edutech4schools Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Just wondering why schools don't all join together and buy hardware / software in one massive lump? surely schools could save themselves a fortune.
hardtailstar Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Because schools dont always need the same stuff.
IrritableTech Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 We tried this a few times with our neighboring schools. It was an nightmare getting everything together and decisions made at the same time. As the biggest stake holder in the arrangement, and the organizer the slight reduction in costs were probably not worth the additional time for us.
LeMarchand Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 That was part of the reasoning behind LEAs, surely? Of course, our lords and masters decided it would be far better to encourage schools to stand apart from the LEA...
Popular Post clareq Posted July 14, 2015 Popular Post Posted July 14, 2015 I have trouble getting two teachers to agree what day it is, let alone what software they need to deliver a course! 6
localzuk Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 I think its partly due to politics, and partly to do with admin time/costs. If its only a small number of schools, someone has to herd those cats - which takes time and money, and that can easily outweigh the savings (unless its actually the same management across the schools and decisions are made across the group in one go). If its a large number of schools, then you have more cats to herd, and the admin time can scale up, and management decisions end up taking even longer.
dhicks Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Just wondering why schools don't all join together and buy hardware / software in one massive lump? surely schools could save themselves a fortune. In the case of software, you don't need to purchase it - instead of employing people in each school to figure out which packages to buy, employ those people to write software to contribute to an open source project instead.
Joanne Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 There are a few of us here in Burnley that do this. We're having a meeting today and we're gonna discuss the possibility of sharing Trilby TV.
achedgy Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Tried it among the schools I support and it's just never worth the hassle, the savings are pretty much always outweighed by the time taken!!!
bossman Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 We have a networking managers group who already do this through the LA it does work to some schools advantages especially if they are after certain kit. All in all it does work
synaesthesia Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Because schools and their respective staff are: Indecisive Different Unique Biased Simple really It doesn't even work in academy trusts.
Andrew_C Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Errr... Central Purchasing is a thing. May not cover IT spending, but pretty much all else is available through County Supplies here. We buy from them (not as much since our Bursar negotiated a deal with a local independent stationers) but even Independents, and other non-school organisations use them. Age Concern, charities etc. Hampshire County Supplies
kennysarmy Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Just wondering why schools don't all join together and buy hardware / software in one massive lump? surely schools could save themselves a fortune. the only way schools can save themselves a fortune is to employ less teachers..... A large school having a staffing expense of 5-6 millions could save significantly by employing just one or two less teachers - maybe £130,000 You'd never even scratch the surface of that order of savings in bulk buying paper or pencils.......
Andrew_C Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 They obviously have; it is "fewer". Now where's the Nazi emoticon? 2
LeMarchand Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 the only way schools can save themselves a fortune is to employ less teachers..... A large school having a staffing expense of 5-6 millions could save significantly by employing just one or two less teachers - maybe £130,000 You'd never even scratch the surface of that order of savings in bulk buying paper or pencils....... You're right - staffing costs are usually the biggest expense for any business/school. However they're more likely to sack 10 teaching assistants than get rid of 2 teachers to make cost savings. @Andrew_C
Oaktech Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 I've done this before, when it works, it works well, but setting it up is like herding cats. No-one's schedules ever quite mesh!
LincolnE Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 The problem is each individual school would need to put it past management. There is no one-tick solution for everyone's needs.
timbo343 Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 We've done it before, infact we are waiting for the goods to come. As there was a bit of email to'ing and frowing but eventually we got there and not a bad price to be fair. As long as all parties know what they want and communication is always top priority then it should work.
mikeprice Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 They tried it here a few years ago - with all sorts of stuff from loo rolls to PCs Overall effect - you had to pay to join the group - which was supposed to be offset by the huge savings. - but in the end everything cost loads more for some strange reason so schools stopped paying to be a member and it all collapsed
Roberto Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 Just wondering why schools don't all join together and buy hardware / software in one massive lump? surely schools could save themselves a fortune. You mean a purchasing consortium? We've been part of one in the past. It works less well than you'd think because each organisation's needs are very slightly different so either you end up not actually buying the same configuration in bulk, or compromising on something that's important to you to stay within the constraints of the 'bulk' configuration spec.
LiamH Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 I have seen it work for software, Our LEA bought licences for Policy Central and offered it to schools for practically nothing, same with antivirus solutions ect. Hardware is a bit tricky, different schools will require different spec's depending on its use. And a lot of schools like to keep a uniform brand for easy RTM's and spare's stock. My last place was all HP, current place is all Dell ect.
3s-gtech Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 In the current culture round here, getting schools to co-operate at all is hard - we're very clearly in competition for the same pupils to the point that jobs are at risk. Not conducive to co-operation.
john Posted July 14, 2015 Posted July 14, 2015 We've done it before, infact we are waiting for the goods to come. As there was a bit of email to'ing and frowing but eventually we got there and not a bad price to be fair. As long as all parties know what they want and communication is always top priority then it should work. Indeed we did, we got a lot of seats for Impero when I was up the North and got some good pricing on that it was however a few years ago and as @timbo343 says it took tooing and frowing and emails etc.. so was quite labour intensive but we did get a good deal at that time and lots of schools got Impero
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