ICT Costs-the tip of the iceberg Nia Sutton

Investment so far Overall funding for ICT in schools £102 million £741 million to –Capital investment and earmarked funding –Piecemeal provision and purchasing onwards –Little earmarked funding –3 year budget planning

Sustainability of ICT provision Provision for ICT in schools and colleges has increased Approximately half of primary and secondary schools do not have a policy in place for replacement of workstations In those that do, the rate of replacement is not at the level to maintain the longer-term currency of the technology Key issues and challenges include: –achieving sustainability Becta Review 2006 What are the key issues for you and your school? Vision? And the plan to achieve it?

Awareness Self Review Advice Guidance Support Tools Policy, Standards, Requirements and Specifications Adoption by institutions Framework Agreements Build a common digital infrastructure to support transformation and reform Managed service approach Products and services tailored for education TCO – better planning and budgeting Altering marketplace Enabling aggregation – savings in support, training and cost National standards but local choice Managed service approach Products and services tailored for education TCO – better planning and budgeting Altering marketplace Enabling aggregation – savings in support, training and cost National standards but local choice DfES – policy and funding Consultation – Local Authorities, Schools, RBCs, Industry Trials and proof of concept International developments and standards DfES – policy and funding Consultation – Local Authorities, Schools, RBCs, Industry Trials and proof of concept International developments and standards Coherent and reliable technological system that is affordable and sustainable Embedded technology for learning

Cost on the box? before looking at our ideas… What have you come up with? Costberg

Initial Price Staff training Costberg Electrical work Physical Environment Heating, Lighting, Ventilation Software Cost of buyingDesign Disposal / replacement Peripherals Printer, scanner Sleepless nights! Maintenance and Support Telecommunications Call charges, Internet Staffing Network Components Consumables

desktops and laptops whiteboards and projectors cameras cabling servers broadband connections network software The kit and wires staff salaries training service levels what users do for themselves Technical support services training and experience usage Users = Total Cost of Ownership (TCO)

Total annual expenditure on ICT 24% 5% 4% 34% 24% 22% 7% 5% 1% 3% 35% 27% User self support Formal support Consumables Training Internet / LAN Software Hardware Primary Secondary Data from Becta’s Total Cost of Ownership research On average 60% allocated to technical support Less than a quarter on hardware

Technical support Recognised standard –Industry: IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) –Education: Framework for ICT Technical Supports (FITS) Supporting materials –Self assessment: What does “good” look like? –FITS 2 nd Edition –FITS Operational Management –Primary FITS (on the website soon) End user perspective Single point of contact Roles and responsibilities –Interface between providers and school management

Institutional Infrastructure and Learning Platform Functionality review tools

So what do we know now…… Schools spend between 3% and 10% of total budget on ICT Difficult to identify quality of that spend Rigorous TCO analysis –identifies true costs highlighting hidden or unexpected costs –improves decision making for strategic planning of ICT –enable value for money purchasing decisions –supports school improvement programme –is resource intensive Simple approach can be effective: –what you’ve got –what it costs –what you need in the future –what needs replacing and when

ICT Investment planning tool Where did it come from? What is the planner designed to do? Highlight full cost of ownership of ICT over several years Allow modelling of different investment strategies Allow focus on sustainable ICT provision Simple tool - easy/quick to use and maintain Can be tailored to suit local needs It does not Provide a rigorous financial model - costs intended to be indicative Allow modelling of reductions in ICT provision -it assumes provision will remain the same or increase

ICT investment planning tool It will give you: Current financial year –Total replacement costs –Annual operating/support costs It will give you: Next financial year/Year after –Stand still costs How much will it cost us to keep at the current level of ICT? (includes budgeting for equipment replacement) –Development costs How much do we actually need to spend to extend the current ICT provision?

What schools said “It has enabled us to develop a replacement plan for the next 4 years and [suggests] how to budget for it.” (Primary ICT Coordinator) “It will allow the school to plan strategically and model costings for all key stakeholders.” (Primary Head) “Useful as a ‘forward planning’ device and, as a result, a useful tool to construct valid arguments on investment and support.” (Secondary Head of ICT)

Getting started Gather basic information on services and count up equipment Becta website  Open the tool Download guidance materials Case studies Online community- sustainability

Summary Achieving your vision and deciding what the plan is –Where are you now? –What have you got? –What is it costing you? –What else do you need? –When do you need it? –What will help? –Who will help? ICT provision that’s reliable, well-managed, well-planned and appropriate for your learners, teachers and managers

ICT Costs-the tip of the iceberg Nia Sutton