ICT Coststhe tip of the iceberg Nia Sutton

ICT Costs-the tip of the iceberg Nia Sutton

Investment so far Overall funding for ICT in schools 1998 -99 - £ 102 million 2006 -07 - £ 741 million • 1998 -99 to 2005 -06 – Capital investment and earmarked funding – Piecemeal provision and purchasing • 2006 -07 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?

Build a common digital infrastructure to support transformation and reform Policy, Standards, Requirements and Specifications Awareness • Df. ES – policy and funding • Consultation – Local Authorities, Schools, RBCs, Industry • Trials and proof of concept • International developments and standards Self Review Advice Guidance Support Framework Agreements Tools Adoption by institutions Coherent and reliable technological system that is affordable and sustainable Embedded technology for learning • 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

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

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

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

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

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

http: //matrix. becta. org. uk 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 communitysustainability

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 nia. sutton@becta. org. uk