MATs - IT Support Team

[NetworkBoss]

hi all,

 

those in mats, how do your schools pay for internal IT Support?

[Mr.Ben]

hi all,

 

those in mats, how do your schools pay for internal IT Support?

We are a 39 school Trust.

 

The core offer (paid for from top slice) covers the IT manager and deputy, plus data roles.

 

Site based support, helpdesk and admin support for IT is paid direct from school budgets, based upon a calculation and split using pupil numbers, device numbers and average age of equipment.

 

Licensing, hardware and infrastructure is all planned replacement and charged to schools

[HereIGoAgain2601]

Technically in our MAT the staff salary for the “technician” is paid out of school budget and everyone else that supports across multiple schools (Network Managers / Seniors) are classed as central team and paid for there. We gag pool so decide all infrastructure projects and pay for this using the centrally held funds.

[Ditto]

The school (primary) I was a governor with, which joined a MAT, initially had a technician/network manager who was paid out of the school budget. After a few years, the person was Tuped to the IT provider the trust signed up with for the MAT. This would have been funded by the MAT, out of the top slice.

[snagrat]

We don’t charge schools, other than top slice. But too slice doesn’t specifically cover IT Support, it’s just part of a central service we provide

[PotNoodleTech]

We are a 39 school Trust.

 

The core offer (paid for from top slice) covers the IT manager and deputy, plus data roles.

 

Site based support, helpdesk and admin support for IT is paid direct from school budgets, based upon a calculation and split using pupil numbers, device numbers and average age of equipment.

 

Licensing, hardware and infrastructure is all planned replacement and charged to schools

 

IMHO Top slice the whole lot is usually the best way since then all the schools have no choice but to invest the requisite amount.

 

Ben do you run into issues where some schools invest and some schools are less inclined to invest or prioritise elsewhere other than IT?

[Jonah]

We top slice for all central services (IT, HR, Finance, Estates).

[Mr.Ben]

IMHO Top slice the whole lot is usually the best way since then all the schools have no choice but to invest the requisite amount.

 

Ben do you run into issues where some schools invest and some schools are less inclined to invest or prioritise elsewhere other than IT?

Yes - very much so!, but we are changing that from Sept 2024 (subject to board approval, but they paid for an ICT review and the recommendation came from them which I was ecstatic about!).

 

Rather than traditional GAG pooling or taking a bigger central team top slice, from September we are taking an amount each year from their funding to cover the replacement of a minimum standard of IT, agreed with all schools.

 

The minimum standards dictate how much equipment they must have, replacement cycles and they can choose to invest more.

 

We keep track of each schools 'pot' and the funding they have put in, but behind the scenes pool it.

 

For laptops this would mean 8 schools per year get new staff laptops on a 5 year refresh.

 

If we have a school leave the Trust, we will be calculating if we owe them money from their pot or if the pot needs topping up for kit they have already received.

 

Whilst we roll that out, we will retain the best devices from replaced schools to support ones in the queue.

 

My worry about top slice is that there may not be enough to cover works/it can get eaten into by other pressures (wages etc). By ordering kit in June we can calculate cost/contributions for all schools each year to be recharged in September and we get 6 weeks of tech time to get them ready for schools.

Edited February 8, 2024 by Mr.Ben

[PotNoodleTech]

Sounds like you've got it well under control then! Good work!

[Iain.Faulkner]

Yes - very much so!, but we are changing that from Sept 2024 (subject to board approval, but they paid for an ICT review and the recommendation came from them which I was ecstatic about!).

 

Rather than traditional GAG pooling or taking a bigger central team top slice, from September we are taking an amount each year from their funding to cover the replacement of a minimum standard of IT, agreed with all schools.

 

The minimum standards dictate how much equipment they must have, replacement cycles and they can choose to invest more.

 

We keep track of each schools 'pot' and the funding they have put in, but behind the scenes pool it.

 

For laptops this would mean 8 schools per year get new staff laptops on a 5 year refresh.

 

If we have a school leave the Trust, we will be calculating if we owe them money from their pot or if the pot needs topping up for kit they have already received.

 

Whilst we roll that out, we will retain the best devices from replaced schools to support ones in the queue.

 

My worry about top slice is that there may not be enough to cover works/it can get eaten into by other pressures (wages etc). By ordering kit in June we can calculate cost/contributions for all schools each year to be recharged in September and we get 6 weeks of tech time to get them ready for schools.

 

I'd so love to get into this position in our Trust.

 

But back on topic, our IT Team is a central service (along with Finance and HR), so wages for the IT Team come from the top slice charged to the schools. We are a small Trust though, only 5 schools currently, the team is only 6 in total and we currently don't provide first line support for our primary schools. They each have their own contract with a third party provider.

[Mr.Ben]

I'd so love to get into this position in our Trust.

 

But back on topic, our IT Team is a central service (along with Finance and HR), so wages for the IT Team come from the top slice charged to the schools. We are a small Trust though, only 5 schools currently, the team is only 6 in total and we currently don't provide first line support for our primary schools. They each have their own contract with a third party provider.

How well does that structure work? (Sorry to go off topic again OP)

 

I'm also looking to restructure my team as we are getting bigger.

 

Schools still want on site scheduled visits but I'm reluctant to continue them more than once a month.

 

My second proposal would include outsourcing the field techs entirely, but reducing their job role to 1st line. Helpdesk will be 2nd line and in house.

[Iain.Faulkner]

How well does that structure work? (Sorry to go off topic again OP)

 

I'm also looking to restructure my team as we are getting bigger.

 

Schools still want on site scheduled visits but I'm reluctant to continue them more than once a month.

 

My second proposal would include outsourcing the field techs entirely, but reducing their job role to 1st line. Helpdesk will be 2nd line and in house.

 

It's quite new to us, the team only centralised in September 2023 and not much has changed day to day. The two teams at our individual secondary schools remain as the support on site and they don't go to the other sites. I'm scheduled to be at the Secondary schools two days a week each, although that is subject to change depending on annual leave/illness within the team. I tend to go where's needed. The Director of IT spends more time at the Primary schools than I do in addition to the external support company, who visit half a day a fortnight. The primary support tends to be more strategic than day to day.

 

I think it's working well, the schools seem quite happy with the support we're providing and feedback from the headteachers is good. I think the hardest thing is the different expectations from the schools, with the teams doing slightly different roles in each of the secondary schools, which will make it harder if we do get to a point where the team is moving between schools. The team is probably short of a member of staff, to provide support to the primary schools mainly (providing a scheduled visit) and then provide additional support to the Secondary schools, particularly if we grow. It would be nice to move away from the third party companies.

[james874]

For what it's worth I used to work as a consultant for various public sector departments... We would use companysights.com/resources/headcount-benchmarking-a-detailed-guide-to-the-information-technology-it-function to figure out how many people were required. They weren't perfect due variability if it was a school trust vs hospital trust (for example) but it gave us a helpful data point either way! Edited December 6, 2024 by Dos_Box