Is there really such a thing as "future proofing" in this industry though?
From the experience I have seen so far in education, completely overspec hardware with a high price to match is routinely purchased "for the future", meanwhile the technology drops in price by 25% + each year.
By the time you get around implementing what your plans, you can get equipment that is 5x the spec you would have been able to buy originaly and usually even cheaper at the same time.