approach which will stand the test of time. A vendor / product which continually innovates and adapts to change in eco system is important. It is not relevance for today, will this solution stand the test of time? This is a key consideration

El mercado ofrece muchas alternativas y tipos de soporte. Debo buscar uno o varios aliados dependiendo de las necesidades, no existe un proveedor para todo, por esta razón para seleccionar debe tener: - Experiencia. - Conocimiento. - Confiabilidad. - Costos Debo licitar el servicio para que todos los que quieran y puedan participen y compitan para ser mi proveedor. Si tengo claro mis objetivos y presupuesto elegiré los mejores partner.

Review your options for viability of solutions and costs. If you can build up an internal service then look into that but make sure it is closely aligned with what the education teams and the organisation need. Try and ensure that all of your future needs are identified. Taking an off the self support package without checking it's suitability for what you need will cause you more problems than they fix. While cost is always a factor it should not make you blind to what you need. Also ensure that the contract has options for review, change and if needed an exit. That way you can ensure that you are getting what you need and if there is no way forward you are not held hostage to a contractual period.

For evaluating IT support services, the strategic criteria include: 1. Alignment with educational goals and technology requirements. 2. Cost-effectiveness balanced with quality and range of services offered. 3. Proven track record in managing similar environments and complexities. 4. Ability to provide scalable, secure, and innovative IT solutions.

Strategic Alignment Criteria: Develop selection criteria that align with the strategic components identified in Wardley Maps. Evaluate IT support providers based on their contribution to the evolution and positioning of critical components within the institution.. Mapping Criteria to Components: Map the evaluation criteria to the components. Ensure that the selected IT support aligns with the strategic goals and challenges associated with specific components. Adaptive Evaluation Process: Implement an adaptive evaluation process, recognizing the dynamic nature of the educational landscape visualized on Wardley Maps. Regularly reassess and refine the criteria to ensure they stay relevant to evolving needs and strategic priorities.

Establish clear criteria for selecting an IT support service. Evaluate potential providers based on factors such as expertise, responsiveness, and compatibility with your institution's values. Ensure that the chosen service aligns seamlessly with your educational objectives. Practical Tip: Develop a comprehensive checklist or set of criteria to objectively assess the capabilities of each IT support provider. Seek references and testimonials for added assurance.

Drawing from my SMO role, setting clear, measurable KPIs for IT support is crucial. Factors like response time, problem resolution rate, and user satisfaction should be prioritised. Regularly review these metrics to ensure IT support continuously aligns with organisational goals and needs.

You should have a set of criteria that you will use to select and evaluate the best IT support service for your educational institution. For example, do you want to prioritize the cost, quality, or speed of your IT support service, or a balance of all three? Do you want to focus on the technical skills, experience, or reputation of your IT support provider, or a combination of all three? Do you want to look for the certifications, accreditations, or awards of your IT support provider, or other indicators of their credibility and reliability? You should also solicit feedback and references from other educational institutions or customers who have used the IT support service that you are considering.

Clearly defining roles, responsibilities, rights, obligations, expectations, and deliverables is crucial in IT support agreements. Documenting terms and conditions thoroughly and actively managing the contract helps maintain a strong and effective relationship with the support provider.

Today we have many vendors offering services to maintain IT software at highly competitive rates. The pricing models need to be innovative to have long-term relationship with support partner. Price must not be the only criteria to select a vendor. It should be a joint excercise to define future road map and involve partners to be in thought leadership. We have to see that it is a Win Win for all and long-term goals to be considered

For IT support contracts involving multiple partners / groups, it is important to get a common understanding of Operational Level Agreement (OLA) and a clear definition of scope and ownership amongst such entities.

Le RACI est primordial à ce stade pour éviter tout malentendu. Généralement le support IT est outsourcé à des sociétés spécialisées via du nearshore ou de l'offshore. Contractuellement il faut bien définir les périmètres, les objectifs et les attendus. Il faut également bien définir les clauses de sortie car ce sont des contrats pluriannuels et les changements de périmètre n'ont pas le même rythme.

Finalizing your IT support contract involves clarifying terms, documenting roles, responsibilities, and expectations. Ongoing management and maintenance of the contract are crucial for success and sustainability. Establish mechanisms for issue resolution and prevention to ensure a smooth and effective IT support relationship.

Understanding what the company / business goals are vs the current structure & process of the IT function. Next is understanding of the gap and accordingly one should start planning to bridge it. This provides a good opportunity to become an enabler to the business and that’s where IT function can be seen as a partner rather than just a support function. It ensures overall alignment and also brings in other stakeholders from other departments to work together.

Don't overlook the importance of training and development for staff and students to maximize the benefits of IT resources. Regularly review and update the IT strategy to reflect changing educational needs and technological advancements. Also, consider the environmental impact of IT operations and explore sustainable practices.

Many folks have offered excellent thoughts on the topic. One important thing to consider though is your end user. Are you a smaller school that needs more of a personal touch? How does that come in to play with a decision of bringing in ancillary support? How can AI be used to off-load some support? What policies, processes, and procedures do you currently have in place? What will the new support do to those? What organizational change plan do you have in place? Have you laid out your comm plan? If you have a bespoke need for support (say a medical school) versus a need for occasional bespoke support for a regular event (legal case trial on campus) what does that look like. Finally -have an exit plan! ALWAYS!

When choosing IT support for an educational institution, consider providers with education sector experience, offering comprehensive services like network management and cybersecurity. Ensure they provide timely support, can scale with your needs, and adhere to data security and educational regulations. Assess cost structures to fit your budget and seek references from similar institutions. Look for added value like staff training on new technologies and ensure the provider aligns with your institution's culture and long-term goals.

Most IT support companies will exclude certain items from the service they offer. This is normal, but you need to be aware of the exclusions and be happy with them. Exclusions typically include IT failure due to power fluctuations, water damage, theft, cybercrime, unauthorised modifications, and in a few other extreme situations. In any case, you should have a continuity plan in place to help you get up and running again as quickly as possible should you experience an extreme event of this nature. Your IT support provider will probably still help if you have a problem caused by one of these incidents, but they’re unlikely to stick to their guaranteed response times.