If You Build It…If You Build It… Who Will Take Care Of It? Who Will Take Care Of It?

Technology Maintenance - Cost of OperationTechnology Maintenance - Cost of Operation

Lester S. Stoltzfus – MIS Program Administrator, Berks County Intermediate UnitLester S. Stoltzfus – MIS Program Administrator, Berks County Intermediate Unit Joseph P. Pugliese – Business Manager, Upper Bucks County Area Vocational Joseph P. Pugliese – Business Manager, Upper Bucks County Area Vocational

Technical SchoolTechnical School

Moore’s Law – A Definition for TechnologyMoore’s Law – A Definition for Technology

For more than 30 years, Moore’s Law has governed Silicon Valley like an immutable force of nature. The idea that processing power will double every 18 months has been treated as an axiom – rather than the rule of thumb it actually is. No one knows this better than Gordon E. Moore. In an obscure 1965 magazine article, Moore, then Fairchild Semiconductor’s R&D Director, reluctantly predicted the expected increase in the power of integrated circuits over 10 years. By the 1970’s, Moore was a cofounder of Intel, and his tenors “law” was well on its way to becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy among researchers, manufacturers and vendors.

According to the Progress Report on According to the Progress Report on Educational Technology…Educational Technology…

Pennsylvania rates as follows:– 5.5 Students per instructional computer– 60% of all classrooms have at least one

multimedia computer connected to the Internet– 57% of all schools have Internet access

Technology in EducationTechnology in Education

Books are static, they are used for one thing. Computers on a network have many uses Smart budgeting will leverage your computer and

network investment with their many uses.

Is Technology, Networking and Computers a Is Technology, Networking and Computers a Process or a Project?Process or a Project?

School districts need to look at networking and the use of computers as a process not a project– A process is constantly developing and

evolving to meet changing and growing needs– A project has a beginning and an end

Unfortunately…Unfortunately…

A view held too often in school districts is that technology is a “frill”.

To often school districts look at a computer installation or a district or building-wide network as – install it, configure it, and forget it…expecting that it will always work.

New application software often requires a newer version of the operating system, which often requires an upgrade to the hardware

Unfortunately (cont)…Unfortunately (cont)…

Networks are complex and need daily attention, by well-trained technical staff to:– Monitor network performance– Monitor network availability– Monitor network capacity– Perform daily backups– Handle end-user access and log-in issues– Software updates– Hardware upgrades/repair

Are You On The Net?Are You On The Net?

We are beyond the standalone computer or even the scenario of one server with 15 computers

The Internet has come of age and is now a part of our daily lives, which has ushered in a whole new set of network related issues that need to be supported…

School Districts Two-Fold Use of School Districts Two-Fold Use of TechnologyTechnology

Administrative and Teaching Staff– E-mail– Office Applications - Word processing, Databases, Spreadsheets– Payroll and accounting– Student record management– Census and tax billing– E-commerce

Student– Instruction– Learning– Research– Preparation for “Real World” employment

Technologies to Support…Technologies to Support…

RoutersSwitchesInternet connectivityE-mailTCP/IPSecurityFirewalls

FilteringWireless networksVPN (Virtual Private

Networks)

ASP (Application Service

Provider) connectionsServer Farms (including

filtering server, cache server, application server, etc.)

Technologies to Support (cont)…Technologies to Support (cont)…

Operating systemsApplication softwareUpdates, upgrades, patches and fixesEach end-user network connection

Who Will Manage the Technology?Who Will Manage the Technology?

Who will manage your– File and printer servers– Application servers– E-mail server– Internet connection to your ISP– Web server– Firewall and network security– Routers and Switches– Cable and Wireless– PC and office peripherals such as - zip drives, jazz drives, click

drives, Smart Boards, projectors, CD-ROM’s, CD-R’s, DVD’s, Scanners, Document Imaging, Record Retrieval and Storage, Palms/PDA’s

Who Is Responsible forWho Is Responsible for

Your Backup and Recovery Plan?Your Disaster Management and Recovery

Plan?

Necessary CredentialsNecessary Credentials

Technology Staff need a specific skill set and credentials Look outside educational institutions Look for the right certifications (CNE,CNA, MCSE,MCP,

CCIE, CCNA, etc) from major technology companies (Novell, Microsoft, Cisco, etc)

Look for college degrees (college degrees in Computer Science and Networking)

Look for real world experience (technology support goes beyond the textbook to real world situations)

Is a Teaching Certificate required for the position?

Hire or Contract? Pros and ConsHire or Contract? Pros and Cons

Hiring How large a staff do you need? Will one person have all of the necessary skills? How much time will the staff have to continue their

training? You may still end up contracting out for some

technical services Do you have backup during unplanned absences? Employee benefit costs Hiring and firing processes

Hire or Contract? Pros and ConsHire or Contract? Pros and Cons

Contracting for Service May include one or more onsite staff Usually gives you access to a pool of technical staff Do they have the desired skill set that you need? Ask for all pertinent certifications of staff Contract terms can be a year at a time No sick time, vacation, medical leave, training or

benefit costs

Contract Services OptionsContract Services Options

From an intermediate unit– Understand education environment– Usually very competitive in price– Non-profit– Stable company (government agency)

Contract Services Options (cont)Contract Services Options (cont)

From a company who provides network and PC consulting services– Many companies to choose from– Are they a stable company?– How long have they been in business?– What is their staff turnover rate?– Are they dependent on a few large contracts?– Do they understand the education environment?

The Costs…The Costs…

TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) includes more than the purchase

In transportation the TCO includes more than the cost of the bus. It includes gasoline, repairs, increased insurance premiums, another driver, etc)

ROI (Return on Investment) in technology ROI has a second meaning

ROI (Return on Information)In technology the old saying – “Do more with less” should really read – “Do more with more”. There is so much

information available to us we should use technology to take advantage of the wealth of information available to us.

The Costs (cont)…The Costs (cont)…

Purchase (the obvious) Support (software and end-user) Repair/Maintenance (hardware) Updates to Software Upgrades to Hardware Staff and staff development (technical staff training) Training (end-user) Increased utility costs Replacement Disposal costs (you may have to pay for disposal

What used to be one server and 10 to 15 computers in a lab is now in many cases multiple servers and hundreds of computers throughout the school districtAn industry standard guideline has been, one PC Support person for every 250 - 350 PCs.

How to Pay for TechnologyHow to Pay for Technology

PurchaseLeaseInclude as part of building projectGrantsCapitalized Assets

Take ActionTake Action

– To do nothing is to fall behind– No, you can’t stop spending– How much you spend is up to you– Subscribe to K-12 Guide – School Technology

Funding Bulletin for grant opportunities

Take Action (cont)Take Action (cont)

Send technology staff to state and national technology conferences such as:– Networld + Interop– PC Expo– NECC– Technology vendor seminars, workshops and tutorials– eSchool sponsored conferences– State technology shows and conferences