Do you *REALLY* know how much is spent on IT.

[GrumbleDook]

Just blogged about this on Do we *REALLY* know how much is spent on IT? | GrumbleDook Thinks but here is a summary.

 

@mattianuk was asked to cost up the entire network, and I thought it was a reasonable request based on the idea of having a full asset library with purchase costs, etc. Turns out that there weren't the costs in the library so it was a more complex piece of work (and made even more interesting as they are a MAC).

 

It got me wondering about whether people really do know the true cost of IT in their school ... for me, in my day job, working for a government supplier, we have a variety of standards to work to and take as a base for best practice. A core one is ISO27001 ... which is over the top for most schools.

 

But what do members record costs in the asset libraries? Do you depreciate? Do the following principles hold true to you?

 

1. All assets have an initial value (on purchase), a replacement value (how it would cost to replace it based on whether you do like for like replacement or old for new) and a depreciated value (how much they are worth now with their value going down due to an agreed method … and there are a variety of methods).
   
2. All assets have a set period of useful life. This might be set out when you purchase the device and be based on a variety of factors. Usually these will be the warranty and support periods for the product, how frequently it receives updates, an estimate on how long you think the functionality will fit your needs and so on.
   
3. All assets should be associated with a purchase order, when a direct purchase was made.
   
4. All assets should have an ‘owner’. This is the person who is responsible for them to the institute and not necessarily the person who manages them on a day to day basis. An example would be the MIS hold information about timetabling, personnel, students, etc but the SIRO is ultimately responsible. In the same way the iMacs being used in Music are ‘owned’ by the Network Manager, not the Head of Music.
   
5. Assets have to be written off at some point in their life. This can only be done by an authorised member of staff.
   

 

There are probably more I could add, but this is a starting point for most people.

 

The poll is pretty basic ... do you have an asset library? Do you record costs?

 

If people could respond in the thread in more detail about who looks after their library and any other relevant details it would be helpful.

Edited March 27, 2015 by elsiegee40

[Ephelyon]

In so precise a context? Nope. Not a clue.

 

We use Parago Asset Manager but it's not always updated and I don't believe it stores any of the information in your five points above.

 

EDIT: We do have an initial purchase/replacement price for all or most things.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Ephelyon

[localzuk]

We started recording things properly - full cost, depreciation, invoice date etc - when we became an Academy. We had to do it for the finance asset register, so I saw it as a good opportunity to also do the same for all our ICT items. Ok, we don't add individual mice and keyboards, but anything which is "pinchable" or over £50 in value goes on, plus anything that is useful to record.

 

We haven't recorded "useful life" though, as even if we estimate this, I don't think it'd ever be accurate or would ever be used by the powers that be here.

 

We have a paper based "writing off" process here for assets too. A form for each item that is filled in by whoever wants it disposed, it then goes to The Boss who checks it and signs it off. The paperwork also contains the details of how it was disposed of, and which company it went to if it was taken away for recycling etc... Any paperwork (eg. WEEE notices or the like) is attached to the paperwork and it is filed away, most likely to never be seen again.

 

The person who ends up being responsible for the asset register is usually myself - we've, as yet, not managed to get anyone else to properly fill it in. There's always a corner cut, or something missed off. Getting it properly up to date for the finance reports needed usually involves me sitting with it for days.

[Oaktech]

I'm literally about to start this process after my predecessor recorded what he felt like.

 

We are about to begin using Parago to do this.

 

Everything over £50 gets an asset ID and is recorded along with location for insurance

Everything over £200 gets the above plus getting depreciated.

Everything IT is depreciated over 5 years unless there is a specific reason.

I am the owner for everything IT except for allocated staff laptops.

I produce an asset write off list once a term which is signed off by the executive head and presented to governors for ratification by the business manager. Nothing leaves site untill this is complete.

 

When I arrived I began to record costs and to collate scans/copies of all documentation relating to the purchase. These will be uploaded to Parago.

 

Going forward there will be a complete audit chain from purchase to disposal including all room moves/owner changes.

[tmcd35]

Been doing part of this for years, and refining improving the process as we go. It's still not perfect but we are in a good place now. We have a full asset database and every item at the very least has their replacement cost listed. We have an annual revolving IT budget that takes into account replacement cost and expected life cycles for all IT equipment. The only real exception off the top of my head is cabling and network cabinets.

[kennysarmy]

Our asset database has a column for recording the purchase date and initial cost of all IT equipment.

 

Yearly the bursar takes a copy of this and works his magic!

[Grey-gear]

I know there is a asset list but the network manager is in control of it.

[mattianuk]

This was asked for, in my case, because we are moving insurers as we are now a MAC, we have been using Parago, and they have entered all the details for us - but I want to use my own Excel spreadsheet as I prefer that, but it doesn't have costs listed in, its more an inventory for us of our equipment.

[Hokalus]

We have a full asset library but only costs for equipment purchased since we implemented it a year and a half ago

[psydii]

As an ex-BSF school there was a contractual obligation on the MSP to maintain an asset list for this purpose.

 

We're not an Academy so depreciation is something that is not on my radar. (It was when I worked in one, and Finance there used data from our asset register to manage that, though the bulk of our 'assets' were on operating leases. By using operating leases and a strong 10 year infrastructure refresh programme, the overall expenditures were easily reportable, and most of the equipment was outside of scope for depreciation calculations since it was viewed as an operating expenditure)

 

Right now we are building up our asset register and the information Tony mentions is being recorded for assets purchases on my watch or assets I can trace back to the BSF PIC documentation, however data on everything bought during the BSF programme is not easily traceable.

 

Item 5 has been standard operating practice since way back when. (the form I think can be traced back to a chap who arrived with the initial building in the 1960's!). We record costs in the asset system because I've worked in an academy. We don't really need them for planning since individual hardware costs are an operational detail, and long term IT refresh planning is done at a much higher strategic level, using estimates by experienced Managers and recent quotations for relevant equipment as a reference point. (As the NM I meet the Head, the finance director and the Chair of Governors/ Finance Committee regularly so the figures they use in meetings that are properly above my pay grade are well informed).

 

HTH.

Edited March 26, 2015 by psydii

[mthomas08]

We have everything here recorded.

 

The details include purchase value, date and Finance record paper work (delivery notes) with PO Numbers.

 

Although when I joined the asset system was a mess, I like to believe it's 99% accurate which should be fixed in the half term.

[Cache]

I have a full asset register which has details of the asset, PO number (if I was able to locate one) and initial purchase cost (again if I was able to locate it for some of the older kit around). The school has an asset register too which records the depreciation atc as required by the academy, so I provide the details to update this when asked, such as change in location, disposal and additions.

 

Probably not the most efficient way, but it works ok at the moment...

[Jamman960]

I've recently built up an asset spreadsheet and put stickers/barcodes on everything, for all new purchases in the last year or so I've been recording invoice ref, purchase date, supplier and cost in addition to the usual location, serial etc. We're an independent and no one seems particularly interested in the details although I give them to the bursar every year around audit time.

 

As part of my recent attempts to get the IT budget reviewed I calculated the purchase value for everything using rough figures and it was pretty eye opening especially when calculated over 10 years using ideal lifecyles, the 5 year budget forecast to match came in at double our existing budget which has been falling every year. It was also interesting to include the cost of future growth(wireless network, tablets on short lifecycles).

[Norphy]

We have a CMDB built into our helpdesk system which, in theory anyway, tracks all of the IT inventory that cost more than (I think) £80. It more or less fulfils the five criteria which Grumbledook put in his initial post. We're not deprecating the value of our stock though.

[mrbios]

We're currently in the process of filling our asset database, purchased parago last year so we're not fully up to scratch yet, hopefully it'll be full by the end of the Easter hols. We decided to ditch our old database that was built in wasp (it still exists for reference, but we didn't export it) and start fresh.

 

Equipment prices aren't entered for all the equipment we currently own but all newly purchased equipment will be entered with as much information as possible beginning with this years budget. Once the busiest aspect of the coming year is sorted and we've got a full up to date database i'll probably start going back in and updating all the existing data with the currect costs wherever i can.

[Trapper]

We record everything IT related - this includes VCRs/consoles etc as they interface with the IT infrastructure in the class room (TV/projector etc.)

 

I use Spiceworks to auto scan for devices, this means I can quickly check a warranty status for example.

 

My techie uses a custom list in O365 Sharepoint Online to store the information for audit purposes. This includes asset name, spec, warranty status, Windows PID etc. No costs though - although I should now. I also keep an annotated map with the e and paper version with annotated room numbers etc. I'm working on using AutoCAD to add layers to the map for data, power, VGA/HDMI runs, wireless points and coverage (copy and paste from UniFi)

 

Each term we export this to Excel or Access strip out the irrelevant information such as spec, Windows PID etc. make it all fancy. I then sign it, so does my boss the Strategic Business Manager. He keeps a copy in his disaster recovery folder and I randomly throw mine into the highly unorganised filing cabinet.

 

[Trapper]

PS - Ignore the Windows XP in OS installed. All Windows 7 now - my lazy techie (who will read this in the morning!) hasn't changed them!

[Davit2005]

Using Parago, Software, Licensing, Hardware the whole lot for the last couple of years now, still probably some stuff we don't know about but that was before my time.

[pcstru]

We have partial cover of our assets, we have been audited and from that have a plan to improve. For us, the question "how much is the network worth" tends to get asked for insurance purposes.

 

How much do we spend on IT can surely be answered by another route - consistent financial reporting. Or was that another passing fashion?

[PotNoodleTech]

Interesting thread grumbledook. Our asset register currently run by LEA. I am not aware of there being any value placed on any of the equipment, not purchase price or current value.

 

Ideally Id like to start from scratch myself with a new system!

[psydii]

While an asset register is the 'correct' ongoing method for managing this knowledge another useful reference point might be the old BSF funding formula.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CCcQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdera.ioe.ac.uk%2F3993%2F1%2FFunding_Guidance_for_BSF_Projects_Including_Academies.doc&ei=0-QwVc39B8iv7AbSyoGgAg&usg=AFQjCNFHUrPx3UA8A0bDUn09yFFfTbVVVQ&sig2=OveW5w1Bec3QeaDh_hloQg&bvm=bv.91071109,d.ZGU&cad=rja

 

To paraphrase:

1450 per pupil for equipment (read, servers switches, wifi, desktops, laptops, ipads, IWBs in all their forms, software etc.)

250 per pupil for Building infrastructure to support the ICT (e.g. racks, air conditioning, electrical circuits, network cabling)

£60-140 per pupil per year for support (i.e. to for the techs, managers, solution architects, trainers and third party support)

 

The 1450 kitted a school out in year 1 and that is what needs to be spent every five years to ensure an adequate rolling replacement programme.