Future of IT Support.

[synaesthesia]

A brief discussion we've had last week has made me think.

3 or 4 years ago if asked "where do you see IT support in 2017", none of us would have said "Bloody busy, need more staff and more time". With cloud services on the increase, outsourcing being commonplace etc, that seemed like a fair judgement to make. However, it's 2017 and we are indeed busier than ever. The reliance on IT systems was never going to ease up, but it's hard to imagine it'd get busier.

 

It could just be us being tasked with more systems - I think over the past 2 years we've had the likes of cashless catering, CCTV, phone systems, copier/print management systems, what feels like 72 different pieces of software dedicated to "data" and tracking; even though some of these are fully/partially a 3rd party's responsibility, we are still very much involved.

Cracking open a crap laptop and replacing a power connector seems like a welcome break these days!

[sparkeh]

In the 10 years I have worked in education the job has changed a lot and yes I agree busier. I rarely have to get my hands dirty fixing stuff like I used to, everything just seems a lot more reliable these days (with notable exceptions - printers im looking at you!).

 

However, the number of services I have to manage has increased greatly. The demise of the on site tech has been predicted many time but I think we'll be around for a bit yet

[GrumbleDook]

It has gone from screw driver mangler to service owner and integrators

[localzuk]

Yup, busier than ever here too. The number of systems I have to manage now is eye-watering.

 

But hey, I enjoy the job most when it's a challenge.

[mullet_man]

Same here, it's getting busier as more things become ours to manage.

[synaesthesia]

It has gone from screw driver mangler to service owner and integrators

 

Nail on head there, Tony! And absolutely I'd agree about the bloody printers too

 

But indeed it's a changing landscape which presents some interesting challenges. Rarely is each day the same!

[GrumbleDook]

One of my FB contacts raised the interesting point that we have BETT this week, when schools are brassic ...

 

Personally, I think that some schools are going to have to make a major change and choose tech before teaching ... choose the most cost effective options even if it forces how T&L happens ... the tail wagging the dog!

[vikpaw]

In 10 years the dog hasn't learnt as many new tricks as expected and is struggling to walk now!

 

That's my biggest surprise. The gap has widened and we're made to handle and implement more systems with just as much resistance if not more than before. I expected more people to embrace technology and have a greater aptitude for it, however in my experience this hasn't evolved as quickly as I thought it would.

[flyinghaggis]

It's odd really as even though the number of system we have to support is ever increasing the amount of actual input and support we're given (as non-teaching IT staff within the school) seems to be diminishing as a direct result. As mentioned by others we're finding that more of the specialist services and installations appear to be getting outsourced but when the jobs done looking after always falls to us though very rarely is any consideration given to training on-site IT staff.

 

Increasingly, I'm finding that SLT staff above me arrange the install of services without my knowledge or input and immediately drop support of it on the internal IT department which inevitably results in us ending up as middlemen being scapegoated by both management and the external company for any resulting issues. Likewise, it's now commonplace for staff to buy in hardware/software and adopt various cloud platforms without any input from ourselves yet there's immediately the expectation we'll provide support regardless of whether we have any experience.

 

I've actually found a lot of staff are generally quite willing to adopt new technologies. The problem is they all want to adopt different technologies they're familiar with and have experience with rather than any kind of standard across the school.

 

I don't know if my experiences are the norm but I'm feeling pretty negative about the future for on-site educational IT staff to be honest! A lot of other people I've spoken to are feeling the same way.

Edited January 24, 2017 by flyinghaggis

[localzuk]

It's odd really as even though the number of system we have to support is ever increasing the amount of actual input and support we're given (as non-teaching IT staff within the school) seems to be diminishing as a direct result. As mentioned by others we're finding that more of the specialist services and installations appear to be getting outsourced but when the jobs done looking after always falls to us though very rarely is any consideration given to training on-site IT staff.

Increasingly, I'm finding that SLT staff above me arrange the install of services without my knowledge or input and immediately drop support of it on the internal IT department which inevitably results in us ending up as middlemen being scapegoated by both management and the external company for any resulting issues. Likewise, it's now commonplace for staff to buy in hardware/software and adopt various cloud platforms without any input from ourselves yet there's immediately the expectation we'll provide support regardless of whether we have any experience.

I don't know if my experiences are the norm but I'm feeling pretty negative about the future for on-site educational IT staff to be honest! A lot of other people I've spoken to are feeling the same way.

That really sucks. We have a rule in our trust - no IT purchases are allowed unless they are done through me. Even if you're buying ink for a printer, it has to go through me. This is backed up by Trust leadership.

 

The reason this rule exists is simple really - I'm the expert here when it comes to purchasing and implementing IT. There have been too many cases in the past where things have been purchased that either don't and can't work or cost far more than necessary (looking at you Consortium ink cartridges).

[vikpaw]

I think the aptitude towards and acceptance of tech defo depends on where you are and the makeup of the staff body, the staff turnover and support from senior management.

 

With so many more systems added to the mix now, trying to find a common backbone is the difficulty. Managing the systems and the interlinking required quickly becomes onerous. I have found that management do listen to our take on which systems would be suitable and work well with others, but this is when we're asked. If you're not getting consulted it's a tough situation to be in, thankfully tight purse strings can help slow down the decision process a little.

[pcstru]

It seems to be a common thread that new technology brings expectations that demand for "IT support" will be lower. The PC was going to displace the mainframe and everyone in the IT department worried about being out of a job but the fact was, more computers meant more support - not less and more computers meant more information could be processed but now the people doing it needed to be not only domain experts but needed to become literate in the technology that was now seen as part of their job. Of course it then all becomes critical to the business and with varying levels of IT literacy out in the business now reliant on hundreds of PC's (vs 1 mainframe), the IT department grew. Those mainframe experts - adapted and survived or retired, "natural wastage".

 

IMO somewhat the same things is happening again with "cloud" (I detest the term). The availability of compute has once again been freed up from the constraints of expensive and 'difficult' hardware, this time it is the PC itself that is the mainframe and cloud frees the users from a need to own a PC. configure the OS etc, you can access your compute from any device with a browser [*1]. Once again the allure is of a world in which real people can escape from the constraints imposed by those silly people in IT and can get on with the job of processing their information with nice shiny fancy new apps or as I like to put it, they are lured by the marketing promises of Sales Sirens, first out of their depth and then onto small isolated rocky islands where the Sirens try to sell them the support services - "Oh, you want to export your data so you can ... well, we can of course help!".

 

So for us what might that mean. Does the existence of new apps mean the death of old applications? Yes - but only occasionally, and generally quite slowly. Does it mean we can stop providing a network, identity management, firewalling, filtering and of course all the data services and bit's of string we put in place between systems so they can, with a paper cup on the end of the string, talk to each other? It seems not or if it does the transition is so slow as to be undetectable. So we have a potential for the explosion of (unregulated) apps but little scope for reigning back on the existing tech; and hey presto we have what many here are experiencing, busy busy busy!

 

Personally I don't worry too much about the latest fashion, whether it is cloud or a VLE or whatever shiny is doing the rounds; our jobs will change but that is a big part of what we do - deliver change. The proliferation of apps used in teaching will raise the demand for support not lessen it and at some point it will be realised that uncontrolled proliferation is inefficient and unsustainable. Which starts to touch on what I really do worry about at the moment - school funding. I pretty much agree with @GrumbleDook, once the cows come home to roost (cost of ownership), the tail of an effective basic infrastructure and equipment will need to wag the dog of teaching and learning at least as far as technology in schools is concerned. That will come sooner to those exercising less control over the systems estate but in the end, unless funding changes, it will come to us all.

 

[*1] Terms and conditions and various browser/application incompatibility apply and may induce terminal frustration in improperly configure user units.

[hardtailstar]

What ive seen is that tablets are being used more often in place of a laptop/computer connected to a projector with the likes of apple tvs and chromecasts etc.

 

I think this will become more common.

[kennysarmy]

That really sucks. We have a rule in our trust - no IT purchases are allowed unless they are done through me. Even if you're buying ink for a printer, it has to go through me. This is backed up by Trust leadership.

 

The reason this rule exists is simple really - I'm the expert here when it comes to purchasing and implementing IT. There have been too many cases in the past where things have been purchased that either don't and can't work or cost far more than necessary (looking at you Consortium ink cartridges).

 

Similar here, anything under £50 can be purchased directly by departments, but anything else we have to have input in.

[Zourous]

 

Here is our helpdesk numbers over the years. As you can see from 7 years ago the numbers have doubled! I agree with what most people have said about having to support more and more. I think we are also supporting more and more devices. Here it seems that every department now wants laptops for their students so the number grows but it seems more difficult to retire old equipment at the rate it is coming in because someone somewhere kicks up a stink. Also the devices per staff has increased in some cases with some people having a PC, Laptop, tablet and maybe even a mobile phone.

[AJWhite1970]

We support everything with a plug here apart from the sinks, there are two of us and we have never been busier. Part of that is being victims of our own success, ICT is very heavily used here and is core to just about everything in the school from teaching to support to phones to photocopiers to home working to BYOD to well the list just grows and grows.

 

I'm not complaining though, I love my job and in 20 odd years doing this I don't think I've ever had the same day twice and apart from being permanently knackered it's all good.

 

What will the future bring? Who knows. BYOD is pretty much maxed out now, more mobile/IP devices will come and go, PC's, servers, tablets, laptops etc will evolve but essentially be the same just different. Whatever it brings, I'm looking forward to the challenge

 

Andrew

[PotNoodleTech]

Hehe it's funny isn't it. 5 years ago people were predicting the demise of on site IT support and if anything the opposite is true. I need more technicians than I have.

 

Same story. Ever increasing amounts of equipment and software, ever decreasing technician time (I've got less technician hours per week now than I did 10 years ago), and we are constantly taking on new systems. Just fitted 12 new MFDs to cater for out whole school printing with papercut, just fitted 97 new IP phones to cater for our phone systems, on and on to the next project (inventory&helpdesk replacement) and the next project (replacement for ipads) and the next project (digital signage) etc etc.

 

I do however agree with what has been said above. I've got a long track record of success, yet I feel less "included" now in whole school decisions that ever before. Many things have been purchased without my input.

Edited January 24, 2017 by PotNoodleTech

[SHimmer45]

We support everything with a plug

 

we often get this feeling even if the IT link is so remote its not even funny

 

more devices = more work even if "stuff just worked" as the back end infrastructure to support it keeps growing.

 

Question is are schools investing enough in staff to support this growth?

[AJWhite1970]

I do however agree with what has been said above. I've got a long track record of success, yet I feel less "included" now in whole school decisions that ever before. Many things have been purchased without my input.

 

It's a tough one. Personally I'm very out there, I live in an open plan office, am never closed, have a great relationship with the Governors, LT, teachers and students and am lucky enough to be involved in every strategic ICT decision from the ground up, even being in the committee for new building projects from day 1. A colleague of mine in another school near here though isn't as confident and as a result gets walked over by everyone. The other day he came in to find 30 new photocopiers being delivered and all 80 of his printers being ripped out as part of a buy-back scheme.

 

Yes I could do with another member of staff here, yes I could do with some more budget but at the end of the day I deliver a robust working solution using what resources I have available and that get noticed and appreciated. I do know that sadly I'm in a minority where that two way relationship happens between ICT and LT though and I take my had off to those of you stuck under a Guardian reader senior manager who gets lured by the shiny shiny with salespeople who talk carp and rarely deliver...

[novastorm]

Its changed and its very different. When Cloud and mobile devices started to come out I thought we would have less work and ICT Suites started to be taken away. But now it seems like there is more work. More devices, more students on roll making schools bigger getting more students means getting more demand and more IT support work for us.

[mthomas08]

A brief discussion we've had last week has made me think.

3 or 4 years ago if asked "where do you see IT support in 2017", none of us would have said "Bloody busy, need more staff and more time". With cloud services on the increase, outsourcing being commonplace etc, that seemed like a fair judgement to make. However, it's 2017 and we are indeed busier than ever. The reliance on IT systems was never going to ease up, but it's hard to imagine it'd get busier.

 

It could just be us being tasked with more systems - I think over the past 2 years we've had the likes of cashless catering, CCTV, phone systems, copier/print management systems, what feels like 72 different pieces of software dedicated to "data" and tracking; even though some of these are fully/partially a 3rd party's responsibility, we are still very much involved.

Cracking open a crap laptop and replacing a power connector seems like a welcome break these days!

 

I wouldn't have said "bloody busy", I'd have said doing something else. I never for one second think I'd be sitting here doing nothing. Instead of perhaps fire fighting all day I would be box ticking and more future development/proofing.

 

Remember hearing people say our jobs would fast be disappearing (yet in my area it hasn't dropped at all). The reliance has by no means dropped, we've gone from very little accessible to the outside world to everything needed for staff and students for homework etc. IT isn't working 8-6, instead it's working from 7-8 and even on Saturdays - even though it's up 24/7. Certainly makes me think about those who claimed IT would fast vanish out of education...

 

Instead (as you mentioned data), we have a lot more reliance on that data presented to staff to enhance their teaching and learning. All of it is prepared through out SIMs.net and tracking sheets, data manager has done a lot of work recently to present it etc. Our phones are fully IP, projectors can't be lived without and we are openly considering cloud options instead of replacing our two main servers. If our broadband can keep up and services are just as good etc.

 

I'm not shocked at all how things are today. We've been saying for decades that IT would effectively take over in some way, we'd all have devices with us, access to the internet - you name it in some way it's been predicted. Until IT can fix it self all day every day, we will still be here prodding along.

[clockend25]

Imagine if you also had to oversee reprographics.... Yeah, imagine that.

[Asgard]

Imagine if you also had to oversee reprographics.... Yeah, imagine that.

 

I have to do that the trust printroom is under my department. Problem is that when the printroom person is off I have to send one of the IT staff to "print duty"

[clockend25]

That's the issue though: we haven't had a repro technician for going on two years. Granted, the teachers largely do their own printing and copying, but there's still a bit of work kicking about at busy times of the year.

[psydii]

I see three existing scenarios for schools:

 

1) Very poorly invested IT

2) Good basic IT

3) Massive embedded IT across all aspects of the school

 

The choice is to continue the refresh schedule or change.

 

School 1 have a pretty easy choice: ensure basic connectivity and safeguarding, implement Google and Chromebooks. Lowest cost solution, huge partner community to support them.

 

School 2, can either continue as is until the big pricing increases bite, or pivot to Google, some change will be required.

 

School 3 really is in a bind, as it requires massive fundamental change. They have the hardest choice to face. How do they justify the continuing investment when demonstrably there are good/outstanding schools that are not making similar levels of IT investment?

 

Many(?) schools SLT and governors do not have these problems sufficiently high up their risk register, and will end up cutting things back to the bone without understanding the long term impact.

 

Massive change is required any school with income above the average, and how it plays out will depend on how useful the leadership of the school believe IT to be to their success.

 

The job of IT is to build capacity for the organisation for improvement and change. Crucial to this will be the simplification of service management. We really can't do everything, and if we continue to accept/provide new services we have to prune old ones, otherwise we compromise our own ability to support the organisation.