Throughout history of formal education, schools have struggled with the need for ever-increasing resources. The constant battles of how best to use funds, from teacher compensation to curriculum needs and facilities to insurance, have gone on for decades. As technology has become part of the equation, schools have found that a modern technological environment does not come cheap to install and maintain. The notion of hiring a technology consultant seems absurd when precious resources should be directed towards students. Why do we need an expert to tell us where are holes are when we already know them?
I am here to tell you today that tech consultants can be a great asset to schools if the consultant is contracted correctly. While tech consultants do still provide audits and strategic planning services, today’s tech consultants who have experience in educational environments can provide almost an unlimited number of technical and strategic services to schools. Consider the following scenarios:
- School “A” is setting up a new collaborative platform like Microsoft365 and needs assistance developing training materials and configuring the system
- School “B” wants to reduce the risk of student privacy breaches and utilizes a consultant to evaluate current security methods and make improvement suggestions
- School “C” is running behind on getting ready for school and utilizes a tech consultant to configure a new internet content filter platform and train the IT Staff on it
- School “D” has several data systems that will interconnect and exchange information but no time to set this up, so the tech consultant is hired to link the systems and write the procedures
As with the examples above, the tech consultant can handle very macro problems such as strategic planning or cost center evaluation, very micro problems like configuring G Suite, or somewhere in the middle by integrating multiple systems together. The engagement can be a few hours or a longer range of time depending on the particular need. The consultant can be paid on an hourly basis, project basis, or be on retainer.
Hiring a tech consultant can save a school time and money as well. Because a tech consultant is paid based on time worked, when they are focused on your project that is all they are doing. They are not handling support requests or system management from others in your school like an employee would likely be. This means the consultant can accomplish more work for you in a shorter period of time. Additionally the school is not incurring the expense of payroll taxes, benefits and other personnel costs on top of a salary, so you may be able to hire a consultant for a series of projects, get them all accomplished fairly quickly, and still save money.
In today’s pandemic environment with a lot of unknowns, committing to a full-time employee is a big risk, but you can’t afford to hunker down in a world where distance and remote learning is a real possibility. Focusing your internal tech staff on handling the day-to-day needs while utilizing a tech consultant to target specific projects can be a great way to keep moving forward without much risk.
LeadershipOne Technologies has the experience in the education industry to understand what works and doesn’t work for schools, and can design a specific engagement for your school based on your needs. Contact us today and let us know how we can help you keep moving forward!