School ICT News Bulletin No. 202 - 19/03/2012

Published by ICT Shared Services

ICT Services for Schools Contracts 2012-13

The ICT Shared Services contract information is now available on our website at www.ict.norfolk.gov.uk

But do you know the added value of the Silver Plus contract from ICT Shared Services?

Most schools expect their visits from their dedicated Field Support Technician but not everyone is aware of all the other value that comes as part of the Silver Plus contract to give you maximum availability of your systems for teaching and learning:

• Unlimited Symantec Anti Virus Licences for the year. This equates to £2.55 per pc in your school.
• Unlimited Remote Support - there is no need to wait for your field support technician’s visit, just call our support number and with your approval our specialist staff can remotely address your problems or alternatively schedule an inclusive engineer visit.
• Unlimited Engineer visits are covered by the Silver Plus contract so if you have a problem you don’t have to wait until your Technician’s next visit, just call our Service Desk.
• Inclusive Installation of Hardware and software by your Field Support Technician up to the value of 5 man days*
• Unlimited Recycling of ICT Equipment which meets your responsibility to WEEE directives
• Inclusive Multimedia Projector Preventative Maintenance for all data projectors in the school.
• Inclusive Microsoft Windows updates automatically sent to your school. This prevents malicious attacks to your systems and patches any flaws that have been identified by Microsoft
• Inclusive Managed Anti Virus patch updates to ensure that PCs on your network have the latest version of software
• Maximum protection to your systems from external threats from the last two items combined.
• Flexible options available – Field Support Technician options are available from half day per month, half day per week, half day per fortnight or 1 day per week.  We guarantee the minimum number of hours you can expect from the contract to ensure you get what you pay for.
• Discounts apply to schools with Norfolk’s Management Information System - Capita SIMS and ICT Shared Services support contract 
• Did you know that your Broadband contract also includes free website hosting?

Author: Lynn Parvin

IMPORTANT INFORMATION - POWERING OFF CORE NETWORKING EQUIPMENT OVER EASTER BREAK

We would like to ask schools to refrain from turning off the power to the core networking equipment over the Easter holiday. Core networking equipment includes routers, switches and cache servers, often in a wall or floor cabinet. These devices are monitored by ICT Shared Services and BT and turning off the power results in false alarms. This could result in your school incurring a charge for an engineer visit.

Services Affected: Schools Internet, email and any service accessed via the internet

Services Not Affected: All other school systems which do not require access to the internet

When: 31 March – 15 April 2012

What You Need To Do: If there is no alternative to powering off the communications cabinet and core equipment then please contact ICT Shared Services Service Desk to advise us in advance

For More Information: Please contact the ICT Shared Services Service Desk ict@norfolk.gov.uk or 0845 303 3003

Author: Richard Cornelius

Norfolk Education Network (Schools Broadband) Contract for 2012-13

In response to questions raised by the letter and contract for the Norfolk Education Network (Schools’ Broadband) which has been sent to all maintained schools by Children’s Services, please find below the following updates:

Filtering

ICT Shared Services has been working with BT to address the list of requirements based on schools’ feedback. BT have suggested a suitable product to meet the requirements for more local control of filtering.

We are expecting pricing options from BT next week for consideration.

Bandwidth and performance

There are several factors which contribute to available bandwidth and perceived performance which we have been closely monitoring and working on.

1. BT has provided detail and costs to increase bandwidth to schools and upgrade the bluecoat solution which we are considering.
2. We have and still are investigating perceived bandwidth issues with a number of schools. In some instance our investigations have indicated unusual activity on particular pieces of equipment located in schools. ICT Shared Services and BT are working with specific schools to pinpoint the cause of the activity and agree a resolution.
3. We are piloting increasing bandwidth to some schools and will review the impact of this on the network over the next 2 weeks.

ICT Shared Services will be looking at the costs and reviewing outcomes of the other points in the next 2 weeks and we will update you on progress week ending  23^rd March 2012.

Author: Lynn Parvin

Asset Manager Service

The Norfolk Asset Manager Software application is designed to provide schools with an easy to use comprehensive electronic inventory of all assets including furniture held at the school.

Asset Manager maintains a full audit trail of equipment and calculates replacement and depreciation costs for all items included in the database. Asset Manager is approved by Norfolk Audit Services. It also enables schools to comply with Item 6 of the Financial Procedure Manual.

If you require a quote for the service, please contact James Webb at ICT Shared Services on 0845 303 3003

Benefits

• Saves school time and effort of completing their on-site inventory
• The software enables schools to easily provide reports for audits
• Gives schools the ability to plan budgets for replacing assets
• Automatically allows schools to monitor depreciation annually and monthly
• Centralises information on annual health checks meeting H&S requirements
• Schools can update easily, link and update Asset Manager following Refresh Programme
• Allows schools to keep track of assets
• Data on assets is centralised saving time finding data from different sources i.e. Make, Model, Serial Number, Supplier, Order Numbers, Funding Sources, location  
• Reporting capabilities i.e. report by location, items, depreciation & replacement 
• Easy to use icon based system
• Instant recall of information when embarking on Capital, Refresh, Ofsted planning and Finance Audits.

For more information please visit the ICT Shared Services Website which contains interactive pages within the manual.  http://www.ict.norfolk.gov.uk/topic.aspx?topic_id=187

If you would like further information on the software, already have Asset Manager and require assistance / re-fresh training or your inventory is out of date and you require a new one:

Please contact James Webb, Asset Manager on 0845 303 3003

Author: James Webb

IMPORTANT INFORMATION: Symantec Endpoint Protection Information for 2012-13

ICT Shared Services have updated pricing for Symantec Endpoint Protection for 2012–2013 and will be contacting schools with renewal information within the next few weeks.

Details of costs for Schools with a support package are as follows:

These costs include automated updates, which are deployed by ICT Shared Services remotely, to ensure the latest protection updates are applied.

Symantec Endpoint Protection is an enterprise software system which is continually updated to protect against persistently emerging threats to systems including those brought into the site from unprotected sources from home.

Please note that if you receive an e–mail from Symantec advising you to renew your maintenance contract with them it can be ignored as this will be covered through the renewal notices we will be sending you directly.

If you have any questions or require any further advice please e–mail ict@norfolk.gov.uk

Created on: 13/03/2012 08:10:21