With tight budgets and constant underfunding, managed IT services offer a practical solution for public schools, helping them manage technology efficiently
Managing a public school system is daunting, even in the best scenarios. Administrators must struggle to uphold the highest standards despite chronic underfunding. The American public school system suffers from a seemingly impossible paradox: they must stay at the forefront of staffing and technology to uphold the highest educational standards despite underfunding. This results in a bind in which educators and administrators constantly try to do more with less. However, could managed IT services present a possible solution when it comes to administration?
A seemingly impossible budgeting struggle
In an ideal world, our education system would have all the funding it needs to prepare our youth to be the leaders of tomorrow. In reality, however, even the best public school districts are often hampered by years and years of underfunding, resulting in a thinly stretched workforce, outdated technology, and inefficient processes.
While our educators have certainly learned to become budgeting wizards, there’s only so far you can stretch a dollar—and new technology is expensive. Thanks to government efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools received an infusion of funds to continue education remotely. Part of the budget went to acquiring or enhancing a school’s learning technology tools, such as interactive touchscreens, laptops, and other smart devices.
But this money was a one-time boost, and barring another national crisis, it’s hard to see when the next windfall will come. When the next wave of technological improvements arrives, will schools be able to afford them?
Not to mention that EdTech is just one aspect of a school’s budget. What about salaries for support staff? All too often, a tech-savvy teacher has to double as the on-site IT department. This is asking a lot from educators who are already stretched thin; plus, teachers who don’t know how to use the technology risk doing more harm than good. As a result, expensive EdTech tools may not be used to their full potential, which wastes the investment.
In the end, it’s the students who suffer. Schools must find ways to manage, maintain, and secure educational devices while staying within budget. A managed services provider is an excellent option if they can’t afford on-site IT support. Managed IT services enable schools to outsource select IT processes to a third-party vendor. It’s a cost-effective way to keep a professional team focused on IT without drawing resources from other departments.
How to utilize managed IT services to bolster education staffing
With managed IT services, a third-party agency will assume a school’s information technology needs in exchange for a flat monthly rate. Offloading IT services to an industry expert can help reduce operational costs and improve the quality of service. This also frees up budget and time resources so school management teams can focus on other, more important concerns, such as planning for the future.
Managed IT services can work on different levels and cover other areas. For instance, managed network infrastructure helps ensure the school network remains operational. Students and school staff can then enjoy internet-based services such as online registration, remote learning, and others around the clock.
The agency will provide, install, and maintain the school’s hardware and software requirements in hardware- and software-managed IT services. Another aspect of managed IT services is technical support. This service provides students and teachers the help they need to resolve IT-related issues.
Integrating new educational technology through managed IT services
Most importantly, managed IT services guarantee that all hardware and software in the school are up to date. Part of the agreement requires the third-party provider to upgrade hardware if newer models are available. Once the new equipment arrives, the provider will train and onboard the staff assigned to the equipment and provide technical support when needed.
Outsourcing IT also ensures the school’s tech equipment runs the latest software and stays updated through essential features like cloud connectivity. From a technical standpoint, remote cloud connections enable administrators to instantly perform low-level device management tasks for single units or the entire fleet. Providers can also remotely diagnose and repair problems and send messages to all devices.
For teachers, cloud connectivity puts educational lessons a click away. Advanced operating systems make it easy to add modules or apps. Educators even have the flexibility to customize lessons on devices like tablets for students who need extra help.
With managed IT services, school districts no longer have to worry about getting left behind regarding educational technology. A fixed monthly management service fee means school administrators can stay within budget even using the latest EdTech equipment.
The right device manager is crucial to provide managed IT services
A device management platform is pivotal to the success of managed IT services. It ensures all provided equipment connects to the network and runs up-to-date software. A unified endpoint management (UEM) platform for all devices and installed software within the school network creates a healthy, protected ecosystem where students can thrive safely.
The right device manager can utilize the power of operating systems like Android TV to ensure the necessary teaching applications are available. An Android TV operating system is cost-effective and easy to update as needed. It also enables the device manager to connect to and interact with school devices that run other operating systems, such as Windows, iOS, and Chrome.
Finally, the suitable device manager helps the managed IT service provider secure all connected devices. For instance, admins can disable or shut down issued devices reported as stolen, lost, or missing. To prevent data breaches, admins can remotely erase the contents of a device and render it useless for data thieves.
By entrusting their IT requirements to an industry-certified expert, administrators can say goodbye to unplanned IT cost, and hello to a little extra money in their tight budgets. While the underfunding problem unfortunately does not seem likely to resolve itself soon, school systems can at least take advantage of every avenue to trim costs without compromising education quality (and even sometimes improving that quality).
