Many secondary schools contact Oakford on a regular basis to seek help with their IT support and development. While each case is slightly different, a consistent reason for seeking outsourced IT services include –
- IT staff departure
- Long term IT staff sickness
- Poor IT support performance
- Lack of in house skills to achieve goals
- Cost saving
Oakford can help in a variety of ways, either complementing an existing IT support team with 3rd line support and consultancy or providing a fully outsourced IT agreement with on site staff provision.
On Site Support Staff
Remote 3rd Line Support
Management and Consultancy
Total Responsibility
By outsourcing the onsite support to Oakford Technology you will no longer have the responsibility of coping with staff absence, holiday rotas, insurance, tax and on going training. As part of an outsourced support service, Oakford provides cover for staff sickness and leave as well as providing the School support team with access to a wide range of engineers with specialist technical skills. All Oakford engineers are DBS checked, Microsoft trained and are also familiar with a range of Education IT systems.
IT is a vast subject and it would be unrealistic for any individual to be an expert in every area. That is why many schools choose to outsource their IT support to Oakford as they then have access to a wider team each specialising in different areas. The Oakford provided Network Manager will be technically strong but will have the support of colleagues from the Oakford technical specialist team enabling tasks to be escalated when appropriate.
This ensures the school experiences a faster IT support turnaround time and saves money on employing additional external contractors.
Confident and well trusted, Oakford are able to take full responsibility of your system and its needs. From a simple request to change a toner cartridge to implementing your new ICT suite we can deliver the full spectrum of ICT services leaving you and your team free to work on your school’s planning and ICT curriculum delivery. Typically answerable to the business manager or the Headteacher and working alongside your ICT department our onsite deployed Network Manager, technical team and visiting consultant keep your ICT provision on target and in alignment with both your curriculum and your strategic targets.
A named consultant visits the School on a regular basis to lead the management and strategic development of IT.
The consultant also meets with the Senior Leadership Team on a regular basis to discuss new technology developments e.g. server virtualisation, Thin Client technology and education focused developments.
By using both commercial and education experience from other establishments, the Oakford consultants are able to provide credible recommendations for improvement. They are also able to provide the School with details and advice on how to convert staff ideas into reality.