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Over the next few months, we are going to introduce some big changes to school licensing. It will make licensing simpler, and it will make it significantly cheaper for most schools in the UK. The big announcement of all of the detail will happen in January at BETT 2011 in London, but we're publishing...

At the end of 2009, I worked with a group of schools, and with Gerald Haigh (an ex-head teacher and educational writer) to create the Money Saving ICT Tips , which was used for a presentation at the BETT 2010 show, and also for a series of later case studies looking at the numbers in more detail. The...

hI’ve blogged about software licensing before, and have hopefully managed to explain the various options and the cost saving possibilities – especially in number 12 of my Top ICT Money Saving Tips h and in “ Get the best deal on Microsoft software ”. So, having done that ‘top-down’ stuff – explaining...

So here we are the very last part of the series of Top 10 ICT Money Saving Tips for schools , based on my BETT 2010 presentation. It’s taken me a while to get all of these written down, because although I know the story behind each of these money saving tips, to actually structure it in a way that makes...

Part twelve of the series of Top 10 ICT Money Saving Tips for schools , based on my BETT 2010 presentation. Good news, my counting was hopeless, and my Top 10 tips actually contain 14 Top ICT Money Saving Tips. So there’s more to come after this one If you don’t spend all of your time obsessing about...

I’m sure this list is out on the web somewhere, but just in case you’ve not seen it in this easy-to-read format before, below is my list of the features of each version of Windows 7. I think this will help you to work out which one is right for your school: Windows 7 Home Premium is the retail...

Our Worldwide Partner Conference was on this week, and there has been a flurry of announcements. I’ll summarise those that are important to schools over the next few days, but if you can’t wait then go over to our PressPass site . One of the most important things mentioned at the conference was the imminent...

A year ago we started conversations with OGC and Becta to refresh our licensing schemes, with a goal of adding in some more flexibility for individual customers, and responding to changes in the way that all public sector organisations use ICT. With OGC (now known as Buying Solutions ) we looked at the...

We’ve introduced a new licensing scheme pilot for UK schools this morning, which introduces more flexibility, and potentially some cost savings for some of you. Here’s the summary of it: Subscription Enrolment for Schools The agreement option sits between our existing Select and School Agreement...

I don’t think I’m letting out any secrets when I say that it can be complicated to buy software – there are so many different licensing schemes from so many different suppliers. And so it can sometimes be easy to get tripped up by the process. I know that people are looking for easier answers – last...

With the news this week on Information Security guidelines for schools – and the obvious need for encryption on teachers’ laptops from now on, I think it would be timely to remind you how to ensure that you buy the right licences for Windows Vista – so that you get the licences for BitLocker, which is...

It’s been nice to see some thawing in the relationship between Becta and Microsoft. To be honest, this has taken too long, because Becta’s snappy catchline “Leading Next Generation Learning” is what we’re all about too. Yesterday they published their press release “ Becta welcomes substantial progress...

Are you confident that you are making the best use of your education software assets? Lets be honest, licensing is not an exciting subject and can be confusing, so its no wonder that many schools don't know whether they're getting the most out of their current agreements or if they're even on the right...

As you probably know, Microsoft sells our software through partners - just like consumer goods manufacturers, or people who make cars, we appoint a range of partners to supply our various products to our customers, including education. However, there are different types of partner - and knowing about...

Yes, I thought so! One of the frustrations for those leading ICT developments in schools is the reaction that they get every time that they need to invest more in their ICT. It is sometimes frustrating to have to convince others that keeping up-to-date with technology is important. One of the ways...

I've mentioned Long Eaton before - they have everybody in school using Office 2007, and almost all of their laptops and desktop computers are running Windows Vista. And their commitment to the use of ICT to enhance curriculum delivery is backed with an exceptional level of funding from their core budget...