We are all experiencing significant increases in costs in our daily lives, and Multi Academy Trusts and their schools are no exception. Inflation is driving the cost of goods and services to schools up, yet budgets are forever getting tighter. Read on to explore the four key things you can do.
1. Staffing
IT staff are one of the highest costs for your ICT budget, especially if you have employed IT staff in each of the schools within your MAT. When examining your IT resource, it is worth considering not only your in-house staff, but any outsourced services.
It’s never easy when exploring staffing for cost savings, which is why it is often a good idea to use the services of an ICT Consultant who can bring an independent and objective view. As independent consultants, we would approach this by carrying out an ICT Audit and developing a strategy. The audit will look at your ICT from an operational perspective, it will examine how IT is supported now and how it could be supported moving forward. You should ask yourself questions such as:
- Is the staff structure correct?
- Is there a duplication of duties?
- Are their skills being used wisely?
- Do you outsource some of your IT requirements that could be done by someone in house or vice versa?
Using a neutral ICT Consultant that can work with you on the structure and procurement process, if required, for whatever solution(s) you choose will help you approach the staffing question objectively.
2. Adopt a cloud strategy
If you have not already moved your IT services to a cloud-based system. There are some key benefits to moving your services to the cloud:
- Rationalise IT systems
- Reduce costs
- Reduce carbon production.
Rationalising IT systems and reducing costs go hand in hand and reducing your carbon production is a key element of your Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) requirements. Read our blog that we wrote all about SECR.
Moving your IT systems from being on the premises to cloud based reduces the on-site requirements for technical support, on site equipment and reduces the amount of electricity you use in each school. Examples of IT services that could be moved to the cloud are administrative applications eg MIS systems and server infrastructure. Understanding your current operation and how to rationalise, consolidate and move to a cloud base strategy is key, this can be done through an ICT Audit and Strategy and using a neutral ICT Consultant can mean that the whole process is carried out objectively.
3. Secure the best prices on services
Whilst the most obvious inbound service that you should be trying to secure the best price for is your energy supply, there are services that are some IT focussed services that you could consider.
- Telephony services, this is not only important in terms of getting the best price, but with the big ISDN switch off in 2025, now is a great time to review telephony. Read our blog on the ISDN switch off to learn more.
- Firewall services is also worth reviewing. Often it is easy to stick with your incumbent service supplier as it is easier and has no operational upheaval, but you may find that not only could you get better pricing, but you may secure better quality too.
- MIS Services - procuring a single cloud-based Trust-wide MIS solution ensures a common approach to student management across the Trust.
As independent ICT Consultants with decades of knowledge within the UK education sector, we can be your neutral partner to audit your IT services and facilitate your procurement process
4. Streamline software licences
We have carried out many ICT Audits for MATs across the country and we are always astonished at the significant duplication of and unused software licenses within schools. We often find that there is more than one different software that can do the same thing, yet it’s not realised. We find that this happens when the software isn’t being used to its’ full potential and so it is believed that a new software is required to fulfil a desired function.
Furthermore, we find that sometimes, there are too many licences for a certain software with not all users actually using the service. It’s an easy trap to fall into, as you grant staff and pupils licences unless you have someone really keeping track of, for example, leavers and new starters you can find yourself in a situation where licenses aren’t being used. To rectify the situation of not only duplicated software solutions but also excessive users a simple data audit that lists your software products and maps their use can help you to identify how to rationalise.
Conclusion
There are many ways to reduce your ICT costs and although not an exhaustive list, focusing on staffing, cloud-based services, securing the best prices for ICT services and rationalising software licences are four of the more impactful tactics to save costs and make your ICT budget work harder.
Making some cost savings within the ICT area of your MAT can lead to some difficult decisions but using the services of an independent ICT Consultant to carry out audits and procurement exercises can mean that you can get objective and neutral advice. Having a robust operational ICT strategy is key to ensuring that your ICT is cost effective whilst still giving you the quality that you need and being robust for the long term.
We can help with our ICT services. Get in touch if you:
- would like to try and make cost savings
- want to capitalise on existing solutions
- are experiencing problems or issues with your MAT or School’s ICT
- know you need to take a more strategic approach to ICT
- want to improve your current approach to ICT
Get in touch
As ICT experts in UK Education, Novatia can provide a FREE CONSULTATION to discuss your ICT situation and its direction.
If you would like to speak to a member of our team, get in touch either by phone on 01962 832632 or by email .
Visit: www.novatia.com Email: info@novatia.com Call: 01962 832632
