We [PublicTechnology.net] last spoke to the leadership of the London Grid for Learning back in March 2011 and were interested to hear this week how the non-profit is faring. 

If you’re not familiar with the organisation, it was formed to help schools in the capital save money by aggregating their buying power. Its personable CEO, Brian Durrant, claims that average savings of using the Grid way of procuring ICT can equal as much as £35,000 per primary and £135,000 per secondary school per year compared to schools purchasing the same services individually.  

The biggest change in the year since we spoke, then? Durrant told us he’s had to steer a path through is a fundamental change in sourcing policy out of the Department for Education, which more or less said, in late 2010, “Schools should decide where they buy broadband, not officials.”  

In case that doesn’t strike you as significant, in practice it was a major change in DfE policy, as it had previously promoted regional aggregation of broadband for schools procurement. That’s meant that instead of having 33 customers (London authorities, buying broadband on behalf of schools, using grant money provided for the purpose), LGfL had to start from scratch and secure every individual school, using its own money, as a contracted customer. As in: 2,300 London schools instead.  

The good news is that Durrant and his team have responded well to the sea-change. And with the launch of what he terms’LGfL 2.0′ in early 2011, started the process of securing new five year contracts from all those schools – successfully retaining the critical mass necessary to command lower costs for London school leaders.  

But that’s not all. The LGfL 2.0 solution is not just broadband, this time round. It is a collection of services and content, closely informed by the needs of schools, which enables his organisation to offer new services and software they wouldn’t have been able to afford otherwise. A case in point is the bundling of CentraStage, a Cloud-based remote monitoring and management software.  

If you’re thinking, ‘This sounds like a CloudStore,’ you’d only be making Durrant - teacher come educational technology expert and not so long back Head of Education ICT Services at the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames - happy. For that’s what LGfL 2.0 is: the network he has established is totally Cloud based and thousands of apps and services are now collectively brought and deployed on-line through Cloud technology.  

“This brings a best of breed solution, using Cloud, to all London schools who want it,” he told PublicTechnology.net.  

It’d be great to see more Grids out there - and maybe just not for schools. In the meantime, more power to Durrant’s elbow.

by admin l March 8, 2012 l No Comments »

Following my recovery from the BETT show last week, it was a hugely positive show for CentraStage, and if I could sum it up in a few words I would say that “we have arrived”. The existing visitors who visited the stand – and there were many – were hugely positive about the technology and benefits it brings; new prospective clients were also excited about moving forward and were very complimentary. One chap (who will remain nameless) so keen he told Scripting Simon “I’m in love with it”. If you’re not familiar with what our education customers have achieved using CentraStage have a look at our infographic.

Kris Scruby from East Sussex County Council was also on hand for three days during the shows, chatting to customers about how they use the technologies, sharing experiences from a live environment – which as we all know is more compelling than a demo environment knocked up in Scripting Simon’s bedroom.

To top all of that, we announced that the London Grid for Learning have selected CentraStage as the IT management software of choice for a number of local authorities.

by Christian Nagele l January 20, 2012 l No Comments »

The BETT Show is the largest education technology show in the world, covering a range of topics including learning tools and resources and the management of these important tools which students and staff are using.

CentraStage has been attending  the BETT show for a number of years partnering with specialists such as Capita (formerly Synetrix), Redstor, and London Grid for Learning. Working with these partners we’ve grown CentraStage to be one of the most used tools in Online IT Management for Education.

We’ve put together this infographic (click to make it larger!) to help explain who’s doing what with CentraStage, and the return on investment these organisations are able to see.

For more information on The BETT Show please visit www.BETTShow.com

by James Fletcher l January 10, 2012 l 1 Comment »

CentraStage have been shortlisted for a Public Sector Digital award for the work we have done helping East Sussex County Council transform their IT support service to schools. Thus far we have not put ourselves forward for too many awards – in all honesty I took some convincing that they are worthwhile (all a little too self-publicising for me somehow, which sits uncomfortably with the modest Englishman in me…). However the ongoing relationship with East Sussex encapsulates why we have developed CentraStage, and how it can be successfully used to improve the IT experience for the end user (in this case, schoolchildren).

On a pure IT front, technology in the schools across East Sussex has never run better. This is down to CentraStage, but also down to how the team at East Sussex have implemented it, and put in place the necessary structures, processes procedures, teams and relationships to deliver a new model of IT support to school. The ultimate goal? To prove the link between the quality of the IT in schools, and pupil attainment – after all, why else is there IT in schools, if not to help children learn, and to equip them for the future. Anyway, fingers crossed for the results in January, as it would be great for both us and East Sussex to get some recognition of what has been achieved.

by Christian Nagele l December 13, 2011 l No Comments »

One of the best parts of working with your customers, is when they get recognition for what they are doing for their organisation, and importantly for their industry. Last week we had two very exciting pieces of news hit our desks at CentraStage HQ.

Dave Newman of Best Buy Europe / The Carphone Warehouse has won Systems Professional of the Year at the BCS Individual Excellence Awards. This is one of the most prestigious awards in the IT industry and we congratulate Dave on his award.

Dave is our primary point of contact at Best Buy Europe / The Carphone Warehouse, and has driven the successful implementation of CentraStage across their UK and Europe stores. Read more about Best Buy Europe / The Carphone Warehouse’s use of CentraStage.

East Sussex County Council have been short-listed for the BETT (British Educational Training and Technology) Award for ICT Service and Support. East Sussex will find out if they have won the award on 11th January 2012 at the awards ceremony at Hilton Park Lane.

East Sussex County Council have transformed IT Service Delivery to Schools by using the power of CentraStage – read more here.

by James Fletcher l November 14, 2011 l No Comments »