Jollity Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 Does any have any recommendations for IT support companies who might be able to help out a primary school in Kent? I am looking for a company to provide phone support when there is no technician on-site, cover times when we do not have a technician available, and potentially do contact work on major projects (eg Server upgrades or major software install).
hardtailstar Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) @Jollity Where abouts are you based? EIS is KCCs preferred company based in Maidstone, In fact I think KCC now own them... not sure on that. Or we have just moved to BCTec as we converted to an Academy, very good and helpful. They will be doing our server rebuild in the summer. http://www.bctec.co.uk/educationict.aspx Edited February 9, 2015 by elsiegee40 1
Jollity Posted February 6, 2015 Author Posted February 6, 2015 Thank you. We are in the Tonbridge area. I should have mentioned we are an independent.
hardtailstar Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 Thank you. We are in the Tonbridge area. I should have mentioned we are an independent. I think EIS support independents too
Tallwood_6 Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 EIS is a profit making arm off KCC and I'd sooner have an RM managed service than use them. Might be worth giving select technology in paddock wood a shout, Tim Walker is our education account manager and they do support packages for local primary / secondaries have have a pretty good team. We use them for occasional support and project work and are very good. 1
elsiegee40 Posted February 6, 2015 Posted February 6, 2015 (edited) EIS is a profit making arm off KCC and I'd sooner have an RM managed service than use them. Might be worth giving select technology in paddock wood a shout, Tim Walker is our education account manager and they do support packages for local primary / secondaries have have a pretty good team. We use them for occasional support and project work and are very good. I used to be OK with Select, but they have rather gone off the boil in the last few years. Underwhelmed to be honest. I have only had experience of EIS in the distant past when I worked in a state primary and it wasn't pretty or cheap. They do seem to be a very different set up mow they are a commercial arm of KCC... things have changed and it might be worth a look. Given this thread http://www.edugeek.net/forums/general-chat/148861-kent-techs-looking-extra-school.html I think there's scope for someone wanting to go solo to pick up a couple of schools in this area very easily Edited February 6, 2015 by elsiegee40 1
glen_j Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 It might also be worth conacting your local secondary schools. They might be able to provide the support you require. I supported one of our feeder primaries for a couple of years a while ago 1
Tallwood_6 Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) It sounds like the school in question already has a visiting tech and is after a solution that will provide support in between and provide project based work. This is why I thought a company like Select in Paddock Wood or prehaps System Professional in Hadlow Down (East Sussex) would be good. The main issue I have with EIS is they are a bit like cockroaches once they get a foot in you will end up with CC4 or EIS NET or whatever its called installed and you will be boxed into using them for all your IT. Edited February 9, 2015 by elsiegee40
elsiegee40 Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 It sounds like the school in question already has a visiting tech and is after a solution that will provide support in between and provide project based work. This is why I thought a company like select paddock wood or prehaps system professional in hadlow would be good. The main issue I have with EIS is they are a bit like cockroaches once they get a foot in you will end up with CC4 or EIS NET or whatever its called installed and you will be boxed into using them for all your IT. Doesn't sound like EIS has improved its reputation then Don't know System Professional despite having lived in Hadlow for 8 years and only being down the road now!
Tallwood_6 Posted February 7, 2015 Posted February 7, 2015 Sorry wrong hadlow its hadlow down near ukfield so not quite so local. They are a reasonably big outfit we have used for a couple of projects and have a nice bunch of techs.
Jollity Posted February 7, 2015 Author Posted February 7, 2015 (edited) Thank you, all. I may well give EiS and System Professional a call, bearing in mind concerns over EiS. I have also had some PMs from possible support companies. We have used Select Technologies as a supplier before. They were helpful for a long time, but we have had issues with them recently, and they are in my bad books at the moment. I had not thought of asking the Secondaries - I will see if there are any we have a good relationship with. Edited February 7, 2015 by Jollity
hardtailstar Posted February 9, 2015 Posted February 9, 2015 The main issue I have with EIS is they are a bit like cockroaches once they get a foot in you will end up with CC4 or EIS NET or whatever its called installed and you will be boxed into using them for all your IT. I will give you that one, but overall if you keep a vanilla network then I have found EIS to be quite helpful. This is purely my opinion of my experience, I know others have different.
Tallwood_6 Posted February 9, 2015 Posted February 9, 2015 I will give you that one, but overall if you keep a vanilla network then I have found EIS to be quite helpful. This is purely my opinion of my experience, I know others have different. They play the long game though, they will get the ear of your SLG and bursar in particular and when your not around or have left they will make there move!
hardtailstar Posted February 9, 2015 Posted February 9, 2015 They play the long game though, they will get the ear of your SLG and bursar in particular and when your not around or have left they will make there move! Not experienced that at any of my schools.
EXA_Mark Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Hi Jollity, Just sent you a PM with one of our partners who look after lots of schools in Kent. Hope this helps
robjduk Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I would strongly recommend ADM in Canterbury. Been using them for about 4 years now and every project has gone perfectly. ADM Computing | Microsoft Gold Partner | VMware | Cloud Hosted Solutions | IT Support 1
TechMonkey Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I would strongly recommend ADM in Canterbury. Been using them for about 4 years now and every project has gone perfectly. ADM Computing | Microsoft Gold Partner | VMware | Cloud Hosted Solutions | IT Support Can also recommend them. We use them as our backup support and for projects. 1
Diello Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I'd highly recommend System Professional - only have experience of their virtualisation work, but it was very professional (no pun intended) and they certainly know what they're doing. Concerns with EIS as above - very pushy for wanting to put their own solutions in, KLZ etc., and not convinced about their skills set. ADM - Opinion seems to vary, have spoken to people who sing their praises, but have had experience of them doing 3 projects in different schools, and each one has been horrendous. 1
hardtailstar Posted February 11, 2015 Posted February 11, 2015 I'd highly recommend System Professional - only have experience of their virtualisation work, but it was very professional (no pun intended) and they certainly know what they're doing. Concerns with EIS as above - very pushy for wanting to put their own solutions in, KLZ etc., and not convinced about their skills set. ADM - Opinion seems to vary, have spoken to people who sing their praises, but have had experience of them doing 3 projects in different schools, and each one has been horrendous. I agree about ADM, after a series of phone calls tracing what they installed before I started here to find details, They told me I would be charged for the calls because I was using their support. I wasn't actually using it I was just asking for details to what kit they installed as we didn't have them due to last technician not keeping records. they even tried charging me for phone calls disputing the 'support'. Although having said that, whilst they were helping me with details they were friendly and more than willing to help find the details.
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