Education

Louth and Meath education training board finds its IT solution in shared services

Larry Carolan from LMETB talks about how partnering with Three has helped deliver and support his innovative solution for ICT in the classroom. 

The Louth and Meath Education Training Board (LMETB) manages 18 post primary schools and one primary school across Louth and Meath. LMETB is also responsible for an extensive range of adult services throughout both counties, including adult learning service, community education, back to education initiatives, a Vocational Training Opportunities Scheme (VTOS) and adult guidance. There are eight Youthreach centres spread across both counties and the LMETB is also patron to six community schools.

The vast extent of the LMETB’s remit placed a high demand on its IT requirements. Despite this, the IT department consists of only two people including Larry Carolan, head of ICT.

Larry recalls that: “We were managing 130 servers, 2,500 desktops, 2,000 laptops and 1000 mobile devices with the number of mobile devices doubling year on year. We also have to manage 70 computer labs and 15,000 mailboxes. We made the decision that we needed an ICT partner. We not only needed to bring all the elements of our IT infrastructure under one managed service help desk, but we also needed a partner to help manage ICT projects, manage all ICT contractors and liaise between schools and centres about ICT issues.”

In parallel to this decision, educators recognised that the need for ICT in education has never been more imperative. Digital literacy is crucial for students going on to further education or entering the work force. However, the focus on cost reduction means that educators are facing significant challenges.

Carolan observes: “We wanted to trust that our schools’ priorities would be listened and responded to. We needed expert advice to identify issues and prevent problems before they happened.” He also notes: “We also wanted simple processes that would make a positive impact. All this needed to be carried out with timely responses when help was needed.”

LMETB went out to the IT market and identified a number of potential providers. However, Larry knew he needed more than a provider, he needed a partner. “We needed someone that could fully understand our needs, could provide the technical capabilities that we required and offer a fully managed solution that would meet our objectives. We found this partner in Three.”

“This is where the idea of Educational Shared Services was born” added Mark O’Connor, Public Sector Manager with Three. “We recognised that the LMETB needed a partner that they could trust, had the expertise and responsiveness that they needed and could provide value for money. We knew that our offering could not only meet, but exceed these needs.”

The Business team at Three got to work in establishing a sustainable and practical plan for the implementation and integration of technology. It was agreed to host all LMETB servers in a data centre built on fully scalable Microsoft technology. A dedicated support desk, delivered by Three through its partners in MJ Flood Technology, was put in place to provide in-depth technical support, expert advice and unlimited remote fixes for ICT issues within LMETB schools.

A bespoke web portal was built for every member of staff in LMETB to provide initial fault diagnosis, ICT queries, issues and advice which reduced reliance on ICT co-ordinators and technical support staff, freeing them up to maintain and manage larger issues.

“The approach was designed and developed in consultation with the LMETB to ensure that a service being created would meet the requirements of a modern educational body” says Carolan. “With Three we were able to turn ICT into a utility that is reliable, pervasive and trusted. The new system provides a comprehensive communication and collaboration platform for administration and education. It has driven cost reduction through shared services and intelligent use of ICT. In addition, we have enhanced learning by facilitating high quality teaching and we have been able to train staff in the better use of ICT for education.”

The process was not without its challenges. Carolan reflects: “There was a huge job in standardising platforms across institutions. We also needed to earn the trust of teachers and school management staff who had poor experiences with IT providers in the past and to implement an ambitious training plan to ensure the benefits were realised. 

“In order to be successful we needed a partnership with clear focus, accountability, effective communication and the right fit in terms of the working relationship. Three and LMETB have fostered such a relationship. We have created a technical and governance committee to ensure that the ownership of the solution is retained by us and our feedback is incorporated onto the solution on an on-going basis. This ensures we keep pace with changes in technological and educational requirements.”

Nicola Mortimer added: “We at Three Ireland are proud of what we have achieved with this project and are delighted that the success of the shared services has shown the Irish education sector how, though partnership with the private sector, they can focus their valuable time concentrating on what they do best which is educating and ensuring that their students have the necessary digital literacy to further their education or embark on their chosen career.”

Carolan explains that: “By creating a shared service environment, the LMETB have achieved greater efficiencies and developed a solution that is tailored to fit our budget, ensuring we maximise the benefit of our current and future ICT investment. We meet with Three on an on-going basis to review, revise and enhance the managed services so that the solution is agile and continues to meet the evolving needs of our students and educators.”

Larry Carolan testifies to the success of the project: “In the IT department in LMETB we understand that ICT can influence how every classroom and school administration office works and we appreciate the significant impact on teaching and learning this can have. Technology in education requires a complete managed service to make it a success as the pupils of today are digital natives. They are surrounded by and interact with digital communications from a very young age and we need to support them in school with the type of technology they choose to use outside school”. 

“We also needed to feel confident that our solution was built on robust and reliable infrastructure as the data contained on our network is possibly our most valuable asset. Making sure we were well prepared in the event of a major failure was a key requirement. Although a complete network failure is unlikely event, in a recent storm, we had a flood in a server room in a school. This was the first real IT disaster in LMETB since we joined the shared service. We were able to recover the data and the school was up and running with no data loss within 48 hours which is a true credit to the service that Three provides”.

Contact:

Mark O’Connor, Public Sector Manager at Three. Phone 087 9134521 or email mark.oconnor@three.ie 

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