South West Grid for Learning Trust Schools Internet Services

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1 South West Grid for Learning Trust Schools Internet Services Here are some specific points and comparisons with other sources of connectivity and/or with managing various elements internally: 1 As a charity, SWGfL ensures the best value for money for schools (as we do not make any profit), and shares the same values and objectives as schools: we re here to help improve education and learning in the south west Economies of scale: As we work for 2,500 schools, we can apply considerably more commercial pressure on suppliers to get the most competitive pricing Organisations that might place commercial success ahead of the needs of schools Lower discount levels (meaning higher prices) or restricted supplier/product ranges (other networks are unlikely to be private) SWGfL itself We work with a very wide range of telecoms companies to find the best products in each area. This means that the selection of telecoms from the wide range of suppliers is on the basis of quality and value, not the amount of profit that can be made Restricted range of suppliers and products (other suppliers can t provide NEN connections; some provide peering with additional costs) SWGfL will continue to procure best value services for schools and negotiate with suppliers to get the right contracts and protections for schools, rather than the standards terms and conditions from suppliers Contracts that suit the supplier, not the customer, with terms and conditions (e.g. liabilities, IPR etc) that could be problematic

2 Education-specific connectivity with SWGfL RM IHG sourcing best suppliers managing entire delivery Different suppliers supplying different services; plus extra services to manage within your school All telecoms integrated and passed on by RM IHG at 0% margin, ensuring best value Cost of service provider s profit margins (other suppliers make profit on telecoms) Connectivity infrastructure A free of charge ADSL backup service for schools with managed CPE and over 400 learners A private network, so performance, security reliability can be better managed, avoid issues like contention and unrealistic up to speeds Wherever possible dedicated, symmetric circuits, so you get the (faster) upload download speeds and better-managed network traffic (contention ratios) Dedicated high-speed connections to 350 peers (eg Google, JANET BBC), plus fast access to National Education Network (NEN) for a wide range of learning content and applications Loss of connectivity if the main circuit fails for whatever reason, affecting learning and school operations Less confidence in the network s ability to meet your school s needs Slower upload download speeds, particularly at peak times Slower access multiple subscription costs (but often at additional cost) (other networks are unlikely to be private) (other suppliers can t provide NEN connections; some provide peering with additional costs) 2 Ongoing development of your network solution service according to your needs Slower access multiple subscription costs Essential safety Safety from illegal content for users as all traffic is passed through proxy servers checked against Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) database A unique approach which guarantees automatic notification to police of any attempts to access illegal material Less protection from illegal content The possibility of un-investigated infringements perpetrators not held to account (only SWGfL can provide this)

3 Cisco IronPort (market-leading protection against spam, spyware phishing) Risk of spam or virus attack, time/ resource needed to remove spam each week to handle complaints from staff/students/parents Essential security Protection for your school via multiple active Cisco enterprise-class firewalls with intrusion detection prevention Service accredited to ISO27001, the industry standard for information security, giving you assurance that your data is being handled by trained professionals in line with a set of stringent standards Need to purchase and deploy your own security solutions or risk a network open to external abuse Potential concerns around information security, or worse still incidents that lead to losses or harm (but often at additional cost) Help managing the risk at school level through a holistic service Increased risk through different suppliers or school staff having to manage some elements of their services (only SWGfL can provide this) 3 Change Service Management development ITIL-based FITS-aware processes to ensure quality in management of service change Continual service improvement through strong partnerships charge for technical change requests (e.g. firewall ports, DNS changes, IP changes) SWGfL and RM IHG (through aggregated approach) negotiate better contracts with telecoms companies and other suppliers to give schools more protection A service provider that may not have underlying systems for effective evolution/improvement of your service Less likelihood of roadmaps service improvements if no/few partnerships Unpredictable bills to make necessary changes, or projects held up due to lack of funding Schools alone or in small numbers would have limited ability to influence telecoms company standard contracts/tcs, often leading to unfavourable terms for the school (most suppliers charge for changes) (SWGfL can achieve this by acting on behalf of 2,500 schools)

4 Design management standards SWGfL s industry awareness specialism, inc. teaching/learning, e-safety large-scale networks for education public sector RM s business quality standards, accreditations awards, inc. Becta Accreditation, ISO Standards, Service Standard awards Slow or no response to changes in education sector (e.g. DfE requirements) A service provider with less/no understanding of education public sector A service provider that is not a leader in the education sector (other suppliers unlikely to be education specialists) Service desk support services One low-cost local support phone number for SWGfL support Support from highly qualified engineers (Cisco CCIE, Microsoft MCSE, Red Hat RHCE CISSP) 24x7 proactive network monitoring with automated alerts for fast detection correction of faults Need to contact different suppliers call centres for different services, with no shared responsibility variable call/ service costs; call centres (with calls logged, but issues unfixed) Critical work undertaken without guarantee of highly qualified engineers The possibility of service fault/failure before your ISP is aware (undetected issues can lead to longer periods of downtime) 4 Electronic Service Interface (ESI) Secure integrated user-friendly dashboard where you gain info make decisions based on service data Quick easy online mechanism to log track support calls change requests at your convenience Fast easy anytime access to comprehensive online support via the Knowledge Library The trouble of going to multiple sites contacts to get the info you need Less responsive/flexible support when you need to resolve issues or make changes Time wasted browsing generalised support from different suppliers (this is bespoke to SWGfL)

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