Learning Locker
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Multi-academy trusts have become a significant part of the education landscape in the UK, with more than 1,200 multi-academy trusts in England alone, running more than 10,000 academies. Despite the numerous educational benefits, the journey towards creating a scalable, efficient, and standardised IT infrastructure across a trust is not always without its challenges.
As expert technology service providers and partners to multiple MATs in the UK, Computeam is well-positioned to support trusts in overcoming these roadblocks and achieving their educational goals. Our IT solutions can help trusts get the most out of their IT estate and improve learning outcomes across multiple academies.
The importance of IT infrastructure in MATs
With many primary and secondary schools now operating within multi-academy trusts, the need for cohesive, robust IT infrastructure has never been greater. Each new academy that joins a trust brings its own set of technologies, processes, and IT standards. The challenge for MAT leadership is to unify these disparate systems into a cohesive, scalable, and efficient IT infrastructure.
Indeed, the process of centralising IT services is complex. Computeam’s Whole Multi-Academy Trust Support service, which combines both Smart Support and Core Support, helps align technology resources across multiple sites, ensuring seamless operations, security, and connectivity. Whether it’s migrating services to the cloud, streamlining network infrastructure, or implementing standardised software, our approach is designed to reduce complexity while improve performance.
Key challenges faced by MATs
Logistical roadblocks in EdTech
When it comes to IT, multi-academy trusts often encounter a number of strategic challenges. These can include:
Scalability
Expanding a trust means expanding its network, security, and cloud infrastructure. Computeam’s solutions are designed to scale with your trust, ensuring that as new academies join, your IT systems grow seamlessly.
Efficiency
Budget constraints and time pressures can make it difficult to deploy IT solutions effectively. Our managed services reduce the strain on internal resources, delivering high-quality IT systems that meet deadlines and stay within budget.
Standardisation
Achieving consistency across multiple academies, especially those with pre-existing infrastructure, can be difficult. Computeam offers comprehensive support in standardising IT policies, software, and hardware to create a uniform, streamlined system across the entire trust.
Beyond these high-level challenges, MATs must also address more specific, on-the-ground issues, such as implementing the trust’s standard technology practices in academies with established IT setups or managing technological conflicts between different systems.
How Computeam supports MATs
Hybrid MAT Support
Centralisation and cloud migration
Centralising IT infrastructure is key to improving efficiency and security across a multi-academy trust. Computeam offers services designed to simplify this process, including cloud migration solutions that ensure data and applications are securely hosted and accessible from any location.
By migrating to the cloud, MATs can reduce reliance on physical servers, cut costs, and increase the accessibility of their systems. Computeam also ensures that this transition is seamless, supporting each academy throughout the migration process and providing ongoing technical support.
Consolidating IT services and networks
Multi-academy trusts often juggle numerous software subscriptions, network systems, and service providers. Computeam helps MATs consolidate these services, reducing the number of vendors and platforms while increasing overall efficiency. By centralising software licences, networking, and third-party services, we can simplify IT management and provide a single point of accountability for all technical services.
Enhancing security across the trust
As MATs grow, maintaining network security across multiple sites becomes increasingly important. Computeam offers robust cybersecurity solutions tailored to the unique needs of educational institutions. From data protection and firewall management to secure identity management solutions, we ensure that every academy in your trust remains secure and compliant with data protection regulations.
Supporting IT skills development
Another core feature of Computeam’s services is training. MATs often have varied IT skill levels across staff members, making it essential to invest in skills development. We provide bespoke IT training programmes for teaching staff and administrative teams through Learning Locker, ensuring they can make the most of the centralised IT systems and technology. By training staff, MATs can increase the efficiency of their operations and make sure that technology is fully integrated into the educational process.
Partnering for success
Choose Computeam
Computeam believes that the best IT solutions are delivered through building partnerships. We work closely with MAT leadership teams to understand their unique needs, offering advice and solutions to optimise their IT estates. We provide a fully managed service that takes the strain off internal teams, consolidating multiple systems and subscriptions into a single, manageable contract.
By working with Computeam, MATs can reduce costs, streamline operations, and ensure a consistent user experience across all academies. Most importantly, we ensure that your trust is future-proofed and ready to meet the ever-evolving demands of technology and innovation.
How can we help?
As educational technology continues to advance, MATs must be agile and adaptable. Computeam is committed to staying at the forefront of these changes.
MATs face significant obstacles as they work to optimise their IT infrastructure. With the right partner, these challenges can be turned into opportunities. Computeam’s Whole Multi-Academy Trust Support service considers scalability, security, and efficiency, allowing MATs to focus on their core mission to deliver high-quality education across multiple academies.
If you’d like to find out more about any of the MAT support services mention above, please do get in touch by clicking the button below.
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