Competitive Purchasing of Technology

The intention of state purchasing guidelines is pretty simple – to ensure a competitive bidding process for significant technology purchases (normally over $5000.00). But complying with purchasing guidelines can be time consuming and difficult.

What’s a school to do?

The answer to this question varies with each financial manager. And sadly we have seen a few clever attempts to circumvent purchasing guidelines as we have bid competitively on posted items. But for purposes of this article, we will assume that your brother-in-law is not part of the equation, that you are not getting kickbacks from favorite vendors, and your IT provider has an arm’s length relationship with your financial manager. With few exceptions, we have observed great integrity with the charter schools and managers we have had the pleasure of serving.

However, the sheer volume of purchasing in a school can lead to unintended purchasing that is less than compliant. Here is a suggestion that we have found to be pretty simple and complies with the intent of purchasing guidelines.

Disclaimer: I do not pretend to know every states purchasing guidelines and this may technically not comply with the rules of your state. Check with your local state office of education.

First, let’s illustrate an important concept and consider a story of two guys selling watermelons.

Two men formed a partnership. They built a small shed beside a busy road. They obtained a truck and drove it to a farmer’s field, where they purchased a truckload of melons for a dollar a melon. They drove the loaded truck to their shed by the road, where they sold their melons for a dollar a melon. They drove back to the farmer’s field and bought another truckload of melons for a dollar a melon. Transporting them to the roadside, they again sold them for a dollar a melon. As they drove back toward the farmer’s field to get another load, one partner said to the other, “We’re not making much money on this business, are we?” “No, we’re not,” his partner replied. “Do you think we need a bigger truck?”

What does this have to do with technology? More than you might imagine.

Margins for most technology purchases are razor thin and the marketplace is very opaque, meaning you can in an instant determine the best price for nearly anything digital. Just do a quick search on Amazon or eBay. By taking this small step, the chances of overpaying significantly for technology is reduced greatly. Know what it is you are purchasing.

So why not purchase from an online venue such as eBay, Amazon, or others? Good question; and the answer is you just might! Especially for the occasional one or two items that are primarily consumer electronics/technology. However, using eBay or Amazon becomes more problematic when you need a specific type of technology, a specific quantity (often large), and with the manufacturers warranty included (or extended warranty if you choose).

Furthermore, it is a little difficult for most schools to actually specify the correct solutions, they need. That is presumably why you have technology managers in your organization. The biggest mistake we see with respect to purchasing is what to purchase rather than how to purchase, or from whom. And then there is the installation and management of that technology going forward.

But I digress…

One of the simplest ways we have found to provide our schools with a competitive bid is to take three simple steps:

1. Identify clearly what technical solution is required (this is the most important step).
2. Utilize a technology distributor that represents a large variety of vendors.
3. Arrange for a cost plus, or percentage of invoice markup for your purchases.

Let’s look at an example of how this works:

 

Assume that a school administrator comes to us with a requisition for new desktops for all staff members. Specifications are agreed upon in advance and would include features such as form factor, operating system, memory, and storage requirements. Added to that feature list is a general idea on the budget available.

 

Our next step is to provide our distributors with those specifications and obtain competing quotes from their list of vendors. Now if you are dealing with a single vendor, your purchasing program will break at this point. So be sure you deal with a distributor’s representative, not a single vendor’s representative.

 

We work with two of the largest technology distributors in the US and, with few exceptions, receive a wide variety of products that match the required specifications. We then select based primarily upon price (all other considerations being equal). The school is then presented with our recommendations and the PO is obtained, the invoice is marked up the agreed upon amount, and the items are ordered.

This simple process provides our partner schools with a fair and competitive bid for items requested. The cost plus markup scheme can be easily audited to verify fair pricing and we provide the interface for warranty claims, service, etc.

 

One of our competitors claims to sell hardware at cost to their customer schools. Perhaps this is to offset the high fees charged for services, or perhaps they just need a bigger truck!

I'll be (working from) home for Christmas!

With the Christmas Holidays (or Winter Break for those of you so inclined) fast approaching, it might be helpful to look at your options of getting some work done while you are away from the campus.

After all the shopping, parties, and gatherings with family and friends, you might just need to sneak off to the office for a while. Here are a few ideas to help you do so without going out in the cold!

The need to access resources inside your school network is the natural result of a maturing infrastructure.  Being able to do important tasks at the office while you are at home or while traveling or on vacation can dramatically improve your administrative oversight. And the ability to remotely access your computer at work is a necessity as workloads continue to encroach upon personal time.

Getting the big picture about remote access and then understanding your options might be helpful in deciding which method or technology is best suited for you. Without a basic understanding and game plan, the implementation of remote access can be a harrowing experience and very confusing. Let’s consider a few options.

From a practical standpoint, there are three methods of interacting with computers and resources in your organization from afar. There are other methods, including VNC, a popular open source solution, but my experience with these other solutions is that they require a higher degree of technical skill, both to install and to use. Our mandate is to keep things simple.

Depending upon the task at hand you may want to use all three of the following methods, which include:

1. Website or web browser based programs
2. Virtual Private Network or VPN
3. Remote Desktop Connection or RDP

Website or browser based programs

Using browser based technologies to connect to resources in your organization is likely the simplest way to access remote resources, unless you have a firewall with remote access features. You have probably seen ads for “GoToMyPC.com” or “Logmein.com”.  This option requires you to visit a provider’s website, create a user account, and then download and install their software.

You then complete this same process on computers to be remotely controlled, by logging into your account installing the same software on each machine to be managed remotely. As you install the remote control software on each remote PC, you will see an icon that represents it in your list of controllable computers.  And if you manage all of your computers in one account, you can control any one of them, at any time by clicking on the icon that represents that specific computer.

The advantage of this type of access is that it is pretty reliable (based upon my own experience) and relatively easy to use. The most complex part of the process is understanding which role you are playing when you are installing the software and getting it set up properly. And be sure to record your passwords or access codes.

The disadvantage of this type of access is that it costs money. It is a subscription based service that will cost about $10.00 per month per machine you wish to control. There are some free versions (www.logmein.com) but they restrict the things you can do while connected using the free version in order to encourage you to buy a full-featured subscription.

It is important to understand that when you use this type of remote access you are only remotely controlling the remote PC. Read this statement slowly three times – I am remotely controlling my remote PC. When you disconnect from the remote PC, the work you have accomplished remains there, unless you specifically transfer the files to your controlling PC or laptop. And there may be challenges associated with getting that file transferred back to your current location.

This is an important concept to understand, because if you spend an hour working on a Power Point presentation at the office. It’s at the office! Saving it back to your home PC or Laptop is not always easy. Additionally, you must have the same software installed on your home PC or Laptop to use the file just created.

Bottom line; understand the inherent limitations of remotely controlling your office computer.

Virtual Private Networks

A VPN connection is an excellent choice for remote access to your network. But it is important to understand how a VPN connection works and the planning required using it. The most common VPN scenario associates your firewall device, installed to protect your network from outside intrusion, to your remote computer via software. The software facilitates the connection by opening a secure pathway across the Internet and through your firewall, to your remote computer. These client programs are normally manufacturer specific, designed to work only with your firewall, and provisioned with a security key or token to verify your identity.

A VPN connection is like virtually connecting an Ethernet cable into your network hub at the office. Just imagine a very long cable from the server room out the door, along the street, up your driveway, and into your den at home and you will get the concept. But that is all a VPN connection will do for you…, give you a remote connection. This alone may not provide you with the remote experience you desire because of the network security built into computers, printers, servers, and other devices at the school.

Think of it this way: you can take any PC or Laptop to the school and plug it into the network, but your connection may be restricted to just a few resources. Unless your PC or Laptop at home is joined to the school’s network, you may only have a connection to the Internet and access to very generously shared resources.

When correctly planned an implemented, a VPN connection can be as close to a seamless or transparent connection to your school network as possible. But it has to be correctly implemented and you need to understand the consequence of that implementation.

For example, joining your home PC or Laptop to the Domain at the school may interrupt the small peer to peer network in your home. And changing from a workgroup to a domain and back may cause you a significant amount of grief. You may even loose important files and documents. (A workgroup is the most common way to create a shared broadband connection at home with DSL or Cable Internet service. A Domain is the network security model used in most schools.)

The benefits of VPN are quite remarkable. You simply turn on your remote PC or Laptop and do your tasks. Since you are part of the network, you will have full access to your email, your shared folders, and Client/Server based applications such as QuickBooks, Microsoft Office, Microsoft SQL, etc.

Remote Desktop

No discussion of remote access would be complete without considering Remote Desktop Connection, or Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), a very useful tool built into all Windows XP and later Microsoft Windows based computers. It is similar to web based remote access technologies in that it allows your home PC or Laptop screen to display your office screen in a real time remote control session. In Windows 7, the Remote Desktop program is found at the Start Menu > All Programs > Accessories folder.

Properly setup, RDP works great. It is quick, reliable, not subject to constant fiddling, and allows you to control both local and remote resources, i.e. local and remote hard drives, printers, and CD’s. And once you are plugged into the network, it can find computers by name.

The challenge in setting up and using remote desktop is twofold. First you must know the name or IP address of the machine you wish to control. And second you must get through the firewall protecting your network. Remote Desktop uses Domain Name Services (DNS) to translate computer names to network addresses, so setting it up can be a little tricky.

RDP is generally a set it and forget it type of configuration. Once it finds your remote desktop, it will remember the settings and allow you to connect quickly by clicking on an icon located on your desktop.

Using RDP will require your network administrator to open a port in your firewall and then route your RDP session to the correct PC. And don’t forget that the on premises user always wins with RDP. In other words, if you are using RDP and someone at the office touches your mouse or presses a key on your keyboard, you will get disconnected. And unlike a browser based technology where users on both ends can see the screen, RDP will not display both the remote and local session at once.

Summary

Technical Support has been completely revolutionized by remote access technologies. It is a fundamental component of providing support services to the schools we manage. And we use each one of these different methods extensively.

As a school administrator, the benefits of remote access should be very obvious to you. Choosing which method to use may be a little less clear and will depend in large measure on what specific task you need to accomplish. It will be further determined by your network infrastructure, Internet bandwidth, installed software, and level of technical support to set it up.

Feel free to call if you need assistance in deciding which of these remote access methods will work best for you. And don’t wait until the holidays begin, you have to set these solutions up while at school – it is quite difficult to do this entirely from home.

One final note: Remote access is not the same thing as working collaboratively with other team members who may also be remote. That kind of anytime, anywhere, access to your important files is a function of your core technology infrastructure. Search this site for articles about Office 365 for Education for more information.

Virtualization - Part 1: What is Virtualization and do I need it?

This article reminds me of a little boy who went to his father with a question, to which his father replied "Son, why don't you go ask your mom?" Knowing all too well this outcome, the little boy answered in exasperation, " Because, I didn't really want to know that much!"

The buzzword of "Virtualization" may just be this kind of subject for you. But more and more service providers are doing some kind of virtualization, so you might want to at least have a conceptual view.

In all honesty, I think some service providers virtualize infrastructures to make them so complicated that the school is held virtually captive (pun intended) and fearful of trying to manage the systems for fear they will disappear into thin air. Which, come to think of it, is actually quite possible...

Let's try to reduce the concept of virtualization sufficient to enable a decision about the technology and if it is right for you. Be patient this will take a few articles.

A virtual computer is a digital representation of another fully functional computer (the guest), which resides inside of a physical computer (the host). Wikipedia defines it thus: A virtual machine (VM) is a "completely isolated guest operating system installation within a normal host operating system".

Virtualization evolved from a fundamental economic requirement to reduce the cost of buying, housing, powering, and securing (think backups) of computers; mainly server class computers. It has been an exceptionally profitable undertaking.

I recall visiting one data center, and this was not a small single story building, with floors and floors of nothing but server computers. On a given floor there were rows and rows of racks filled with stacks of server computers, probably numbering in the thousands of actual physical servers, normally in a "blade" form factor so they could put more servers in a given rack.

There was an entire staff of network engineers moving through the rows doing some sort of maintenance, upgrades, or complete replacements. It was actually quite impressive, along with being very noisy and uncomfortably warm.

If I were to revisit that facility today, I would expect to see 75% less space being used to accomplish the same mission. Instead of thousands of servers, there might be hundreds. But, each of those servers would be running 10 Virtual Servers, delivering an equivalent in computing capacity.

Virtualization allows companies to dramatically reduce the cost of real estate, hardware, electricity, heating and cooling, and administration of data centers - (roughly in that order of savings). It is a mature and well established industry, with a few key software companies owning most of the market share. The solutions of which I am familiar are VMWare and Microsoft.

What is really cool, if you are a Geek, is that you can actually store an "image" of a virtual machine on a computer hard drive and launch it into action at a moments notice. When you do so, it's like magic - "poof"; and another fully functional computer appears on your network. This Virtual Disk Image (VMWare) or Virtual Hard Drive (Microsoft) can be moved easily to any host capable of powering it up.

Virtual machines have opened up all kinds of possibilities in managing technology at your school. But they are not without cost and may not always be practical in your particular situation. Proceed with care and it may save you a bundle, proceed carelessly and it may cost you your job when everything blows up

We'll explore a few of these ideas in the coming weeks.

Note: I am not an expert in either VMWare or Microsoft Hyper-V, leaders of virtual machine technology. This is not indended to be technical document, rather an overview for our many Charter School Administrators who  may really not want to know that much!

Desktop Security - How to avoid getting the latest bug

I was raised on a small farm in Idaho, where, believe it or not, one of my daily chores was to milk a cow – by hand. It was not a particularly difficult task, but did require a few essential pieces of equipment (aside from the cow), that being a bucket, cleaning supplies, and a wooden stool. The stool had three legs and was crucial to a successful outcome of the task.

Think about that 3 legged stool as we address the topic of desktop security; there is a lesson.

You should understand three important components to adequately address desktop security, trying to provide security with less can be a problem. They are:

1. A Firewall to block all of the ports into and out of your computer’s resources
2. Antivirus software to detect and destroy malicious code that arrives on your computer
3. Spyware/malware protection to avoid being tracked, hijacked, or otherwise taken for a ride

Although possible, it was rather hazardous to milk the cow using a one or even a two legged stool. And no stool at all was a real show stopper.Keep this corollary in mind as you consider how to protect your desktop from intrusions, virus’, and malware. Optimally you need all three, having none of them will eventually stop your computer from working – unless you have no connection to the outside world whatsoever.

What about one of the popular Security Suites?

A number of software companies provide security suites for PC’s. They attempt to combine all of the aforementioned security services into one package, and sometimes throw in some extras. Are these a good use of your resources? Generally, they are not and here is why.

The problem with most of the security suites on the market today is that they are akin to using a Lazyboy recliner to milk the cow (think of the above example).   Most of them just get in the way of getting the task at hand accomplished.

Let’s keep this real simple and cost effective to boot, by reviewing the three legs of the stool in more detail and how to construct them.

Desktop Firewall

Every Windows Operating System today has a built in firewall. It is more than adequate, especially now that most networks are protected by a gateway or perimeter firewall device. Even most consumer class DSL /Cable Modems, which connects you to the Internet now have this functionality.

So, rarely do you need to buy additional firewall software. In fact, part of the problems associated with added firewall software is the inevitable conflict with the Microsoft Windows firewall.  It either turns it off, tries overriding it, or attempts to co-exist with it.

Some of these third party firewalls are so obtrusive, they may actually block current programs or programs you are attempting to install. This in turn requires you to configure the firewall to allow access to these programs. And if you are installing one brand of security software that competes with the security software of another provider, the problem can even get worse.

As conflicts and performance issues arise, the firewall often gets turned off to accommodate running a particular program, defeating the entire purpose of the firewall in the first place.

My recommendation is to turn on the Windows Firewall and use it alone. If you have already purchased one of the Security Suites, simply uninstall or turn off the Firewall portion of that duplicate Firewall.

Antivirus Protection

Antivirus software is an essential part of securing your desktop or laptop. But having tried just about every brand out there, it is my opinion that few difference exists between them. No doubt there are minor differences in function and form, but most provide the same basic protection and nearly all Antivirus Software manufactures share Virus Signatures with each other in a cooperative manner, especially true during a new Virus outbreak.

It really boils down to price, and I mean total price.

Manually installing 100 copies of a free Antivirus solution in your school may be much more expensive that doing a centralized “push” type of installation from a server or management console, using a commercial antivirus solution. In other words, the hidden cost of labor could far outweigh the savings of “free” software.

My recommendation for organizations of 10 or less PC’s is to use one of the free antivirus programs available. My favorite is Microsoft Security Essentials. It is free (currently), reasonably light weight (meaning it is not a resource hog), and effective.

You can obtain a copy at the following URL: www.microsoft.com/security_essentials (don’t miss the underscore if you type that url) If you have a Microsoft school agreement, you can buy anti-virus, (end point ) protection for a few dollars per computer per year.

Spyware/Malware

The difference between a Virus, Spyware, or Malware infection can be very slight, indeed there is significant overlap in the two areas. And while much of the spyware or malware software is relatively harmless, it is a great idea to understand what software on your system may be running in the background without your knowledge or consent.

Common purposes of more serious Spyware/Malware programs are to harvest information from your system, utilize your system for unsavory purposes (such as sending out SPAM), track your browsing habits, and/or taking control of your computer.

There are all types of clever ways you can become infected with these programs, so you do need protection.  A common trick used to infect your system convincing you to install a free “Antivirus Program” or click on “Free Malware Scan”. This is usually accompanied by an unsolicited  pop-up telling you that your computer is infected.

I won’t even try to list the good, the bad, or the ugly when it comes to the enormous variety of programs in this category. I like to keep things real simple and cost effective.

My recommendation, again, for organizations of 10 or less PC’s is to use Microsoft Security Essentials. If you are still running Windows XP, then you'll need to look for Windows Defender, instead; it is still available for computers running earlier versions of Microsoft Windows. For a larger numbers of computers, please consider adding the software for your Microsoft School agreement.

Summary

I am quite aware these are all Microsoft solutions, but I make no apologies. In education, particularly, Microsoft provides a compelling value for software of all kinds. And who better is capable of understanding the real security issue of the Windows operating system than the company that created it.

And in spite of problems that are common to any mega Corporation, Microsoft has a wide variety of software solutions for education that perform as good or better than most other companies (especially in light of the wide variety of solutions they offer),and you can trust a genuine Microsoft product to actually work as specified.

Best of all - the programs mentioned above are free, or very close to it, and work quite happily together; or in larger quantities can be bundled with your School agreement at a fraction of the cost of buying antivirus software commercially.

One final note. You can dramatically improve desktop and laptop security by keeping your operating system up to date. Optimally, that would include a Windows 7 upgrade. As a minimum, be sure your installed operating system has all of the latest security patches. All versions on Windows have an update facility built right into the main menu.

Stay safe out there!

It’s time to upgrade to Windows 7… really it is.

Have you stopped for a moment, between fiddling with your Windows XP desktops, to consider the practical ramifications of running this outdated and no longer supported Operating System? You may be surprised at how much support time and resources are spent retaining it in your organization.

Sure, it still works and runs your existing programs. And yes, it will still work on those 10 year old computers, but at what cost?

The consumerization of desktop/laptop computers continues to bring prices down and features up as manufacturers compete for more business primarily through price. The benefit to you, the consumer, is that a new PC can be purchased for the rough equivalent of about 5 hours of modestly priced technical support. And how many times have you spent more than 5 hours, either all at once or piecemeal in resolving a computer issue.

Economics aside, consider what it really means when Microsoft “sunsets” an operating system, or it plain language, stops supporting it.

It does not mean that the software all of a sudden fails, nor does it mean that it will stop functioning at all in a steady state. In simplest of terms it means that Microsoft no longer does regression testing on new product releases. In other words, all patches, fixit utilities, service packs, hot-fixes, and new version roll-outs are not tested for backwards compatibility.

Due to the near infinite number of hardware combinations, system configurations, and software customizations it is impractical, if not impossible to test for backwards compatibility. Even assuring programs run on current Operating Systems is difficult enough. Furthermore, most new software is written or programmed for the new operating system architecture. Bottom line is you are on your own with Windows XP technical support.
In the back of your mind you probably know the upgrade is coming. But large upfront costs of purchasing and installing new workstations may persuade you to put it off. While that seems a reasonable course of action, the old saying of “Penny wise, pound foolish” really does apply. What you will begin to experience is support cost creep, an incremental, almost unnoticed, but constantly increasing expense to maintain your desktop/laptops.

Sadly, if your support personnel are paid on an hourly (break-fix) basis, rather than a support contract, they may not be motivated to push for the upgrade either.

Do yourself a favor, and do the upgrade to Windows 7. You’ll save money in the long run, and probably even in the no-so-long run. Even if you don't purchase new computers, do the upgrade! Windows 7 performs well on a large variety of not-so-new PCs
Now for some great news! The upgrade to Windows is very inexpensive for education customers. When you enroll in a Microsoft OVS-ES agreement for your school, you get blanket coverage for all computers in your organization. Furthermore, you also get a license to run Windows Office Professional 2010 on all of your computers in the school. Finally, there are many other software benefits you enjoy, such as work at home versions of the same software.

The cost of an OVS-ES agreement is determined by counting your full time staff and multiplying that number by $55.00 (approx.). Do the math and you will find this to be an extraordinary value. Windows 7, Office Professional, Core Client Access, and other benefits for a few dollars per PC.

Why you need a Help Desk

A help desk is a resource which provides information and assistance to troubleshoot problems with information technology equipment or services. It provides a single-point-of-contact for users within your school to report and resolve technical problems.

Our experience demonstrates a dramatic improvement in technical support function when a Help Desk is implemented, because it allows you to prioritize and track support requests, focus your limited support resources, and apply expertise at a level matching the issue at hand.

Help desks can be configured in various ways, but as a minimum should offer these 5 features:

1. Centralized system used throughout the entire school
2. Simplified interface for adding, updating, and tracking requests
3. Prioritized to effectively allocate resources and escalate support requests
4. Separate from you key infrastructure to eliminate your Help Desk from failing
5. Accountable to you in order to report and review technician effectiveness

What does your help desk look like now? Here are some we have observed first hand:

• Sticky notes handed to your IT person as they walk down the hall
• An interruption while in the midst of another support request
• An "oh by the way" mentioned at lunch
• A complaint in a meeting related to another subject

Although very common, none of these improve the performance of your IT staff. And in some cases these informal help desk habits can be very counter-productive.

Take the case of handing a sticky note to your technician as he walks down the hall (presumably on his way to another support request). Your interruption causes a lack of focus on the issue at hand, and the issue at hand causes a lack of attention to your request. This is a double dumbing down of the process.

An orderly help desk system is much more rational. User's generate support requests and are required by the system to categorize, prioritize, and then provide sufficient detail for the technicians. Technicians are notified much more efficiently and an accounting begins for that issue. Both parties, and others, can update information about the request and track the issue to resolution. Administrators can measure the rate and number of support incidents and have a better sense of the value a support mechanism is providing.

A byproduct of a robust Help Desk is the ability to archive resolved issues into a Knowledge Base which in turn provides a growing body of support information for your school. As this body of knowledge grows, the ability of users to self-help increases.

Most schools we observe, and all that we manage (by definition) have no full-time IT staff. A Help Desk in this scenario becomes a necessity. And we have found it very helpful to identify one or two gatekeepers in the school to take the responsibility of entering in technical support requests.The advantages of this arrangement are significant; a full-time support component, a better perspective about priorities, and a single point of contact for clarification and reporting.

Whether your school is large or small, simple or complex with respect to technology, or supported by internal or outsourced technicians you will benefit from a Help Desk.

In these resource constrained times you would be foolish to operate without one.

Managing Technology Resources

Too often we think about technology in terms of acquiring it and fixing it, with only secondary consideration to how it is managed as a powerful asset.

Once the technology infrastructure is in place, it requires ongoing oversight and administration. This is the most significant challenge facing charter schools, which tend to inadequately staff the infrastructure, for good reason.

The level of complexity demands much more than a part-time staff member or a part-time parent volunteer. And prevailing rates for competent network engineers typically exceed the compensation for charter school administrators or principals —a situation that is not sustainable.

We suggest a different management model to addresses this dilemma. It starts with competent technical support using consistent (weekly) scheduling, automated monitoring systems, a robust help-desk system, simplified integration, and unlimited 8 X 5 support.

Most freestanding schools can be managed in one day per week, unless you are working on new projects or on major upgrades. This keeps the annual costs of managing your infrastructure in line, yet provides the level of expertise required to manage these complex systems.