External ICT Review of your school

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Sam McNeill

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Aug 27, 2015, 5:34:24 PM8/27/15
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Kia Ora,

I am wondering if any schools have embarked on an external ICT review/audit of your network/infrastructure and processes?

I am aware of some schools that have informally done a peer-review of each other's systems, but I am probably more interested in any companies that may have been used and whether you felt it was a worthwhile exercise in terms of the recommendations that came from it.

Happy for replies on/off list if that is more appropriate.

Cheers
Sam

Mike Etheridge

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Aug 27, 2015, 5:50:09 PM8/27/15
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I caution against the offers from equipment and system vendors to do a free audit. You know what recommendations they are going to come up with…


Mike


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Bevan McNaughton

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Aug 27, 2015, 6:08:38 PM8/27/15
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Peer reviews can be handy but be cautious with some bias that may follow.
We've had a couple in the past where from one the suggestions contradicted some of the curriculum options offered here. Statements on downsizing and going to say Thin Clients meant that multimedia-rich courses would be first to get the boot.

Maybe look at the option of both, a review from a Vendor alongside a peer review from someone well skilled from another school. The joint input has assisted us in the past.
Regards,
Bevan
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Bevan McNaughton
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Southland Girls' High School
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Sam McNeill

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Aug 27, 2015, 6:14:06 PM8/27/15
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Thanks to those that have replied off-list as well.

The general response was these have limited value and some risks (of vendor push for sales or hardware refresh etc).

When one of my senior Sys Admins left 18 months ago I did use Spark Digital (who we had some existing relationship with) to come and do an informal "review", which focused mostly on our switch/router configuration and that proved quite useful for setting some goals for the incoming Sys Admin (most of which have now been accomplished, but not quite all).

I find forums like this, and other networking opportunities between schools, valuable to see what is happening in the edu-tech space (which does have its different challenges to corporate IT). I find it always challenging as well - we are ahead in some areas as a school, and off the pace in others.

In general, I've found school ICT admins / managers quite happy to share best practice and knowledge and don't see it as too much "competitive secrets" but as ensuring students can ALL get the best possible access, irrespective of their schools.

Cheers
Sam

Keith Craig

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Aug 27, 2015, 6:14:14 PM8/27/15
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Be careful of people who have had a background in IT management in other contexts but no education background other than telling schools how they should run their IT. Need to have people who are aware of the implications of their recommendations from an educational point of view not just an administrative point of view.

Keith Craig BCom PGDipBus(IS) CNE
Systems Administrator 

Julian Davison

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Aug 27, 2015, 7:04:26 PM8/27/15
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I think this is the key – recommendations from any given source will have that sources bias. “IT people” with a teaching background may give very different advice to those with a commercial-it background and this is likely different again to that from those with predominantly IT-management experience. They’re all both right and wrong and recommendations always have to be taken in the context of what the school is actually doing/trying to achieve.

 

A hybrid model tends to be the most effective. Thin Clients have advantages, but are very limiting for some uses. Accordingly a purely Thin Client system is likely to be unworkable in a High School. Except where it works beautifully (perhaps the media-heavy students have their own BYOD laptops that they use instead of school desktops).

So long as no one is going to bind you to recommendations (either the vendor or the board) audits are almost always good ways to start discussions…

 

Cheers, Julian


Julian Davison
Technical Consultant
Decision1 IT Solutions Ltd
PO Box 368
Dunedin
P 03 471 8232
F 03 471 8234
W www.decision1.co.nz
E jul...@decision1.co.nz

 

From: techies-f...@googlegroups.com [mailto:techies-f...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Bevan McNaughton
Sent: Friday, 28 August 2015 10:08 a.m.
To: techies-f...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: [techies-for-schools] External ICT Review of your school

 

Peer reviews can be handy but be cautious with some bias that may follow.


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Arnold Santos

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Aug 27, 2015, 9:14:17 PM8/27/15
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My experience is if there is no hidden agenda or vested interest that with regards to ICT review, we are open to the idea, as long as this will suit the education environment and not the corporate IT setup. I'm pleased that we have these techie group were we share our knowledge and ideas to make our school a better and safer place as much possible as we can.

Arnold B. Santos
ICT Systems Administrator
Queenstown Primary School

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Ict Technician

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Aug 28, 2015, 9:10:03 PM8/28/15
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I've done an external ICT review, and co-incidentally was jut re-reading my report yesterday. 
I noticed that there were a few things that had dated, and that there were a few suggestions that i'd make differently after 4 more years working in education.

Perhaps we could make a wee company between us for doing exactly this kind of thing?
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