What is a BSF ICT Managed Service?
Building Schools for the Future (BSF) is the government's plan to bring all secondary school facilities in England up to 21st century standards. The national programme is being rolled out across the country over a 15-year period.
For Waltham Forest , this will transform secondary education first in Walthamstow and then in Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford, through a combination of organisational change and renewal of the buildings and other facilities. A map is available showing the three phases of development http://www.walthamforest.gov.uk/bsfmapofschools-2.pdf
BSF will bring £99m in government funding for secondary and special schools in Walthamstow and a similar amount for Leyton, Leytonstone and Chingford. All secondary school buildings (except the two existing PFI schools, Lammas and Heathcote Secondary schools which have been recently rebuilt), will be rebuilt or refurbished to bring them up to 21st century standards. There will also be major investment in information and communications technology (ICT), which is a vital part of the transformation.
To ensure that the major investment in ICT infrastructure and hardware is sustainable, the DCSF required all BSF Local Authorities to include an ICT Managed Service in their standard BSF programme. In Waltham Forest , the ICT Managed Service will be delivered by Ramesys, which is the Waltham Forest BSF ICT partner.
Ramesys will:
• Work with the schools on development of the school's ICT vision
• Advise schools on integration of the ICT provision, based on the school's vision, with the new/refurbished buildings
• Develop with the schools a customised ICT solution, including choice of hardware and software, designated use of ICT resources and a training programme
• Implement the ICT service in the new/refurbished buildings
• Manage the ICT services in the new/refurbished schools for the duration of the ICT contract
The ICT Managed service will include the following services:
• Provision and installation of new hardware and software
• integration and support of transferred legacy hardware and software
• Development and provision of training and technical and educational consultancy services
• Support for the school MIS
• Support for the school's Learning Platform
• Provision and support of an email system
• Support for provided e-registration systems
• Back-up and disaster recovery
• On-site and remote support for all services provided, including a telephone helpdesk
• A robust service-level agreement for all the services provided
• Managing of a school's network and server.
The ICT Managed service does not include:
• disposal of legacy equipment not integrated in the ICT Managed Service
• support for access control, cashless catering and CCTV (these will be provided as part of the build contract, with support available as an additional service).
A more detailed list of the services provided will be made available to all schools shortly, as online FAQ, and will also cover the role schools will have to play in the implementation of the services and how the operational managed service will work in practice.
