Reflecting on the last day of term, INTEGY Co-founder Ryan Jewell shares his thoughts on the evolution of IT in Education and Why Multi Academy Trusts need more than an IT provider.
Having taken a step back I can see that across education, technology has become one of the most critical services supporting teaching, learning and organisational resilience. Yet when speaking to any trust considering what is next, I ask the same question: “Are you simply maintaining technology, or are you using it to drive better outcomes?” Often they are maintaining.
The Shift Towards Cloud-Native Education
Many Multi Academy Trusts have already completed significant digital transformation programmes.
Devices are managed through Microsoft Intune. Identity is delivered through Microsoft Entra. Collaboration is centred around Microsoft 365. Students and staff expect access to services from anywhere. Increasingly, educational organisations are operating in environments that are entirely cloud-managed rather than dependent upon traditional on-premises infrastructure. This creates tremendous opportunity. But it also creates new responsibilities.
Technology leaders must now think about:
- Identity security
- Endpoint compliance
- Safeguarding and cyber resilience
- User adoption
- Data governance
- Operational consistency across multiple sites
- Budget efficiency
These challenges cannot be solved through reactive support alone.
Why “Keeping the Lights On” Is No Longer Enough
Traditional IT support models were designed for a different era. Success was measured by how quickly tickets were closed. Modern educational organisations require something different.
Success is increasingly measured by:
- Reduced cyber risk
- Increased staff productivity
- Better use of Microsoft licensing
- Improved student experience
- Greater operational efficiency
- Technology standardisation across schools
The most successful trusts are moving away from break-fix support and towards strategic partnerships that continually improve the technology estate. The organisations that gain the most value from Microsoft 365 are rarely those spending the most money. They’re the ones continually reviewing, optimising and evolving what they already own.
Security Has Become a Leadership Issue
Cyber security is no longer solely an IT concern. For education leaders, it is increasingly a business continuity concern.
Schools and colleges continue to face growing threats from:
- Credential compromise
- Phishing attacks
- Device theft
- Data loss
- Ransomware
- Supply chain vulnerabilities
As a result, technologies such as the following are becoming foundational rather than optional:
- Microsoft Intune
- Microsoft Entra
- Conditional Access
- Microsoft Defender
- Zero Trust architectures
The challenge for many educational organisations is that these capabilities are already included within their licensing, but are often only partially implemented. The opportunity is not necessarily purchasing more technology. The opportunity is maximising the investment already made.
Standardisation Creates Capacity
One of the biggest opportunities available to education is standardisation.
Every hour spent supporting multiple configurations, different policies, inconsistent security controls or varying device standards is an hour that cannot be invested elsewhere.
When trusts successfully standardise the following they create operational capacity:
- Device management
- Security baselines
- Identity controls
- User onboarding
- Application delivery
Technology teams spend less time firefighting and more time delivering value. This improves resilience, simplifies support and provides a more consistent experience for staff and students.
What Good Looks Like
The strongest educational environments we encounter tend to share common characteristics:
- Cloud-first management
- Strong identity controls
- Secure-by-default devices
- Consistent standards across all sites
- Automated deployment and management
- Proactive cyber security monitoring
- Clear governance
- A continual improvement mindset
Technology becomes an enabler rather than an overhead. That should be the goal.
The Future of Educational Technology
Educational institutions face significant challenges:
- Budget pressures
- Staffing constraints
- Increasing cyber threats
- Growing user expectations
At the same time, they have access to one of the most powerful ecosystems available through Microsoft 365 and other cloud based solutions. The question is no longer whether the capability exists. The question is whether organisations are positioned to maximise it. For me the future belongs to trusts that can combine secure technology, strong governance and continual optimisation into a single operating model.
Because ultimately, successful educational technology isn’t about devices, networks or applications. It’s about enabling educators to focus on delivering exceptional outcomes for learners.
….Teachers its now time to recharge your batteries.
Ryan – Co-founder INTEGY