GrumbleDook

Just blogged about this on Do we *REALLY* know how much is spent on IT? | GrumbleDook Thinks but here is a summary. @mattianuk was asked to cost up the entire network, and I thought it was a reasonable request based on the idea of having a full asset library with purchase costs, etc. Turns out that there weren't the costs in the library so it was a more complex piece of work (and made even more interesting as they are a MAC). It got me wondering about whether people really do know the true cost of IT in their school ... for me, in my day job, working for a government supplier, we have a variety of standards to work to and take as a base for best practice. A core one is ISO27001 ... which is over the top for most schools. But what do members record costs in the asset libraries? Do you depreciate? Do the following principles hold true to you? All assets have an initial value (on purchase), a replacement value (how it would cost to replace it based on whether you do like for like replacement or old for new) and a depreciated value (how much they are worth now with their value going down due to an agreed method … and there are a variety of methods). All assets have a set period of useful life. This might be set out when you purchase the device and be based on a variety of factors. Usually these will be the warranty and support periods for the product, how frequently it receives updates, an estimate on how long you think the functionality will fit your needs and so on. All assets should be associated with a purchase order, when a direct purchase was made. All assets should have an ‘owner’. This is the person who is responsible for them to the institute and not necessarily the person who manages them on a day to day basis. An example would be the MIS hold information about timetabling, personnel, students, etc but the SIRO is ultimately responsible. In the same way the iMacs being used in Music are ‘owned’ by the Network Manager, not the Head of Music. Assets have to be written off at some point in their life. This can only be done by an authorised member of staff. There are probably more I could add, but this is a starting point for most people. The poll is pretty basic ... do you have an asset library? Do you record costs? If people could respond in the thread in more detail about who looks after their library and any other relevant details it would be helpful.

That is another valuable and viable method ... it might be worth splitting the thread off though as it is getting a bit OT. What do others feel?

Thos prices look a very good start and that is a pretty good summary too. Next would be to calculate the difference in support costs (time to setup, maintain, routinely test, etc) to see if there are any noted differences between the 3 options.

The tiger was because of the face paint, not the name ... it is just lucky that I am Tony.

It might be an interesting exercise for a few folk to do ... Have a look at what the costs would be to purchase enough hardware and licences to be able to run a test network in the school for trying out updates of software, etc on the required number of VMs. Then do a comparison of costs if you do the same but via a hosted solution such as Azure* Based the time required with the VMs on the amount of time you spent patching, packaging, testing, etc. You can then also look at the amount of storage you need for these VMs too (you tend to still pay a storage cost, remember) or if not storing them, then you need to consider the bandwidth charges to download / upload the VMs. This is over an above looking at the use of hosted VM solutions for BCDR, etc. *Declaration of interest - I work for a vendor who provides cloud-hosted solutions via G Cloud 6 and this is an exercise we recommend as part of our scoping process.

Today it was a bit of Diablo III.

Thanks folks. A quiet day of DIY, a bit of gaming and parents' evening.

Socks received and added to the EduGeek archive. Really appreciate them. Thanks folks.

I voted yes ... and not just to be awkward. :-)

If you speak to the MS Edu Team they can get things sorted for you on a trial. If you have O365 for Education (E1 plan) then you have Azure AD already. When I first looked at it in schools (many moons ago) it was on the basis of needing to test rollouts of software and Azure could give a simple solution to testing without needing the hardware for it, or to use of as part of BCDR.

LastPass

I did a FoI request in my previous job but don't have the data to hand nor can I reuse it (terms of my old contract). Someone could always ask again.

Let's see ... one of them is involved in singing and is very musical ... and has a fondness for 'earthy' comments?

IIRC it was either me or Ephylon relating something from the eSafety Law in Education group, talking about how having AD sign in to your MIS was not a good idea. The scenario is this. Teacher A is delivering a lesson in the classroom, has the laptop connected to the projector and has screen frozen ash they are taking the class register using a tool in the MIS. Access to the MIS is provided by clicking on an application to start and it immediately signs you in with no further requirement to enter a username or password. Teacher A runs lesson, with a variety of materials being shown to the class. Teacher A has to move round the class to work with learners, but stuff stays on screen so laptop left unlocked. Teacher A has to leave room to deal with something and laptop is left unlocked 'so learners can continue'. Teacher is only just outside but Student Z goes to laptop, opens MIS (or brings it to the front), searches for details of child in that class or another class, and information is displayed on screen ... this could range from attendance through to any statements or medical needs the child has. Out of the schools who have had to sign undertakings with the ICO at least one has been related to improper access to MIS data. In one case the MIS was tied to the AD, and so was the VLE and other things ... so when a member of staff shared their password the children involved had access to everything ... and they *did* access a lot of things ... apparently. Thankfully nothing happened as a result (no bullying, injury, etc) but should the information be used to cause any form of harm the projection is that a serious case could and would be brought. For DPA breaches we are in the hands of the ICO and as yet no fines have been imposed on schools ... only colleges / universities / LAs. Is that what you were looking for?

Ah ... but @Domino knows how to use soap! .... ... .. . Not saying he actually does use it, but he knows *how* to ... so not sure if that one works. /runs away from @Domino very fast ... or at least limps relatively quickly!

T|N>K !!!!

I was thinking of him for @russdev actually

Really? [with innocent look] ;-) (just practising for when I do need it!)

Cheery Littlebottom - Discworld & Terry Pratchett Wiki ... without the beard though ... definitely without the beard ... Put the axe down ... please!

I have visions of her being Cheery ... nice, polite, good to work with ... but if she starts getting angry and reaches for an axe ... then run!!!!

? With the air-cooling helmet to make me super intelligent ... of course. You did mean that didn't you? [aims Piecemaker at @Gatt] - - - Updated - - - What duck?

Would that make you Twoflower?

(moved my own thread into here) This is the official DiscWorld / EduGeek thread ... Feel free to post your suggestions of which EG members match to particular characters. You can nominate yourself. A few exceptions ... any character that has had a cameo played by the late, great STP cannot be used and I think we should leave Death alone too ... My starter was @Dos_Box as The Patrician ... one man, one vote and all that. Next?

(partly at @TechMonkey) SharePoint can very easily be a 'proper' VLE ... in the same way that Moodle can just be a dumping ground for files.* All platforms can be done well or badly, you just have to work out what you really want. Think of the core tool sets of VLEs. Wikis, Discussions, Blogs, Media Galleries (pictures, videos, audio), file repositories, assigning work (files, learning objects or full SCORM objects), calendars, document creation tools (office style applications?) Then look at what can be done and how easily / complex. Do you want to manage it to segregate particular areas? Only allow staff to do certain tasks, etc? SharePoint tends to work best when pre-built for you with add-ons, aimed at working in particular ways (in the same way Moodle is based around Course Management). If you don't want to do that, then look at what is needed. If you find that there is nothing out there that is free (i.e. it doesn't cost for licences and the time spent is negligible) then you may want to consider where your investment goes ... in training staff, employing staff or buying a product and solution in ... whether it is SharePoint based or otherwise. ------------------ *Declaration of Interest - I work for a SharePoint-based provider

Which is fine, until the URL is shared by eager parent on FB, then with who knows else ...