Moving away from RM

[MJoyeux]

Our primary school is looking to move away from RM and the windowbox/cc3 system.

Can any one offer any advice, comments or things I need to consider?

We have about 50 RM branded laptops and licenses for 68 RM CC3 - does this cover windows licenses for our existing laptops if we move away from RM?

We probably need a new server in the next couple of years, we are looking at getting 30 minibooks, either the HP models the the Acer EEE PCs in addition to about 8 laptops to replace the ones which have broken.

Obviously price is an issue. Any ideas?

[MJoyeux]

Or would it be worth moving to cc4...

Our main issue is with the price RM are quoting us for hardware... the software itself is fine for the admin and the staff (oh and the children!)

[kmount]

Hi there,

The RM CC3 licenses will include a Windows Client Access License (CAL) but they don't include a 'Windows XP License' which would probably be on the base of your laptops anyway.. so technically I'd say yes, you're covered in that respect.

It would be worth looking into why they want to move away from RM as its really something that needs to be considered before making the jump into a vanilla network.

The RM server could be flattened and reinstalled as a Vanilla Server 2003 domain controller but this would require some decent knowledge to provision ... more than to pick up and modify an RM system.

Hope this is of some use...

[kmount]

Or would it be worth moving to cc4...

Our main issue is with the price RM are quoting us for hardware... the software itself is fine for the admin and the staff (oh and the children!)

With that in mind, you don't need to buy hardware from RM to use on CC3 ... you can buy your hardware anywhere and build them onto CC3.

I'm not touching CC4 for a while yet as its not only delayed but those who do have it are having some problems I'd consider scarier than teething!

CC4 for us is a fortune in licensing too!

[ANiceEnglishman]

With that in mind, you don't need to buy hardware from RM to use on CC3 ... you can buy your hardware anywhere and build them onto CC3.

I'm not touching CC4 for a while yet as its not only delayed but those who do have it are having some problems I'd consider scarier than teething!

CC4 for us is a fortune in licensing too!

We've found we simply can't afford RM hardware at current prices. Recent quotes have been 25-50% higher than the likes of Dell or Lenovo (ex IBM).

We're still awaiting prices for CC4 licencing. Are you at liberty to say what you were quoted?

[Hightower]

I agree with Kim - we buy all our hardware from RM for some reason (not my call), but there's no reason why you can't buy it from elsewhere and build it on to CC3 - you just need to add the custom drivers to the build section.

If you do decide to move to Vanilla give me a PM - I have some nice little scripts (just batch files) that we used to transfer users etc.

[Maximus]

Hi
We had this same problem last year, I got a quote for a new CC3 server. I got quoted about 15k which for a small village primary school was just to expensive.

In the end I went for HP servers and installed windows 2003 myself with the help from sites like this and technet (it was a lot cheaper).

One thing I would be interested in looking at if I was to do this again is 'Learning Network Manager' from microsoft, designed specifically for schools etc and it is free (your still need your licences for server etc). It looks as though it gives you the bells and whistles that allow you to easily manager school users and workstations etc.

As far as laptops/desktops are concerned I think I will probably stick with RM, the quality is good and the support is excellent.

(It's always good to keep checking companies like HP and Dell to see what they offer and compare against what RM is offering. NEVER get anything without a 3 year warrenty especially laptops, its just not value for money).

Regards
Maximus

[sparkeh]

Hi
We had this same problem last year, I got a quote for a new CC3 server. I got quoted about 15k which for a small village primary school was just to expensive.

Sorry, can you clarify what exactly you were quoted 15k for? Thats just not a new server I am thinking.

[dgsmith]

We've found we simply can't afford RM hardware at current prices. Recent quotes have been 25-50% higher than the likes of Dell or Lenovo (ex IBM).

I am currently getting some quotes for a few machines from RM. Looked at Dell prices, gave it to our internal sales manager, and he beat it by around £30 (it was around £160 off the config price). RM will go down if you push them, but to me to have to go down that route is rather daft, as it pushes their custom away, as proven many times (even in this thread).

[Maximus]

New server
3 years support
Licences
etc.

But yes, basically it was 15K just to get one cc3 server and get our network connected to it!!!!

[sparkeh]

RM will go down if you push them

Ooh-er

But yes I am so tired of telling people this, but talk to your account manager and the prices magically tumble. I don't even bother with the website anymore.

I believe that its something the sales people are frustrated with too.

[Maximus]

This wasn't through the website, it was through the account manager.

Don't get me wrong, I like RM, just in this case they were to expensive for what we could afford. If you can haggle them down then go for it.

[dgsmith]

This wasn't through the website, it was through the account manager.

Don't get me wrong, I like RM, just in this case they were to expensive for what we could afford. If you can haggle them down then go for it.

Did you give them a competitive price to compare against? Normally, we will tell them what prices we have found/been offered elsewhere, which gives good grounding to base a price on.

[ANiceEnglishman]

I am currently getting some quotes for a few machines from RM. Looked at Dell prices, gave it to our internal sales manager, and he beat it by around £30 (it was around £160 off the config price). RM will go down if you push them, but to me to have to go down that route is rather daft, as it pushes their custom away, as proven many times (even in this thread).

Is this against Dell list prices? Have you spoken to a Dell Education rep and got their 'real' prices? Dell will come down considerably too!

[Michael]

I've never demoted a network running RM to a standard vanilla setup, but it would need a lot of planning and time. You would realistically need to wipe the server and install 2003 or 2008 as new, because there are so many custom RM components/tools used. It would be the only guaranteed way that there would be no RM components remaining.

The same would be applicable to workstations. They'd have to be re-imaged as again there are lot of custom RM components and tools you wouldn't need.