UAG

[dhm83]

I expect everyone in a Birmingham school will have received a document from BCC/Link2ICT regarding UAG access to internal BCC systems. It outlines that any school wishing to operate outside of Link2ICT for Broadband will have to pay a one off fee of £1,432 and then an annual charge of £1005 per year to access our own information. The only system I can see that this will affect is the CRISP system, as HR Portal and Finance operate through a public facing website. I have had a lot of resistance to moving away from Link and no that I have finally told them I am going, this UAG is now being used to claw some of the money saved back. I would be interested to hear from other schools that have left Link2ICT for Broadband and what experiences/arrangements you have regarding accessing the internal BCC systems.

[foofighterjim]

Are you able to provide a link to the document? It certainly hasn't crossed my desk yet!

 

Those figures are just about in like with what I was told by Link 2+ years ago and from a couple of people from within the council. The actual problem here is that the Council built all of these systems purely with BGFL in mind, from what I can tell they don't have the expertise / time / funding to move away from this setup. Hence the costs of Link2ICT facilitating this change is being passed directly to the schools.

 

On a side note, I wonder what the Council are going to do with HR Portal once Java stops being supported by Oracle.

[dhm83]

I have got a PDF copy of the document that was sent to me by Link at the end of January. Can email you a copy if you have not seen it. Drop me a PM and I will send it over.

 

Who knows what will happen when the support stops from Oracle. We might have bedlam all over again....

[SchoolsBroadband]

we've had quite a few schools leave BGFL and not have to pay anything to access the information despite threats and letters

[levell3r]

Is it possible to confirm this?

We've had the UAG letter recently and can't see how Schools with external ISP's are accessing CRISP. BGFL have always restricted those sites to their core network/IP range.

[dhm83]

Schools who are already outside the BGFL are going to neighbouring schools who are still connected to the BGFL and using their own user credentials to login to CRISP from there. I have consulted with Link and asked if I am allowed to do this, and their short answer was "yes". So we have arranged to use a computer at another BGFL connected school to do our CRISP return when needed. Therefore a saving of £1,432 in year one and £1,005 per subsequent year. The word on the street is that CRISP is more than likely going to be super seeded by something else in approximately a years time. It could also be moved on to an external facing web platform similar to HR which would eliminate the need for UAG.

[foofighterjim]

The word on the street is that CRISP is more than likely going to be super seeded by something else in approximately a years time. It could also be moved on to an external facing web platform similar to HR which would eliminate the need for UAG.

 

I had heard similar from a contact in the council, how likely it is to happen remains to be seen. BCC aren't exactly flush with cash to invest in err.......... anything, so I would think CRISP would be low on the priorities list.

[dhm83]

I have heard from BCC sources that cash is practically non existent. But they are in dialogue with the providers of CRISP to see if a workable on-line solution can be found, and eliminate the need for the UAG.