Jump to content

Gibson335

Members
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    1,311

  • Joined

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Gibson335

  1. Gibson335
    Indeed. I spoke to emPSN because our contract with them ends in July, not October, and their response was pretty much...well, just sign up for another 3 months on the current agreement...all very well, but given their staggering prices that might cost us money we can't afford!
  2. Gibson335
    And now 2 months late!!
  3. Gibson335
    I suspect they've all run up against the same problem.
  4. Gibson335
    Thanks. Now, without wishing to flog a dead horse here, wouldn't it have been nice to have heard this directly from emPSN? Is it even on their website yet?
  5. Gibson335
    I'm not thinking so much about commenting on providers, I just feel that, whilst the LA appear to be making information available as and when, for us as an academy we've been left hanging out on a limb. The new website is hardly a help, with no FAQs in place (something they could perhaps have really done a job on). I think the process itself has been poorly managed, and that firmer deadlines for prices would have helped. I understand this is a complex issue, I understand that part of the delay has been caused by KCOM finding 'anomolies', but I just feel that as the organisation we have to become members of if we want to continue, emPSN could have been a little more proactive.
  6. Gibson335
    At the meetings KCOM were being heavily pushed, and for many the best solution is the Capita/KCOM one. Updata made no bid in the end, BT seem to be backing off, and I think Virgin could see where things were leading. I just wish emPSN were providing more information on all this, because even though we're contracting now directly with suppliers, emPSN should surely be doing a little more. It's been a very disappointing time all round.
  7. Gibson335
    To try and put a positive spin on it, this further delay might mean they're treating this seriously and will come back with some decent pricing. I think a lot of schools will opt for the like-for-like solution, and it is tempting to go for the least disruptive package, so you can't blame them. However, with Primary schools more so than Secondary, the bottom line might count most of all.
  8. Gibson335
    I had our quote in. It was for the same as we have now, a 40mbps link. When I told them that it was more expensive than the 100mbps connection (plus basic filtering) offered by RM, they said they'd look again and are now, as far as I know, putting together improved 100mbps packages which they expect to announce next week.
  9. Gibson335
    That's about it, yes.
  10. Gibson335
    In addition, of course, you can choose Virgin or BT (if they're even still part of it) and services from whoever is offering them...but I'd agree that this delay looks poor on all concerned. They wanted people to sign up by end of March initially, but now we won't get full pricing until the start of the month, with KCOM having gone back to reconsider 100mbps pricing. Not sure who is to blame for the delays, but it's a huge concern.
  11. Gibson335
    It's been that way from the first announcement - if you choose the KCOM package you get the RM services to go with KCOM's connection, and if you choose the Capita package you get the Openhive services but with the KCOM connection. The Capita package is the one most similar to the existing embc offering.
  12. Gibson335
    I've yet to hear from Capita, despite their assurances they would be in touch last Thursday, but if neither they not KCOM react to market forces then as I mentioned previously, emPSN could lose out on a number of customers. I'd like to be able to resist the RM charge, but the emPSN providers need to act now.
  13. Gibson335
    Yes, the odd thing is that they say the summer 2013 release will be XP-compatible, but then they withdraw support in the autumn! The roadmap has changed a couple of times, to be fair, and the support was never going to last forever.
  14. Gibson335
    Indeed - covering yourself by keeping written records, mails, etc is a must. But also, it depends on whether you actively recommend a specific option or simply make the options available to your management team. You can advise and lead and make them aware of the pros and cons without actually going out on a limb and recommending - depends on how secure you feel with them and your own decisions.
  15. Gibson335
    It shouldn't be forgotten that those within embc/emPSN now still have multiple providers really. We have a BT fibre line, comms supported by KCOM, services supported by Synetrix, with embc as the glue that binds them altogether. All that's really happening now is that we're being given a chance to contract directly with these providers whilst still remaining within emPSN. It wouldn't be ideal to have a filter not supported by the ISP, unless you were taking responsibility for that filtering yourselves - spread the services too much and support could become a problem. Many of us have been sheilded from the real cost of Broadband by both the government and LA grants (we discovered that big time last year when becoming an academy) so now the real work begins in finding the most suitable, most cost-effective solution. RM have seen an opportunity and have pounced on it. It's now up to the likes of KCOM and Capita to respond accordingly.
  16. Gibson335
    I've already explained to KCOM that the quote they've come up with for us is unlikely to be acceptable, so I'm hoping they come back with something better.
  17. Gibson335
    Yes, for us the KCOM/Capita route represents the least disruption, least transition, but I do believe it will be more expensive than the new RM standard offering. We in ICT support can argue all day about resiliance, support, familiarty, filtering, benefits of remaining within emPSN, but sometimes all people hear or see is that annual cost. I am hoping KCOM come back to me with a better price for the comms, and whenever Capita do deign to call I'm also hoping their costs won't be enormous - it has to be close enough to leave decision makers with a genuine choice.
  18. Gibson335
    Hopefully I'm asking all the right questions - problem is if management see only the bottom line. I don't think it's the deciding factor here, but I can't rule it out.
  19. Gibson335
    That doesn't sound like an un-contended line price, which may dramatically reduce your bandwidth at times - worth checking if you haven't already done so.
  20. Gibson335
    The whole thing is extremely frustrating, and we are some distance away from where we ought to have been this late in February. I genuinely think that if emPSN and their separate providers don't sort their act at sharpish they will lose a fair bit of custom to RM, particularly if cost is the deciding factor. For us it isn't, but we obvioualy have to be aware of it. My guess is the option that represents the least transition and disruption will end up being the most expensive, but having been promised a call yesterday from the relevant provider I'm still waiting, so still frustrated at the delays.
  21. Gibson335
    RM say that whilst some of their 'back office' work is handled by staff in India, all calls are answered by UK staff.
  22. Gibson335
    That's not what they've told me directly, so I will query that.
  23. Gibson335
    RM say their support is UK-baed.
  24. Gibson335
    Any chance you could elaborate on these authentication issues?
  25. Gibson335
    The standard deal is their SafeyNet Plus.
×
×
  • Create New...