Many businesses – including educational institutions like Schools - benefit from hiring an outsourced IT support company. By outsourcing this role, businesses of all sizes can function optimally and exceed their business goals. IT support firms lighten their load by taking care of networking issues, security, cloud computing, on-call support, and more. However, businesses within certain industries like real estate, accounting, law firms, hospitals, and schools can especially benefit from hiring an IT provider. Unfortunately, many schools still use older, unreliable IT support systems and don’t realize how much they stand to gain from outsourcing.
Most school administrators report that their IT needs aren’t adequately met. In fact, they’d love to take advantage of all that technology can offer their classrooms, but they just don’t have the necessary support to maintain their network, let alone implement new tech.
Investing in an outsourced IT provider like EC-MSP can shift this tide so schools – including administration, staff, and students - can benefit from new technology.
IT Support Requirements for Schools
Regulating IT operations within a school requires more than simply setting up PCs and fixing them when glitches occur.
In fact, the needs of an entire school district often exceed those of a small business. For instance, any school district must offer a large (and often complex) integrated network system. Security is important for any organization, but extra security requirements are needed for schools with children logging in.
With so many potential users, including students, teachers, and administrators, there must also be a significant amount of storage space available. As student and teacher projects integrate increasingly more media usage, file sizes increase, and IT professionals must monitor and adapt current storage space to accommodate them.
Disadvantages of Insourcing IT Support in Schools
Many school districts typically opt to insource their IT support and estimate the number of staff needed per PC. However, with the costs involved, there are still too few of them to plan for greater projects in the future. Instead, their work entails reactively performing “quick fixes” to resolve issues and simply stay afloat.
Teachers also tend to feel like they don’t receive enough help (when they need it) while using technology in the classroom.
Additionally, insourced IT professionals can’t offer 24/7 support, but most IT providers can. This means you’re still covered if you’re having issues or want to work on updates during holidays or after-hours. An IT support team may implement system alerts, know that your system has gone down overnight, and have it ready for school by the next day.
Flexibility
Unfortunately, insourcing makes it hard to scale up or down as needed.
When enrollment increases each year, schools must often scramble to take care of all the new demands. They suddenly need upgrades for their network and servers, their security backup, and more.
An IT provider, however, has all these resources and more. Additional IT specialists are at the ready to get the job done. On the flip side, during downtimes, you won’t be wasting in-house resources.
Save Money
Outsourcing IT services for a school often costs less than hiring even just one insourced IT staff member.
This has a lot to do with the system of pooled resources that outsourcing can take advantage of.
When an IT provider offers its services to many different organizations, they can provide help that’s needed whenever it’s needed. Ultimately, it means you’re not paying for an insourced techie’s downtime, too!
Tech in the Classroom
Because technology is so integral to children’s lives today, E-Learning is the new normal in most classrooms. Teachers often use laptops, desktops, and tablets to virtually present educational materials. Of course, superb internet connectivity and Wi-Fi standards are key for virtual learning. Oftentimes, classrooms are hesitant to shift fully to E-learning due to concerns with internet speeds. An IT support provider can easily resolve this issue when needed.
Also, online databases often help track student performance and offer reporting functionalities. These reports can detect trends, such as linking individual student behavior with student performance. These trends can then be analyzed on a larger scale throughout the district and used to advance learning modalities.
Tech Outside the Classroom
Administrators can take advantage of technology and all its possibilities just like students and teachers.
For example, certain management software can help keep track of budgeting endeavors and discover where cuts can be made. With the recent recession from the pandemic, this could be a means of justification to invest in newer software and IT support services.
Effects of COVID-19
The recent COVID-19 pandemic has caused much reconsideration regarding how tech can be integrated into school life and learning.
Because many school districts were unprepared for the turn of events - and the long-standing effects of schooling from home - they found themselves at a loss for the proper software to facilitate their new needs.
On the other hand, this new demand for “EdTech” software is expected to continue as schools return to in-classroom learning. This is because teachers, parents, and administrators have seen the benefits of developing better software to enhance teaching methods.
Some districts are considering “hybrid schooling solutions,” involving equal amounts of remote time and classroom time. They’ve realized that virtual learning offers teachers more time to directly interact with each student.
Conclusion:
If you’re unsure how to go about finding an IT support firm, a software developer for your school, or IT professionals who can support it, try asking neighboring school districts.
Getting references from others who have experienced how IT teams can specifically help schools is key. They must have specific knowledge – such as compliance laws - which protect student information and data. Software developers should be able to custom design solutions for your school’s specific needs.
Schools can rest assured that their IT support provider can supply a wealth of knowledge, with an entire team of professionals at their disposal to ensure little minds learn well.
COMMENTS