Technology strategy and procurement support for education.
Schools and universities are asked to strengthen security, improve the experience for students and staff, and modernize aging systems, all on tight budgets and without disrupting learning.
Security is now an education problem.
Three findings from the sector's own reporting.
Two different realities.
Districts and campuses share a budget calendar and very little else.
Decisions made inside the funding calendar.
The technology is rarely the hard part. The timing is.
We work inside procurement structures and funding realities, including E-rate considerations where they apply, rather than around them. The requirement is written early enough that the evaluation fits the cycle.
We stay involved afterward, because the useful question comes six months in: is it performing, and what should change.
- Requirements timed to the budget cycle
- E-rate considerations where they apply
- Security scaled to the staff you have
- A review after the first semester
How an engagement runs.
The same order in every industry. What changes is the rulebook the decision has to satisfy.
- DiagnoseWhat you run, what it costs, what is at risk
- Write the requirementIncluding the rules the purchase has to satisfy
- CompareEvery option on one sheet, the incumbent and doing nothing included
- Decide and documentA rationale that survives an auditor, an insurer, or a board
- Stay engagedThrough implementation, and the review six months in
Where the work usually lands.
Each links to the area where we go deeper.
Campus and district connectivity
Secure, dependable networks, including wireless strategy.
Infrastructure and cloudRansomware readiness
Protecting student data with the staff you actually have.
Security and riskAcademic integrity
Virtual desktops, MFA, and data enclaves for exams and research.
Read the articleSystems modernization
Instructional and administrative systems that can scale.
Infrastructure and cloudCommunications
Phones, paging, and the copper lines behind life-safety systems.
CommunicationsVendor consolidation and cost
Fewer overlapping contracts, benchmarked renewals.
Bill analysisQuestions we hear from districts and campuses.
The ones we hear most, with straight answers.
All questionsDo you help with E-rate?
We take E-rate considerations into account when we write requirements and compare options, so eligible services are not overlooked. We are not an E-rate filing consultant; if you need one, we will say so.
We have a small IT team. Is that a problem?
It is the usual situation. Recommendations are sized to the people who will run them, and a provider that assumes a larger team than you have is scored accordingly.
Can you help with a single decision, like a phone system?
Yes. Many engagements start with one decision. The same method applies: requirement first, options on one sheet, compensation disclosed.
