Putting TCO To Work in the Classroom - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

1 / 61
About This Presentation
Title:

Putting TCO To Work in the Classroom

Description:

When schools invest in computers and networks, they often ... Dell Computer. Sun Microsystems, NetSchools. Chancery Software. eChalk. National Semiconductor ... – PowerPoint PPT presentation

Number of Views:137
Avg rating:3.0/5.0
Slides: 62
Provided by: saraf151
Category:

less

Transcript and Presenter's Notes

Title: Putting TCO To Work in the Classroom


1
Putting TCO To Work in the Classroom
  • Consortium for School Networking
  • February 20, 2001

2
Goals of Todays Workshop
  • Major components of TCO
  • How they apply to K-12
  • Share experiences and lessons learned
  • Build our knowledge base
  • Take the lessons to others

3
Responding Panelists
  • Vickie Banks Gaynor, Merit Network
  • Roger Cooper, Fairfax County, VA Public Schools
  • Bob Westall, School District of Philadelphia
  • Jim Hirsch, Plano, TX, ISD

4
The Problem
  • When schools invest in computers and networks,
    they often fail to plan for the long-term costs
    of using them effectively and efficiently
  • Schools need to evaluate the role of
    technologyand their goals
  • Schools need to budget accordingly
  • That means, planning for TCO

5
This Is Nothing New
  • If you buy a bus, you must also budget for
  • Gasoline
  • Maintenance
  • Repairs
  • Increased Insurance Premiums
  • Another Driver

6
Similarly. . .
  • If you build a network or purchase computers, you
    must also budget for
  • Software
  • Maintenance
  • Repairs
  • Increased Utility Costs
  • Support
  • Staff Development
  • Replacement Costs

7
Where Can You Turn for Money?
  • E-rate
  • Grants and donations
  • Bonds
  • State and federal appropriations

8
But Theres One Problem
  • Many of those sources provide a one-time infusion
    of money
  • Money cant be used to cover all expenses
  • How long can you count on it?

9
A Danger if You Get Hooked
  • Ongoing technology expenses need to be funded
    from traditional sources
  • Hiring support staff
  • Staff development
  • Parts, maintenance and upgrades
  • Increased utility and telecommunications costs

10
Unfortunately. . .
  • Technology viewed as a frill
  • Captive of a build it and they will come
    mentality
  • It can be hard to find money for more staff
    positions

11
How TCO Can Help
  • At the start Understand all the costs that will
    have to covered
  • Understand the potential long-term additional
    costs of a particular approach
  • Understanding hard AND soft costs
  • After installation Evaluating new ideas
  • Purchasing versus leasing
  • Outsourcing versus in-house
  • Innovative technologies

12
What Is TCO?
  • All of the costs associated with deploying,
    operating and maintaining a computer network
  • Analysis tool used by businesses since the
    mid-1980s
  • Used to make strategic decisions and control
    technology costs

13
Taking TCO to the Classroom
  • CoSN Project since 1999
  • Sponsored by
  • Intel
  • Citrix Systems
  • Dell Computer
  • Sun Microsystems, NetSchools
  • Chancery Software
  • eChalk
  • National Semiconductor
  • Vendor-neutral tools for education stakeholders

14
TCO Is Less in Education World
  • 1997 International Data Corp. study
  • School w/ 75 computers 2,251/computer/year
  • Small Business 4,517/computer/year

15
Why Is It Less?
  • Schools spend less on PCs
  • Educational software costs less
  • Schools have half the support personnel
  • Schools try to use computers longer

16
Other Budgeting Benchmarks
  • 1998 Milken Study3.4 of operating budget spent
    on technology and 5.6 of capital budget
  • Based on 1,990 districts in 21 states
  • Projections of cost of wiring schools
  • 500 per student per year, over 4-5 years

17
Other Budgeting Benchmarks
  • QED Average tech spending 132.57 per student in
    1999-2000
  • 46.98 for hardware
  • 30.29 for networks
  • 11.47 for software
  • 11.01 for service/support
  • 9.18 for peripherals
  • 7.37 for Internet services
  • 6.86 for professional development
  • 5.15 for supplies (disks, paper, toner)
  • 4.26 for computer training
  • Whats average is not necessarily ideal

18
What Is That Telling Us?
  • Professional development represented 5.2 percent
    of total
  • Service/support represented 8.3 percent
  • As hardware is purchased and installed, costs
    should shift to other operating categories such
    as training and support
  • But computers will need to be replaced

19
Comments from Panelists
  • State of your network?
  • Does your district have clear technology goals?
  • Does your district understand TCO?
  • Are you budgeting for the long term?
  • Have you developed a dependable funding source?

20
Major Components of K-12 TCO
  • Tech Support
  • Staff Development
  • Replacement Costs
  • Software
  • Retrofitting
  • Connectivity

21
Tech Support Business vs. Schools
  • In the business world, when a computer crashes,
    employee usually becomes useless
  • In the education world, when a computer
    crashes...
  • teacher goes back to teaching the old fashioned
    way OR
  • students are expected to double up on computers
    that are still working.
  • How do we calculate what is lost in the process?
  • Will teachers integrate technology into the
    classroom if they have no confidence in it?

22
Levels of Tech Support
  • In business world, ratio is usually 1 support
    person for every 50-75 computer users
  • In K-12 schools, ratio now is typically closer to
    1 for every 500 computer users--usually not
    enough
  • Networks can be built with centralized management
    and support to help reduce the number of staff
    that will be needed

23
But Theres No Single Right Number
  • Factors involved
  • Degree of centralized management
  • Number of operating systems supported
  • Number of software applications supported
  • Geographical size of district
  • Telephones in classroom?
  • Outsourcing of some tech support

24
An Approach to Calculating Tech Support
  • Takes into consideration
  • Number of computers and peripherals
  • Number of major LANs, O/S, databases
  • Number of software applications
  • Number of users
  • Number of teachers
  • Webmaster?
  • Telephone services
  • Video/audio/satellite/broadcast
  • Managers
  • Adjusted by outsourced FTEs
  • Available at http//techguide.merit.edu

25
Strategies to Control Tech Support Costs
  • Relied on teachers and non-tech staff to provide
    support--93.5
  • Limited ability of teachers and students to
    modify the way computers are configured--91.1
  • Standardized model of computer used--87.9
  • Shifted to a centrally controlled district-wide
    network--86.3
  • 1999 CoSN-NSBA survey on Tech Support

26
Responses on Other Strategies
  • Limited number of operating systems
    supported--81.5
  • Reduced number of applications supported--72.6
  • Hired outsiders to provide support--63.7
  • Relied on students to help provide support--56.5
  • Installed a thin-client solution--26.6

27
Benchmarks to Monitor Support
  • Only 38.7 have adopted benchmarks to measure
    adequacy of support
  • Time it takes to respond to help call--85.4
  • Amount of time network is down--85.4
  • Length of time it takes to repair a
    computer--70.8
  • Largest districts much less likely to monitor
    number of computers needing repairs

28
How Many Operating Systems?
  • Only 1--6.5
  • 2 or 3--57.3
  • 4 or 5--18.5
  • More than 5--12.9
  • 34.8 of districts w/ more than 20,000 students
    have to support more than 5!

29
Other Findings
  • 55.6 outsource at least some tech support
  • 64.5 offer a help desk (95.7 percent of largest
    districts)

30
TCO and Tech Support
  • Cost of tech support may be low, but may also be
    inadequate
  • How will you know?
  • Need to benchmark quality of service achieved
  • Need to know extent to which non-tech personnel
    are filling the gap
  • Service Level Agreementswith vendors AND with
    userscan be very important
  • Tech support isnt cheap if teachers are the
    ones who are doing it

31
Comments from Panelists
  • What is your ratio of tech support to computers?
  • How are you trying to control tech support costs?
  • Is that strategy working?
  • Are you doing benchmarking?
  • Where do you turn for help teachers, students,
    vendors? Are those good options?

32
TCO Staff Development
  • U.S. Department of Education recommends 30 of
    budgets
  • Many states require 20-30 of state money be used
    this way
  • Businesses often match every dollar spent on
    hardware and software with a dollar for training
  • Some recommendations 1,500 to 2,000 per person
    trained per year
  • Biggest component Cost of substitutes
  • Schools generally are spending too little5.2 in
    1999-2000

33
Possible Considerations
  • In-house, outsourced, state, regional?
  • Impact on existing infrastructure
  • Teacher-related costs
  • What standards will be used?

34
When Do Teachers Feel Ready?
  • Those with 32 hours of training (over 3 years)
    feel prepared
  • But only 12 get that much
  • 43 receive less than eight hours
  • NCES Study (September, 2000)

35
Targeting Your Training
  • Pacesetters (5)
  • Empowerables (35)
  • Followers (55)
  • Refuseniks (5)
  • Principal can be key to success

36
Things to Consider
  • Will your investment go to waste?
  • Wasted time of those who DO understand computers
  • Wasted time when not in synch with installation
  • Bad choices made by under-trained technology
    staff

37
Comments from Panelists
  • How are you handling staff development for
    teachers?
  • Is that strategy working?
  • How about staff development for the tech staff?

38
TCO Replacement Costs
  • Computers and peripherals need to be replaced
    about every five years (and in some cases,
    sooner)
  • Industry standard3 years
  • Industry laptops2 years
  • As a districts technology investment matures,
    the district must plan for regular upgrades
    and/or replacement

39
Things to Consider
  • Strategy of channeling older machines to simpler
    uses (e.g., keyboarding)
  • Can lead to increased costs for maintenance and
    support
  • Bigger inventory of replacement parts to keep
  • More models for support staff to master
  • Older the machine, the harder to keep in service
  • Donations of older computers can be a very mixed
    blessing
  • Donations policy can help ensure that if
    computers are donated, they dont actually
    increase your costs
  • And a new costcomputer disposal

40
Leasing versus Purchasing
  • Can provide faster standardization
  • Using traditional business TCO formulas, may lead
    to savings over the long-term
  • Makes budgeting more predictable
  • But. . . .need predictable funding source

41
Comments from Panelists
  • What is your replacement cycle?
  • Are donated computers a problem?
  • Have you considered leasing as an option? Why or
    why not?

42
TCO Retrofitting
  • McKinsey Projections
  • Older Schools (35 years or older)
  • 65,000 for asbestos removal and other
    improvements
  • 23 of schools will need electrical upgrade
  • estimated cost of 240,000
  • 4 will need HVAC upgrade
  • estimated cost of 31,800

43
TCO Retrofitting
  • Council of Educational Facility Planners
  • New constructionInfrastructure 1,500/classroom
  • Renovation/Modernization--3,000/classroom plus
    minimum of 50,000/building for additional
    electrical service
  • Wireless may offer savings if appropriate

44
Comments from Panelists
  • Do you have budgetary benchmarks for
    retrofitting?
  • Have you encountered unexpected surprises?
  • Any thoughts on wireless?

45
TCO Software
  • Generally represents less of the total cost in
    K-12 than in the business world
  • About 10 of budget
  • Some free resources are now available on the
    Webbut dont forget the cost of time to find,
    download and organize
  • License management becoming an issue
  • School Interoperability Framework

46
Things to Consider
  • Haphazard purchases lead to incompatibility and
    no connection to learning goals
  • Impact of diverse applications and operating
    systems
  • New delivery methods (downloading) provide
    management challenges
  • Machines that move between home and school

47
Comments from Panelists
  • How do you manage software?
  • Teaching needs vs. TCO requirements
  • Other issues?

48
TCO Connectivity
  • Generally part of a school districts costs,
    though not always included in traditional TCO
    calculations by business

49
Things to Consider
  • How much bandwidth can you afford for what you
    want to do?
  • What is your networking strategy?
  • If youre forced to cut corners, how much time
    will be wasted?
  • Whats the value of that time?

50
Comments from Panelists
  • How have you gone about managing your bandwidth?
  • Is that adequate?
  • Have you built for today or tomorrow?

51
Thin Clients/ Application Service Providers
  • Computing power is located in the central server,
    managed by school district or outside vendor
  • Requires robust network, but less intelligent
    devices
  • More centralized control usually translates into
    lower support costs

52
Gartner Group Companies for Whom It May Work
  • Companies that are growing too fast (dot-com
    companies)
  • Companies that dont want to duplicate
    applications environment in many locations
  • Companies that cant afford large upfront costs,
    but can afford a predictable ongoing cost
    (schools?)
  • Companies that have trouble acquiring and
    retaining tech support staff (schools?)
  • Companies that want applications that are only
    available in a bundle

53
Comments from Panelists
54
And Now, the View from Business. . .
  • Shawn Gross, Sun Microsystems
  • Tom Greaves, NetSchools
  • Douglas Wiener, Citrix Systems

55
Questions for Vendor Panel
  • Based on your experience with K-12 schools, what
    do you think is the biggest difference in how
    your company manages its network and computers
    and the way that schools do?
  • Has your company learned lessons that would be
    useful for schools, too?

56
Questions for Vendor Panel
  • What do you think is the biggest issue facing
    schools in how they manage their TCO? What
    strategies do you think would help them?

57
Questions for Vendor Panel
  • Schools that are trying to improve their
    technological capabilities sometimes find that by
    the time they evaluate and install a new
    technology, it is already obsolete.
  • Do you see this happening?
  • If so, how should schools approach technology
    decision-making?

58
Questions for Vendor Panel
  • How can schools work with their vendor to lower
    their TCO?

59
Questions and Comments?
60
Thoughts to Take Away
  • Is your district prepared to make a long-term
    commitment to the technology budget?
  • Are your taxpayers?
  • If so, how big is that commitment?
  • How long can your vision be sustained?
  • If your financial commitment to technology is not
    big enough, is the school district prepared to
    rearrange its priorities?

61
A Place to Find Some Answers
  • Web site of Taking TCO to the Classroom
  • http//www.cosn.org/tco
  • White paper on Total Cost of Ownership
  • Downloadable PowerPoint presentation to explain
    the issue
  • Future Workshops
  • Online Courses
  • Benchmarking
  • Watch this space
Write a Comment
User Comments (0)
About PowerShow.com