steve_forbes

Hi, We have historically used MVMC but this is now no longer supported by Microsoft so we now use DoubleTake Move for our P2V and V2V migrations. Thanks Steve

Hi, As you mention, we would only support the hardware if it was on our supported technologies list but in terms of CC4, we will support that on your chosen platform as long as you follow the guidance in terms of the resources that need to be allocated to the VM etc. We have carried out plenty of CC4 installations on platforms that have either been installed by a third party or the customer themselves and as long as they have been properly configured then there tend to be very few issues. Troubleshooting issues and determining the causes are of course a little more complicated when we haven't installed the hardware or platform but in every case we will do whatever we can to determine and fix the issues or in the very least give you direction as to what needs to be addressed by the relevant 3rd party support. I hope that helps, Steve

Hi there, I manage the Networks Product Management team here at RM - I can confirm that there is no issue in P2V for CC4 servers, clearly if you want to do it yourself then you can or we can do it for you. We would do our best to support you if you had any issues but of course you may use software that we may not be familiar with and we would only be able to offer limited support for that scenario. Let me know if you have any other questions. Thanks Steve

Hi Alan, I think my colleague James might have messaged you about the Support increase costs. It certainly seems like you have seen some higher than average increase in costs so I would like to investigate further - could you PM me your school details and I will make sure we look at it in detail. Regards, Steve

@Gongalong I'll chase that up for you now, how you use the software is obviously completely up to you but there are some components that rely on others to work properly. I'll find out what's going on with the questions and quote and get someone to contact you asap. Thanks Steve

Hi, Steve from RM here... As @Norphy has articulated; your experience with CC4 is going to be related to whether you are comfortable using (or want to use) the standard set of tools that SCCM offers, or if you would prefer to have a management suite (CC4) over the top to help simplify some of the network management tasks. In essence with SCCM you start with a blank canvass that you can make completely your own, that does come with its own risks (takes time to get it right) but also has its benefits (completely flexible). CC4 comes at it from the other end of the spectrum and makes the network secure, which may be too restricted for some network managers (you could be spending some time removing restrictions) but it will certainly be safe. With regards to costs; CC4 is always going to come out more expensive on a quote compared to SCCM, this is because you are paying for Microsoft server licences and then the additional CC4 software. However the cost comparison really comes down to whether you think having CC4 will help you to save time compared to managing SCCM on its own. Like @deano3693 mentioned we have also addressed our licencing model to help reduce that initial additional outlay. Ultimately we can support you which ever route you take and we will be more than happy to articulate the pro’s and con’s to each option.

Yes you absolutely can do it manually, you only need SDS if you want to import groups into Classroom. Currently this can be done by extracting a CSV file from the MIS and then importing into SDS. We are looking at a way of automating that process through RM Unify.

Hi, Yes it supports creating groups for Google classroom from Progresso. Microsoft Classroom is a little more complicated due to the need for SDS as an interim step but we are working on a solution to that as well.

Hi all, Steve from RM here, I manage the Product Management team that manage our network and cloud portfolios. I can answer some of the questions that have been raised on this thread: - MIS Sync into RM Unify has now been released and works with all the major UK MIS providers (Not just RM Integris) - We are currently developing the functionality to provision users into a CC4 AD from the MIS via RM Unify, provisioning users into a vanilla AD will follow - RM Unify can create groups from your MIS into both O365 and G Suite - There is currently no functionality to provision calendar/timetable information into either eco-system, this has been asked for by a number of people now so we will add it to the board for future consideration - RM Unify is customer installable in most circumstances, we do charge a small fee for those customers that require our assistance in doing so - The current price for RM Unify is £495 for schools with less than 500 pupils and £995 for those schools with 500+ I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any more questions and I would be happy to help. Steve

Hi all, Steve from RM here, I manage the Product Management team that manage our network and cloud portfolios. I can answer some of the questions that have been raised on this thread: - MIS Sync into RM Unify has now been released and works with all the major UK MIS providers (Not just RM Integris) - We are currently developing the functionality to provision users into a CC4 AD from the MIS via RM Unify, provisioning users into a vanilla AD will follow - RM Unify can create groups from your MIS into both O365 and G Suite - There is currently no functionality to provision calendar/timetable information into either eco-system, this has been asked for by a number of people now so we will add it to the board for future consideration - RM Unify is customer installable in most circumstances, we do charge a small fee for those customers that require our assistance in doing so - The current price for RM Unify is £495 for schools with less than 500 pupils and £995 for those schools with 500+ I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any more questions and I would be happy to help. Steve

Hi there, You can use Azure Backup for full backup if you use D2D2C so you essentially have a staging server that then backs up into Azure. In our testing we found that you can restore a 20GB DC from Azure to site in about 4 mins (broadband dependant of course) but still pretty quick! We have built a calculator to show the potential costs for schools, if you are interested in finding out more just let me know. Thanks Steve

The problem with this is whether the users can be trusted not to save anything locally, especially if there could be sensitive data. There is also no way then of managing the machine so any of the users can install whatever they want, whenever they want.... not great from a security perspective.

As @jmak said, a basic mac mini would do the job and is less of a physical footprint than a standard Windows PC. The Azure AD solution could work, users would log in to Windows 10 devices (note must be Windows 10) with their O365 credentials. You can also use Microsoft Intune to manage the users and devices to a certain degree - nowhere near the level that you can with an on-site Windows domain with GPOs etc. but probably sufficient for admin staff. This SaaS model is certainly one that Microsoft are encouraging to use in the corporate space, it's just not quite there for general use in the educational environment with shared devices that are used by pupils. I would avoid hosting a server in something like Azure/AWS/Google for this purpose - if the only requirement is to have a Microsoft device with Office and the user be authenticated then hosting a server for this would be overkill and could end up being quite costly if it is not configured correctly. Everything in those instances is pay as you go essentially so you won't know the real cost until you actually use it.

You will need to place your order before then, the problem that resellers have at the moment is that they don't have the new pricing that comes in to effect on the 1st Jan 2017 and from Microsoft's perspective a renewal due on the 31st Dec falls into the new year! So currently a reseller can't quote you for your renewal in the new year unless they take a guess at what the pricing might be - they have given us rough indications. We are expecting to get the new pricing on the 5th December at which point we can quote for the new year renewals. Hope that helps, Steve

@GrahamB Yes there is a minimum level of licence that you have to purchase through that agreement and they are based on the school's FTE. For schools that regularly upgrade their OS and Office software then it is the most economical way of licencing Microsoft products but it's not always suitable for everyone. If you need more info then just let me know and I'll get you some pricing for you to get an idea of costs.

As @MichelleC says, you have to add the Office 365 ProPlus subscription which is free as long as you have a Microsoft EES agreement. Steve

Hi, I just wanted to add that if anyone wants to join the Field Trial then let me know and I can arrange it for you. Thanks Steve

Hi there, What kind of support contract do you have with us? I'm happy to try and help. Steve Forbes Head of Network Solutions RM Education

Hi, Full details will be released soon and if you want to see more you can visit us at one of our free seminars: http://www.rm.com/seminars The webpages will go live for the date of the first seminar and anyone that attends the seminar will have the opportunity to download the free version. We are listening, always listening :-) Steve Head of Network Solutions RM Education

Hi, We can offer 3rd line support in Surrey, and with hundreds of expert engineers in everything from Microsoft and hyper-V to Veeam we are ideally placed to support you. If you’d like to send me a private message I’d be happy to arrange a conversation with one of our consultants. Thanks Steve

Hi, We are currently piloting Azure Backup with some of our customers, one of those customers currently has about 9TB of data to backup and the estimated cost is £3k a year. Given that you don't need any additional software licences to implement this it could be a economical way of backing up data. One of the most important factors is working out what data can be archived and what is short term data for DR etc. We have created a calculator to show schools the potential costs and how the type of data backed up can impact the annual costs, if you drop me your details I would be happy to put you in touch with someone that can talk you through the details. Steve Forbes Head of Network Solutions RM Education

I'd like to confirm that there is no intention of replacing the NetSupport product in RM Tutor with Impero, we have many customers that use RM Tutor who are really happy with the product and the ever increasing functionality that is provided by Netsupport. The Education Pro product from Impero is available for our customers to purchase if it is the right product for them, just as we resell and integrate many other products into our portfolio. We want our customers to have an informed choice on the products and services they buy from us. I am also pleased to confirm that we have not gone bust and continue to help thousands of schools across the UK :-)

Hi all, As @Gez_Impero has said, this isn't about ownership - this is a partnership to allow RM customers greater choice on their network and classroom management solutions and still receive support from RM. We support a wide range of technologies and adding Impero into our portfolio gives our customers the option to purchase their software via RM and receive technical support for the Education Pro software. The Ranger situation was very different, RM acquired the parent company of Ranger and therefore decisions were made by RM as to the future of that product - that is not the case with the Impero partnership, it is a partnership to enable schools to make an educated choice on their purchase and is in no way an issue of ownership nor do RM or Impero have any influence over the future of each other's products. Ranger is still supported today by RM although development of the product has been stopped, we will be offering any existing Ranger customers the option to purchase Education Pro at preferential pricing. Hope that clarifies things, Steve Head of Network Solutions RM Education

Great to hear such positive feedback and really glad the update has helped. Steve Head of Network Solutions RM Education

@Pashers We are aiming to help schools with Vanilla networks as well as CC4 networks. We can already install and support Vanilla networks and have done in many large projects where CC4 was not the right fit for the school. Moving forwards we will be looking to add more vanilla based tools and services as well as continuing to develop and invest in CC4 for those customers who do continue to use the software in their school. Clearly we will also be focussing on cloud technologies such as IaaS (Microsoft Azure) and SaaS (Office 365 and Google Apps for Education). We have just been awarded Premier Partner status with Google for all the good work that we have been doing in schools that have wanted to approach things differently and "Go Google", many of which have been CC4 customers in the past but have wanted to move to a more mobile and cloud based learning environment moving forwards.