Lincolnshire Education Authority has employed a "subscription
computing" model for IT provision at the first of a series of new
schools to be opened in the county.
The authority took advantage of a cost-per-seat-per-month service
being offered by BT and Computacenter, in which the partners
provide everything from setting up the local area network to
managing the infrastructure.
The subscription computing concept is being promoted by suppliers
but few in either the public or private sector have invested in it.
Cheryl Berry, director of education for Lincolnshire, sees clear
advantages for education.
"It will allow teachers to concentrate on teaching and keep schools
at the leading edge technologically, where they usually lag
behind," she said.
"The method of payment allows us to spread costs where we would
usually have to wait a period of years for capital funds to become
available and having IT expertise readily available is invaluable
for us," she added.
For about £160 per user per month the suppliers provide all
hardware and software, including printers, scanners and faxes on a
network capable of running Voice over IP, but not core application
requirements such as enterprise resource planning or database
systems.
The networks are remotely monitored with deskside support provided
when needed.
Under the three-year contracts the suppliers buy the customer's
existing assets and replace them with new equipment.
At the end of the period the customer can either buy the assets or
extend the agreement.