Weald of Kent Case Study

The Challenge

Like many schools, Weald of Kent relies heavily on IT and print infrastructure to support the running of the school and their teaching.

In recent years the school’s needs had evolved and the IT and print equipment needed to be updated to reflect this. The current IT Manager at the school was about to leave and it was an ideal opportunity to review the technology and processes that were in place to assist the school with its digital transformation ambitions.

During the early stages of the project, the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Therefore, online teaching and the ability for flexible working for staff and pupils became a key requirement of the new solution.

It was clear that the school needed a cohesive strategy that delivered a seamless migration to new technologies that achieved sustainable savings.

The Solution

Historically, the school purchased their print devices through a government framework. Whilst it delivered an element of value, the support and account management from their print partner, unfortunately, didn’t perform over the lifetime of the agreement. As a result, the school decided to procure outside of the framework for their new technology solution.

Working in strategic partnership with Pinnacle, IT Document Solutions was introduced to Weald of Kent School to provide a fully managed service to address their print challenges and strategic consultancy around their IT requirements.

IT Document Solutions assessed and reviewed the current infrastructure and presented a comprehensive managed solution, which proved to be the most competitive. This enabled partner Pinnacle to roll out key technology, which helped them to achieve their ambitions of digitally transforming the school.

Having assessed the organisation's requirements, IT Document Solutions recommended the implementation of new technology to reduce cost and improve efficiency. Xerox MFD's alongside Lexmark single-function printers, supported by remote diagnostics software to provide a more productive digital business solution. ITDS included a wrap-around service and support package to ensure maximum uptime of all devices including the Canon device already in situ.

“IT Document Solutions and Pinnacle made the management of our IT and print estate easy. Everything works in the background, just how it should be.”

The ITDS Managed Services package included

• IT consultancy to thoroughly review the current infrastructure and processes from an IT perspective, identifying areas for improvement.
• A security audit was undertaken to identify vulnerabilities and gaps, these were then remedied to ensure best practices.
• Remedial work to the infrastructure, such as connecting interactive whiteboards to provide ongoing engaging lessons for students.
• Cabling rewired to classrooms; this allowed teachers to plug and play devices.
• IT processes were reviewed to improve efficiency even when working remotely, for example, new starter and leaver requests.
• Provided a clear roadmap for recruiting a new IT manager moving forward.

In addition, a Managed Print Solution comprising Toshiba & Papercut technology was implemented throughout the school, providing a mix of MFDs and desktop printers with integrated authentication software. A new franking machine for outgoing mail was provided by ITDS Mailroom Solutions to drive postal savings.

The Managed Print Service provided by IT Document Solutions includes a comprehensive support package, which provides dedicated SLAs and response times to ensure maximum uptime of devices and any issues are swiftly resolved.

Jermaine Weeden, Director, of IT Document Solutions commented: “It’s important that we provide first-line support to our customers directly. We pride ourselves on having this in-house capability, rather than outsourcing this crucial service.”

The Benefits

The project has been hugely beneficial in terms of improving working practices, as well as driving substantial cost savings across the school.

Weald of Kent has received a complete overhaul of its technology which allows the teachers, staff, and pupils to work flexibly from any location. This new solution has been essential for remote working during lockdown periods and when teaching must be done remotely.

By working with IT Document Solutions, the school has much greater flexibility when it comes to its IT and print procurement. As an independent Managed Services partner, IT Document Solutions focus on providing local support to organisations, working with a range of technology partners to offer the best choice to customers.

Managing the print infrastructure through IT Document Solutions has brought helpdesk tickets under control with any issues being quickly addressed, which frees up the internal IT team to focus on other key areas.

“We’ve made significant savings on our IT and printing across the school. We’re extremely pleased with the new solution provided by IT Document Solutions and Pinnacle.”

The school now has greater visibility of print use and expenditure across their print estate. Thanks to the ability to set limits and rules around printing they have brought their printing volumes back under control and reduced print output.

IT security has been improved across the network, ensuring that the school is compliant and following best practices.

Proactive support and reporting are important aspects of the solution and as part of the ITDS Continuous Improvement Programme, the school benefits from quarterly reviews to keep on track. A dedicated account manager works alongside the school to adapt and enhance the IT and print solution in line with their goals throughout the lifetime of the agreement.

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