Technology defines the modern education sector – streamlining processes and improving teaching opportunities and outcomes for everyone – but it’s an area where, perhaps more than any other, expert input is essential. EasiPC is a Northampton-based company that provides wide-ranging managed IT support and services for schools, and only for schools. The focus of the company is to offer education-focused support that encourages teaching and learning using technology, backed up by the confidence that comes from knowing that Department for Education standards are being rigorously met.
The team has developed an in-depth understanding of what schools need and expect, and what programmes, software and hardware will work best for them. In addition, the EasiPC team understands the government guidelines in terms of connectivity standards, safeguarding and meeting the requirements of the Cloud First approach.
Rob Lloyd, Technical Manager at EasiPC, said:
“Unlike most other IT rms, we exclusively work in the education sector, across primary and secondary schools in Northamptonshire, Milton Keynes and more widely in the East Midlands region.
“The Department for Education’s digital guidance website for headteachers and senior leaders covers what is believed to be the standards for schools, covering everything from broadband speeds to backing up data and ensuring high levels of security. Staying safe in education is key.
“But the statutory guidance is changing all the time and we pride ourselves in keeping up to date on that, so schools don’t need to worry about it. at means we are able to o er something unique, we believe most of our competitors would not offer that level of attention or adhere to the need for a Cloud First approach.”
The Government’s Cloud First policy says that public sector organisations should ‘consider and fully evaluate cloud solutions before considering any other option’. EasiPC works towards that solution, advising schools on the best way to set up and run systems that move away from traditional on-premise hardware and see all digital data stored securely in the cloud.
The company offers a comprehensive service, including on-site support from set-up to maintenance, backed up by a highly regarded service desk to deal with technical and software support queries. The team has expertise in all areas of managed IT service provision including server installations and set-ups, cloud technology, wireless and networking, broadband, back-up systems, devices, software and hardware.
Expectations are always high within the education sector that safeguarding measures are reliable, for the safety of both pupils and staff when they’re using the internet, while cyber-crime is a real and growing threat and appropriate protection needs to be in place.
Russell Smith, Director of EasiPC, said:
“The truth is that there’s not a lot of guidance and advice available to schools these days from the local authorities, and it’s down to the head-teachers to work it out for themselves, within their budget, and make sure their IT provision is up to the standard it needs to be.
“Our service takes the heavy lifting off the school because we do all that for them. And we understand the budget restraints and work within their means. There doesn’t need to be a big cost, if you’ve already got a system in place, which most have, it’s more often than not just building on current systems and software, looking at how effective that is working and how it can be improved.
“And in addition to that, there are considerations such as leveraging the energy saving that comes from Cloud First. If you’ve got a server and equipment that’s constantly running, it can make a significant difference in terms of energy costs if you switch all that to the cloud.”
Government expectations are that all schools will become academies in the next few years, and that’s prompted EasiPC to build an offering that works for Multi Academy Trusts, where there is an increasing need for consultancy services to shape and develop workable systems and align multiple schools within a Trust in terms of their technology and IT provision.
Russell added:
“What sets us apart from others is that we understand the sector intimately and can put that across to schools in a way they understand and explain how they can meet minimum requirements and build upon this to deliver the highest level of IT provision for both staff and students. Our expert guidance and consultancy, built over many years supporting schools and Multi Academy Trusts is included as standard across all services we provide and it is why our customers trust us implicitly when deciding on how to improve IT on a limited budget.”
“We’re already offering services and products that are shaped by what schools need, meeting and going beyond expectations. Features that will become standard in the next few years, we’re already doing because we want to stay ahead of the game.”
Find out more about EasiPC at www.easipc.co.uk call 01604 286682 or email info@easipc.co.uk
