MAT moving forward with a cloud based solution, see my idea! how have you done it?

[Sohailahmad]

Hi All

 

I've been tasked with moving one of my schools forward that has become part of a MAT and is leading the way to set a standard for the rest of the schools that will eventually join.

 

I've spoken to many people from heads to other sysadmins regarding this and there seems to be lots of options. One thing the current heads and governors have been sold on is going could based for their data.

 

Some MATs I know of have gone down the DFS route with WANs linking the sites. As we are an LGFL school there are some other options I'd like to explore.

 

We currently have a single Windows 2008 R2 based domain with managed OUs. It's currently the standard pushed out by the current IT support and to be honest works well. I would want to keep AD in place and Group Policy to manage the computers.

 

I would then want ADSync provided by Atomwide to sync USO accounts in to AD as they already use USO for Staffmail.

 

The next step would be to get Admin and Curric data off the servers and on to a managed platform. Last year at BETT I was sold by Google for Education, it's collaborative working and sharing of content among many other benefits. The LGFL would then set up USO sync there too unifying staff and students accounts across all platforms used at the school.

 

I know Microsoft are also doing O365 with LGFL/USO sync on their Azure platform, again with collaborative learning. Is this a better option?

 

Whichever system/direction we go in would need to be able to include and link other schools under the same trust so that MAT staff can share and collaborate data across all sites regardless of local or LGFL domains.

 

My main question is, am I going in the right direction with this? Do you have any more information about this idea, if you think it's wrong or think there's a better solution please let me know. How have you done it???

 

if you need me to provide any more information, please ask.

 

Many thanks in advance

[Rob_D]

What you're doing sounds really interesting. I'd be keen to know how you get on with it.

 

If you haven't already, then you might want to check up on data protection and GPDR when it comes to moving your data into the cloud.

We came to the conclusion that a lot of our admin data had to stay in local storage for security/ data control reasons.

[Sohailahmad]

Thanks Rob, I'll keep this threat updated. I can see it all linking up in my head but had no idea if it will even be feasible in the real world. Yes GPDR was mentioned in the meeting today, one of the Governors has had to do it recently for her own company, she will look in to how it will affect us if we move in this direction.

[ITGURU]

What you're doing sounds really interesting. I'd be keen to know how you get on with it.

 

If you haven't already, then you might want to check up on data protection and GPDR when it comes to moving your data into the cloud.

We came to the conclusion that a lot of our admin data had to stay in local storage for security/ data control reasons.

 

Agreed , the most sensitive data should still be kept local no matter what. You then know WHERE the data is store, WHO it is shared with and you have control over it.

SIMS will be interesting if they go fully cloud - i'll wait for the day to see how good the performance is!

[Sohailahmad]

I've mentioned concerns to the Head and he will investigate how GPDR will affect sensitive data. SIMS I think will continue to stay local until they themselves move cloud/web based as the demo we were show last year at BETT at the Capita stand didn't look very good, Azure/RDP sessions in to a Capita hosted server just didn't sit well with me. It needs to be web based imo.

 

If some of the data does end up being local, what do you guys still recommend for the rest of the curric data/accounts moving on to Google or Microsoft with USO?

[JohnJackson]

Colleagues, I'm looking at how we can help schools support a move to cloud. There are multiple options and we'd like this to be straightforward. We're currently working with a bunch of schools looking at Google and Microsoft migrations and I've entered into early dialogue with Amazon. There is a shed load possible. The tricky issues , as you highlight are migration, avoiding cloud sprawl etc.

[Sohailahmad]

Hi John, thanks for your reply, I will be attending BETT and speaking to MS/Google/LGFL regarding this to finalise a decision for the school.

 

I'm wondering if we could do both, maybe a mixture of MS E5 for admin and GSuite for curric....After this week hopefully it will be a lot clearer.

[GuyJD]

I'm looking at moving all of our curriculum server shares on to a cloud based storage platform, we're getting rid of USB storage for the teachers and want to have something that is just as easy if not easier for them to use, I'm looking at the options at the moment and have seen that LGfL offer solutions from both Microsoft and Google but trying to work out which one is right for us is very difficult as the information on how it will work once set up is not very forthcoming and unless I bite the bullet and start the process I don't know how else I'll know if it's the right decision or not.

[artfulmatt]

I'd check you bandwidth too if your looking at cloud (we looked at using sims cloud solution and with 2mb up and down for a single user we'd have nothing left for general internet, so upgrading internet would cancel out the savings in not using sims locally)

 

We are part using onedrive for business for staff (MS are GDPR ready - servers are in europe) but have had issues with filename length, special characters etc....plus the app doesn't really work with non MS applications

 

Azure is def worth a look, get the Premium edition and saves needing DC's at other sites (if using a single domain)

[dsquared2]

Is it possible to run GPO's (or a equivalent) with Azure Premium? I would like to move more cloud based but I can't see a way without DC's on site with Federated Services.

 

I'm currently using Azure AD connect to sync Local AD to Azure AD then syncing Azure AD with G Suite. Giving staff and students the best of both worlds!

Edited April 17, 2018 by dsquared2

[Sohailahmad]

Is it possible to run GPO's (or a equivalent) with Azure Premium? I would like to move more cloud based but I can't see a way without DC's on site with Federated Services.

 

I'm currently using Azure AD connect to sync Local AD to Azure AD then syncing Azure AD with G Suite. Giving staff and students the best of both worlds!

 

Are you talking about local policies for computer/user settings? I don't think there is a way without DC's. We've made a decision on Microsoft's platform but haven't auctioned it yet. Hopefully soon once we upgrade to Server 2016 and Windows 10 which has taken priority over moving to the cloud. I will update the thread once we do.