Moving/Consolidating Cloud provision for T&L

[Koldov]

Our 'I.T. subject leader' has had a vision.... and it appears to be Microsoft...

 

We are a very small Junior School and as such don't really have a massive I.T. infrastructure, we don't use very much in the way of Cloud services (apart from Learning Platforms and websites).

 

What we do have is a couple of small servers for print/file share/AD/SIMS etc. Windows 10 on all admin machines/teacher laptops with Microsoft Office 2016 (a pretty standard/typical/average set-up of every Junior/Primary school which hasn't changed much in the last 10 years or so).

 

We don't have a particular preference either, we use a bit of everything... a bit of Google (Classroom) over lockdown (so that is all set-up), we have a load of iPads (mainly used for web browsing) so Meraki/ASM and an email/Learning Platform that was set-up by the LEA which uses O365 as a back-end (which we have no control over and we don't own the domain name used for email addresses).

 

Now, I say 'subject leader' but as we are a small school (and only Junior at that) we don't really have any really skilled/enthusiastic/subject specific teachers as you would further up the KS levels (and certainly nobody really interested in teaching I.T.), this is just a teacher that got landed with the role and the task of planning some Purple Mash lessons (which I think are pretty much planned within the platform for you anyway)...

 

Unfortunately they have had a meeting with an I.T. support company (well known to the school as it is led by an ex-LEA employee who was made redundant and came back as a consultant) and have come away with a head full of Sharepoint/Surface Tablets/O365/setting-up and taking on our own full O365/email set-up, (instead of Google Drive/iPads/Office 2016/managed email), and now they've had a meeting with the Head, so I'm just waiting for the 'get it done' email...

 

Obviously they have no concept of the time/money/resources this will take (for me of course) to set-up/manage/maintain/secure, but this is supposed to streamline T&L, planning, training etc. So, whilst I can see some benefits and obviously it's not up to me to get involved (as such) in the school's I.T. provision/planning, I'm just daunted by the amount of work this is going to create and how I'm going to realistically manage their expectations (like the email I got over lockdown to set-up Google Classroom/G-Suite - and the email the very next day asking if I had done it yet)...

[paulkerton]

You need to attempt to put together a plan of action, including a timeline.

[mavhc]

Tell them how much work it's going to create, and you'll need another person which will cost them £30k/year

[bobsmith]

"obviously it's not up to me to get involved (as such) in the school's I.T. provision/planning, "

 

Aren't you the only IT expert in the building?

 

An alternative way of looking at this situation.... What's YOUR plan/vision? If you sit on the sidelines you're gonna have this kind of situation happen to you, rather than you being part of the process.

[Koldov]

Sure... and that's the thing... really I don't have a 'vision'... I've never really looked into it enough to make any sort of MS vs. Google vs. Apple ecosystem comparison.

 

I was originally employed as a 'Technician' and have only risen to the dizzying heights of 'Network Manager' by default (as I'm the only IT expert in the building - although 'expert' might be pushing it)...

 

In the land of the blind... etc.

 

But essentially I'm a break/fix kind of guy (which I'll admit is where I'm happiest) and that's a good job too as we're creaking along on 12+ year old hardware/network infrastructure and that in itself creates a lot of firefighting along with trying to keep up with everything they want to do (you know getting shiny new iPads, isn't just as simple as ordering a shiny new iPad. right?). I'm on my own so doing everything I.T. related (a.k.a. anything with a plug), from changing toner to creating a Google Workspace.

 

The last thing I really need is to try and get involved with SLT decisions even though I know you're right, as in it's the only way I'll be able to have any say.

 

But I really don't mind what platform they use, or why. I've got no preferences or allegiances and I'm sure we can all agree you can't go 'wrong' with any of the big 3 (grabs popcorn).

[Koldov]

Tell them how much work it's going to create, and you'll need another person which will cost them £30k/year

 

Yeah, my initial knee-jerk reaction was to push back, but I do really want them to find a workable solution and it not cost them any more than my wages (as we all know small budgets just aren't stretching as far as they used to).

 

Also, I like my job really and working here, these days it doesn't bode well if you say you 'can't do something' and alternatively, if I posed that solution, I can see it being more like "well how about we just let you go and get in a 3rd party support company for half that"...

 

I do quite often drop the hint that they wouldn't be around to 'plug your whiteboard in to make it interactive' at 08:30 before your first lesson, or todays blinder... Windows key + P to make your projector and laptop screen work as duplicates (supply teacher to be fair but others had tried) - think I might have that tattooed across my forehead... maybe they'll be in on Wednesday afternoon... and only if they get round to it in that half-day you've purchased...

 

But I'm not sure how long that's going to last...

[mavhc]

Not like the people recommending something have used all the systems either, they're just promoting what they know in the hopes of getting hired.

 

Everyone is biased, use your advantage to your advantage. Ask how much the training will be, who will cover you while you're in training, how much the upgrade to the internet will cost, what will the new junior technician cost.

 

Of course their aim is to get hired as your backup, then eventually replace you.

[3s-gtech]

M365 and G Suite can co-exist really nicely, but it takes time and a lot of tweaking to get it all to a place where you're really happy with it all (and familiar with it). It took me years of slowly adding integration and automation - our Google stuff auths via M365 but even then it was weeks of work tweaking the Google admin side, especially to support Chromebooks.

 

The Microsoft side is managed with Salamander here (so there's a cost), as well as my own scripting, Powershell tweaks and managing AADC (plus legacy Exchange server onsite).

 

I'm very pleased with the result, but I had the massive benefit of doing all this because it 'seemed like a good idea', rather than being driven by anyone else, with no time limit or pressure. That saved me some stress when we went into lockdown, by huge coincidence!

[nicholab]

Modern management is great for laptops and desktops. I was a sceptic before joining a cloud first company in 2019. We provisioned everything using Intune.

 

I have also used Salamander and it a great product. Ideally on a small primary you get rid of all severs.

[localzuk]

With any major change like this, you have to start right at the beginning - how will you confirm it was a successful and useful project? What is the reason behind wanting to change? And, what does the school hope to achieve?

 

Without determining these things, making these sorts of large-scale changes is somewhat doomed to failure - as no-one will actually appreciate why its done, and you'll end up with complaints from staff due to unclear reasoning. The benefits of change have to be song often and loudly.

 

I think the issue you may face is that whilst your setup is OK today, with the speed of things changing in the IT world and the way LEAs appear to slowly be reducing their input into school IT (passing that buck back to schools themselves in some areas, or shifting it out to units which are owned by them but operate commercially), you may find yourself needing to make changes anyway in a few years.

 

At a minimum, Windows 10's end of life is already known so planning should be in advanced stages for its replacement (and likely many machines will need replacing to accommodate this, going by most schools aging PC stock), so now is likely a good time to look at the whole system with a wider eye.

 

On a personal level - if they want you to make these major changes yourself, you do need to push for training and time to do it. Otherwise, they need to pay for a third party to do the legwork, and then train you to use the new system. Having run projects of this scale a number of times now, I will say they can be incredibly stressful to do.

[nicholab]

With any major change like this, you have to start right at the beginning - how will you confirm it was a successful and useful project? What is the reason behind wanting to change? And, what does the school hope to achieve?

 

Without determining these things, making these sorts of large-scale changes is somewhat doomed to failure - as no-one will actually appreciate why its done, and you'll end up with complaints from staff due to unclear reasoning. The benefits of change have to be song often and loudly.

 

I think the issue you may face is that whilst your setup is OK today, with the speed of things changing in the IT world and the way LEAs appear to slowly be reducing their input into school IT (passing that buck back to schools themselves in some areas, or shifting it out to units which are owned by them but operate commercially), you may find yourself needing to make changes anyway in a few years.

 

At a minimum, Windows 10's end of life is already known so planning should be in advanced stages for its replacement (and likely many machines will need replacing to accommodate this, going by most schools aging PC stock), so now is likely a good time to look at the whole system with a wider eye.

 

On a personal level - if they want you to make these major changes yourself, you do need to push for training and time to do it. Otherwise, they need to pay for a third party to do the legwork, and then train you to use the new system. Having run projects of this scale a number of times now, I will say they can be incredibly stressful to do.

 

 

These are all good point I would say your excited to lead on this new project and keen to build a partnership with a supplier to fully deliver.

 

Biggest think is they will need a cloud MIS first.

Edited March 14, 2023 by nicholab