Gibson335

It came in at just under 10 grand, incl router and setup spread over 3 years...another £500 for smtp service, and £350 if we wanted an adsl failover. I'd heard some negative things about the filtering and their support, but then I think if I asked that of most companies I'd get some grumbles no matter who they were.

Just had a decent quote in from RM for connectivty and filtering - can't help but wonder whether the emPSN providers such as Capita and KCOM are going to pitch their pricing accordingly. Anyone use RM already? I'd appreciate some thoughts on their helpdesk support and the filtering system. Cheers.

They might actually have some pricing then, after KCOM apparently discovered some 'anomalies' after the first one. Prices now due last week of Feb, and no suggestion that they don't still want us signed up by end of March. Still...what they want and what they get...

Anyone been through the name change process with Microsoft? Having completed the relevant paperwork I sent our pack to the address in Ireland as per the MS mail I received, and it now appears to have disappeared into a black hole. In addition, I'm finding it impossible to actually speak to anyone at Microsoft about it. I probably wouldn't have bothered, only on the volume licensing site it has our old details, including old mail address as login...looked to see if I can change that and apparently I can't...advice from MS was to...yes, complete a name change form...driving me bloody mad!!! Anyone who's been through the experience, please...help!!!

Ultimately, licensing is no different from any other purchase - you look ahead and you grab the best deal you can.

This may be the best thing Microsoft have done for education. It does depend on how many clients you have, how often you plan to upgrade/migrate, and what you are currently running regards OS and Office. Over the next 10 years we will save tens of thousands, even more if Security Essentials replaced Sophos when the current deal expires. If you're already on Win 7 and Office 2010 then you are unlikely to save as much, but it may still be beneficial depending on those other numbers. Whilst it's not impossible that Microsoft would simply end EES, I can't see that happening within the next decade and they could well risk losing custom altogether if they did at any point now that it's been established. As for cost - well, yes it may increase a little after the first 3 years, but if you look at the Schools Agreement, those costs fell considerably. I don't think MS are lulling us into a false sense of security here.

Probably treated as if you were to become an academy - you'd have to repurchase direct from Capita.

The big problem for us is getting them in - SLT won't 'insist' and on a voluntary basis the most we've had for a summer rebuild is about 30%!!

Regards Sophos, you can configure it so that if the device is not attached to the network it will seek out a secondary - in this case on-line - location from which to obtain its updates.

Anyone use RM Connectivity? I have an idea of cost, but would like to know more about service from someone who uses it. Cheers.

The problem is it's aimed at the percentage of people whose knowledge extends to switching on and off, using Word and IE - I've had this call on four occasions now over the past 2-3 years, and when I start ranting at them they kill the call...I've warned just about everyone I can think of, but there's no doubt they will put fear into some people who will only be too happy to let those nice people from MS 'fix' their computer. I know what I'd like to do to them...

Well, at least he's no longer 'ronry'.

I think the targets are often set outside, but the strategy to enable the school to get there is set internally.

Fully agree - 12 years ago when I was first employed here part of my remit was to work with others in order to shape a strategy and to develop the network with that strategy in mind...and as far as I can see that interpretation of a NM's role has mostly only improved. I couldn't do my job if it were in technical isolation - my own plans exceed that of the school by years, and I redevelop in line with budgetary restrictions and the curric decisions taking a different path at times - and I wouldn't want to either.

Any CMIS users out there in the Leics or Northampton area? Looking initially for an opinion on it, I guess, but with the potential of possibly arranging a visit at some point to see it in action and discuss it with the managers and users. Currently using SIMS but considering options. Many thanks. Tony

Sorry to pick scabs off this old corpse again, but has anyone got so far as compiling a list of each service that would have to be purchased separately and/or issues to tackle if the decision was to move away from EMBC. In my head I have the obvious Broadband link itself, filtering, mail service, website hosting, mail filtering/anti-spam (if Exchange is retained), firewall, Public IPs, router VLANs...there are others, just won't come to me at the moment. Just looking to cover all the bases. Cheers.

Question for those who have a single SAN solution: what kind of redundancy have you gone for and what kind of costs are we talking about above and beyond the SAN. I'm not talking about the disks - I mean more about the SAN itself failing after a firmware update or something similar. Cheers.

I used to do this. At my current place we ran introductory classes for Primary school staff and I delivered the sessions as part of my normal working time. Previously, I designed and delivered official RSA courses and was paid the going rate. The issue of delivery is important, because I know from having witnessed some awful training that just knowing about software doesn't mean you're adept at teaching it to others. The success - or otherwise - may be down to whether you have other adult education centres nearby, and whether you work towards offering formal courses.

A question for Live@Edu users: if you currently have a calendar in a Public folder in Exchange, can this easily be moved across to Live@Edu (or to Office 365 for any Beta testers)? Cheers.

Thanks for this - how many mailboxes?

Anyone out there who is using Exchange 2010, irrespective of what MS say are the minimum specs for the server, would you please offer up what CPU and RAM specs you're running yours on? Many thanks - in anticipation.

Many thanks. How many users/stations.

Two senior technicians? Is that by virtue of experience and career progression? Is one more 'senior' than the other? Cheers.

Do any of your institutions have either a Senior Technician or Assistant Network Manager situated between the NM and the technicians, someone with supervisor responsibilities? Just wondered what the setup was like elsewhere. Cheers.

There are many types of people who work on the dark side of ICT (and of course I mean ICT Support). There are the ones who want to appease everyone and believe that every request, no matter how moronic or ill-conceived, should be treated with equal passion and fervour to succeed. There are those who adjust their response settings by a variety of factors, including the person making the request, the stupidity of the request, the impossibility of the request, or even the amount of cake still to be eaten before moving from their chairs. And of course there are those whose sole purpose is to seize control with an iron fist and never give a sucker (person making request) an even break. Somewhere in the middle, in a place I like to call reality, live the majority. The people for whom this job that we do amounts to a job/career that we take very seriously when we're doing it, but one that otherwise just happens to be the way we've chosen to find a way to pay the bills. We do our best, we try to make things work, we try to advise, we try to explain the pros and cons, and we try to make things a little easier for everyone. And we do so without wishing to ingratiate or expect praise and open-top bus parades. We get on with the job to the best of our ability, trying to ensure that what we do is in the best interests of the school and its users. We know we won't please everyone all of the time, and we can live with that. We accept that we may not always be popular, and we accept that because if you're too popular it probably means you're too busy trying to please everyone to make unpopular decisions when they are called for. Firm but fair, hard but understanding. Ultimately, the people being paid the big bucks make the final decisions. And if they can't or won't, then our job is to move on and find solace in what does work, what has succeeded. For me, providing a stable, fully functioning, reliable network that meets the demands of its users is what really matters. After years of tilting at windmills, I've come to accept that the above is largely true. And I am peace with myself.