Technicians per PC ratio gudielines?

[tosca925]

Do BECTA or any other body have any offical/unoffical gudelines to the numper of technicans/suport staff to per PC workstaion numbers. I know there is industry figure brandished about but have never heard anytihng on Education.

 

Have any of you lot heard anything mentioned.

 

Would be interested to find out or if any of the Eduggek staff could bring this up in future meetings.

[Geoff]

http://www.becta.org.uk/techcomp/docs/how_many_technicians.pdf

[Face-Man]

URL doesn't seem to work ?... No I think becta site is down could it be they don't have enough technicians.

[Geoff]

Google Cache to the rescue.

 

http://216.239.59.104/search?q=cache:i-yrG-XP__4J:www.becta.org.uk/techcomp/docs/how_many_technicians.pdf+&hl=en&client=firefox

[Dos_Box]

Infrastructure - Advice & Support

How many ICT Technicians do you need?

 

It is extremely difficult to identify the optimal number of ICT Technicians for an institution. The

way technical support is conducted and the type and age of an ICT infrastructure may be

different in every institution.

Although this means there is no solution to suit all institutions, there are a number of common

factors which should be considered when estimating Technician workload.

- The reliability of the network and components

If the institution has a new network that is set up correctly it is likely to create fewer incidents

and problems, thereby reducing the workload. Alternatively, if the institution has an older

network which is poorly set up, the workload is likely to be greater and will require more ICT

technicians.

- The efficiency of technical support

If technical support follows a structured, proactive approach to managing and supporting ICT

eg, as set out in the Framework for ICT Technical Support (FITS), fewer incidents and

problems are likely to occur which will reduce the workload. Alternatively, if technical support

is reactive the workload is likely to be greater requiring more technicians.

- The demands of ICT users

If users have low ICT confidence they will report more incidents and requests with technical

support. As a consequence the workload will be greater and may require more technicians.

Alternatively, if users are confident as a result of appropriate ICT training reported incidents

and subsequent workloads will be reduced.

- How many incidents are fixed at first point of contact

If technical support have a Service Desk in place that fixes a high percentage of incidents at

first point of contact the required number of technicians will be reduced. Alternatively, if few

incidents are fixed at first point of contact the technical support team will need more

technicians to deal with the workload.

So what does this mean?

The optimal number of ICT technicians will depend upon the type and nature of an

institution’s ICT infrastructure and management.

As a rough guide, an institution with:

 

•a reliable network

•efficient technical support

•ICT confident and trained users

•a staffed Service Desk

may require as few as one technician for every 150 computers.

Alternatively, an institution with:

•an older network

•or inefficient technical support

•or users lacking confidence and training

•or no Service Desk/single point of contact

 

may require more than 1 technician for every 50 computers. This ratio is only indicative, so please read on for suggested next steps.

 

Next steps.

 

Institutions must consider how their individual circumstances affect a Technician’s workload. Implementing a structured approach for ICT management and support (e.g. FITS) can reduce this workload, but aged networks, components and untrained users will continue to contribute

to a Technician’s work.

Ultimately, the question “How many Technicians do I need?” is less important than recognising where the Technician workload is coming from and considering how to deal with the source and reduce workloads in the future.

 

It least it admits that you need at least 2 support staff (even if one is desk bound answering calls, or utilises the school receptionist as was suggested by Becta last year.

[Guest richard]

or utilises the school receptionist as was suggested by Becta last year.

 

There's no way that our office staff would that.

[ChrisH]

Which crazy people put 1 to 400? http://www.cantshootstraight.com/images/smilies/wow.gif

[Geoff]

Must be using Diskless Thin Clients

[Dos_Box]

That would be Ric then.

[MkII]

Where's the option for 1:50??

[Netman]

Agreed Mark... personally, 1:80 or so - but 1:100 is too much!

[fooby]

In a thin client school I visited, they had 2 guys to about 600 thin clients. In our place, the technicians will do all things like fittin projectors and screens to building PC's. So we have 5 guys to 500 PC's, we managed to get 5 as we dont need to out source jobs to other places.

 

fooby

[Guest richard]

We run at 1 : 150 or there about at present.

[Geoff]

Diskless thin clients are easy to troubleshoot though:

 

1. Reboot it.

2. Swap the network cable with the machine nearest.

3. Replace it with a spare.

 

[fooby]

Yeah, we hope so we are adding about 200 thin to our 500 fat network. Shouldnt be too hard as thins, as you say, are pretty easy to sort out

[webman]

I used to be a technician in the school, about 250 PCs/800 students+staff. But apparently, I wasn't needed in IT Support

[Ric_]

It's the bloody printers and idiots that can't use computers that take a toll on your time. Along with peorple castrating mice, mangling the pins in PS2 plugs, stealing ram(!)...

[GrumbleDook]

We are moving to thin clients as we know that we cannot sustain the number of desktops we need and still keep up with our Laptops for Students scheme.

 

It is cheaper to go to thin client than go for fat client and get more staff. This does mean that the staff lose out on having a technician to help them get the most out of the kit.

[tosca925]

So if i told you that i am runiing a network with 1-370 you would be a bit suprised?

[MkII]

1:300 here. Phasing out thin client as everyone hates it, but then it is an economical solution if you do it with Linux apparently, or slum it with terminal services [sorry - in a bit of a mood right now].

 

You must have a hybrid system if you want to deliver multimedia courses. For lightweight staff/ research use it'd be perfect [not that your users would thank you for it], and I think the only sustainable way for schols to provide greater IT saturation.

[pinemarten]

Ric - re: mouse balls ;

 

Glue the retaining plate in - you'll never lose another ball (need a screwdriver to clean them though!)

[ChrisH]

I super glue them in and our kids use keys to break the retaining plate to get them out

[e_g_r]

Optical is the only way (but they do go walkies some of the time)

 

Oh 1 per 125 here and spend 75% of our time showing staff how to press the FN key and F# to get output to their interactive whiteboard so that they can show DVD'd (very interactive!!!!!)

[Ric_]

@pinemartin: I do that if I have time but some times it's just not worth the effort - they'll find a way around! Since there's only me to the 200 desktops and 100 laptops (admittedly nearly everything is thin client), my resources are stretched a little thinly.

[fooby]

The trick is to buy the cheapest, nastiest optical mice. That way, its both cost effective to lose them, and really not worth stealing