Gibson335 Posted February 10, 2011 Posted February 10, 2011 Anyone currently using EMBC who has decided to move away when current contract expires? I'd be keen to find out who you're considering and why. Cheers in advance.
Gibson335 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Replying just to draw attention to it again, with the added query: does anyone know where things stand regards EMBC and their decisions relating to 2012? For instance, have any costs been decided upon? Thanks.
36Degrees Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 We were with EMBC through the LEA but as of the end of this month Nottinghamshire CC are going directly to Synetrix for both the corporate and education side of things. 1
Edu-IT Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Leicestershire. Have you checked out the Broadband Reprocurement area on EIS?
Gibson335 Posted March 21, 2011 Author Posted March 21, 2011 Yes - unfortunately it's a bit out of date - I know they've had at least one if not two meetings since about this very issue.
sparkeh Posted March 21, 2011 Posted March 21, 2011 Its far to early to make a decision about what to do when the contract it up. Although there have been some clues about what a future service provided by the emPSN service will look like we don't yet know how it will pan out, who will run it or how much it will cost. We have only just passed the PQQ stage! I believe the best course of action is to have a range of options costed out and we get the details of the emPSN service we can weigh up what is best for our establishments. 1
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 Give them a call and just ask. Now why didn't I think of that? Oh, that's right, I did. And got pointed towards the EIS site. I also mailed - and got pointed towards the EIS site. As yet I've had no word from my carrier pigeon, my morse code is a bit rusty, and moths ate my semaphore flags. I have considered rendition and a spell in Guantanamo for those whose lips are currently sealed, but apparently that's considered 'a tad harsh' by my therapist. The reason I asked on here was just in case someone 'in the know' was lurking in their cyber-guise and was willing to spill the beans. Never mind, I think Jeffrey Deaver is looking for a plot for the next Bond book. 2
Edu-IT Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 As it stands, they've gone to put the icing and cherry on all the paperwork and the official statement of requirements which will then go out to the 6 companies who have made it through to the next stage. I imagine then these companies will put together their official proposals etc and we'll get a further update then. The LA are supposedly going to have their new services ready to announce by October. In the meantime as Sparkeh says it may be worth doing your own research into what connections you can get to your school, and at what cost, and looking into other options such as web filtering etc.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 As it stands, they've gone to put the icing and cherry on all the paperwork and the official statement of requirements which will then go out to the 6 companies who have made it through to the next stage. I imagine then these companies will put together their official proposals etc and we'll get a further update then. The LA are supposedly going to have their new services ready to announce by October. In the meantime as Sparkeh says it may be worth doing your own research into what connections you can get to your school, and at what cost, and looking into other options such as web filtering etc. Thanks for that. I have already begun the process of looking at alternatives, but in my position I can only recommend and if we're still with the LEA at that point then the SLT will also listen to their recommendations. I'm trying to get a feel for how much more costly it will be, so's I can give our BM a heads-up on projected budgets, as we're revising our 3 year plan. I know it's a way off, but when we're looking at costs for 2013, a serious hike in ISP costs is a major consideration. Cheers.
Edu-IT Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 At this time it's not possible to know how cheap or expensive it's going to be. Going to have to wait till nearer October for that. 1
GrumbleDook Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Now why didn't I think of that? Oh, that's right, I did. And got pointed towards the EIS site. I also mailed - and got pointed towards the EIS site. As yet I've had no word from my carrier pigeon, my morse code is a bit rusty, and moths ate my semaphore flags. I have considered rendition and a spell in Guantanamo for those whose lips are currently sealed, but apparently that's considered 'a tad harsh' by my therapist. The reason I asked on here was just in case someone 'in the know' was lurking in their cyber-guise and was willing to spill the beans. Never mind, I think Jeffrey Deaver is looking for a plot for the next Bond book. Well, I wasn't sure whether you had rung up or not ... I thought you might have tried to upgrade telepathy 1.5 to v2 ... but then I remember it had a bug in it which meant that you couldn't control two-way through ... so anyone you came across and tried to read their minds would also hear the cursing and swearing.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 Telepathy v2 is SO last year. I've moved on to Magic 8 Ball v 3.2.1 (Linux), which comes with a free upgrade to Ouija 4. 1
Edu-IT Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 Problem is, nobody knows what's going on at the minute as the providers haven't made their offerings. That's probably why you were pointed to EIS.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 Problem is, nobody knows what's going on at the minute as the providers haven't made their offerings. That's probably why you were pointed to EIS. Yeah I'm coming to terms with that now...I've just gone into teacher mode for a moment: I want to know and I want to know right now! I'll slap my own wrist.
GrumbleDook Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 We are in a similar position here ... so schools have a group where they can look at what the school needs to think about for the next couple of years. It has access to the SoR (and folk have been along to the meetings) for the next version of EMBC but it also makes schools think about what they are doing if they want to do something different (Academies, etc) If any Northants schools on here are wanting to take part in this sort of of discussion I can put you in touch with Alastair over at Duston, who is collating technical responses. We are trying to make sure this is a school led group and not an LA thing.
Edu-IT Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 No idea how the Leics group got formed, it seemed to be a closed group! No idea who is in it either.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 No idea how the Leics group got formed, it seemed to be a closed group! No idea who is in it either. Me neither - it does seem very secretive at times.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 We are in a similar position here ... so schools have a group where they can look at what the school needs to think about for the next couple of years. It has access to the SoR (and folk have been along to the meetings) for the next version of EMBC but it also makes schools think about what they are doing if they want to do something different (Academies, etc) If any Northants schools on here are wanting to take part in this sort of of discussion I can put you in touch with Alastair over at Duston, who is collating technical responses. We are trying to make sure this is a school led group and not an LA thing. I keep trying to get over to the tech support group meetings in Leics which started last year, but every time so far something has come up - but I guess this sort of thing is dicussed, if only informally. Must try and get to the next one!
Edu-IT Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 I keep trying to get over to the tech support group meetings in Leics which started last year, but every time so far something has come up - but I guess this sort of thing is dicussed, if only informally. Must try and get to the next one! Would this be the LEAMIS meetings? The next one is where connectivity is on the agenda.
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 Would this be the LEAMIS meetings? The next one is where connectivity is on the agenda. No, not the LEAMIS one - we have two people going to that. No, the one I'm on about is for network managers and technicians set up by network managers and technicians, but I forget exactly who organises it. I have it in my old e-mails somewhere. It's held in Leicester - I think there have been 3 meetings so far.
camel Posted March 22, 2011 Posted March 22, 2011 TonyJF, the meetings were held at the Samworth Enterprise Acadamy in Leics. There has only been 2 meetings with the 3rd cancelled when the snow hit in Dec. I've been to both with russdev who presented on both occasions. Not heard anything recently from the organisers at Samworth though. The meetings were useful as the agenda was led by network managers, so we got to network, but hasn't been much in developing it further, time I guess?!
Gibson335 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Posted March 22, 2011 TonyJF, the meetings were held at the Samworth Enterprise Acadamy in Leics. There has only been 2 meetings with the 3rd cancelled when the snow hit in Dec. I've been to both with russdev who presented on both occasions. Not heard anything recently from the organisers at Samworth though. The meetings were useful as the agenda was led by network managers, so we got to network, but hasn't been much in developing it further, time I guess?! Thank you - that's the one. Looked very promising, but yes, I guess time is the real problem taking it further. Hope there are more, though.
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