I've
seen school districts pull some really dumb moves when it comes
to buying technology. Of course, there are plenty of savvy technology
buyers in school districts today, but even the smartest folks
sometimes make the wrong choices and have to live with their
own -- or their predecessors' -- mistakes. I'm talking about
the kind of purchases that are well intended but also wasteful,
shortsighted, and ultimately harmful to the goal of providing
the sound educational experience that students and parents deserve.
For the
past decade, I've been the marketing director for a computer
software, hardware, and services company that sells to K-12
districts. I've also got an insider view from my wife, who is
an elementary school teacher. In conversations over the years
with colleagues, other vendors, and my wife, I've noticed that
districts seem to be making the same avoidable mistakes over
and over again -- what I've categorized as the 10 common pitfalls
of technology buying.
1.
What training and support? My wife came home
many years ago energized about her district's new technology
plan: computers in every classroom, everything networked, all
the bells and whistles. After the details spilled out, I asked
when she would be going for training. There was silence. I asked
who would be maintaining the district network after the installation.
More silence. Not surprisingly, the supper talk a few years
later was about her frustration in trying to have her inoperative
classroom computers fixed and how long it might be before the
district e-mail would be up and running.
The No.
1 technology-buying pitfall is grandiose purchases of hardware
or software with no provisions on the back end for training
users, for maintaining the hardware, or for technical support.
Without these things, the new purchase will be counterproductive.
Instead of enabling users, the new technology will saddle them
with another burden and another demand on their precious time.
No purchase should be made without a budget for training and
support.
2.
The chicken or the egg? Which comes first, hardware
or software? In technology, the answer's easy. But too often,
districts search around for a software product that will work
with their new hardware or their new network. That's wrong-headed.
Big corporations learned a long time ago that information technology
should focus on the business problem the technology is supposed
to solve -- not on the computers themselves. In other words,
productivity and profits depend on getting the work done, not
on the kind of computer being used.
In a school
district as well as a business, the software is the determining
factor for improving productivity. Find the software that will
get your work done, and then worry about the hardware. Thankfully,
as hardware has become more standardized, this is less of a
problem.
3.
Technology for technology's sake. One of the most
common pitfalls is purchasing the latest and greatest technology
just because it is the latest and greatest. You know the scenario:
The budget is passed, the money has to be spent, and every school
board meeting has folks clamoring for your district to be brought
into the modern age. A community wiring day is organized, high-speed
Internet access is provided to every classroom, and a couple
hundred thousand dollars have disappeared. Now what?
What will
the classroom teachers do with this Internet access? What will
the district do with whatever else the money bought? Once again,
technology is purchased without regard to the business problem
or the end result. Having put the cart before the horse, the
district now needs to find a way to justify the expenditure.
Too often this leads to a snowball effect, because the district
spends more and more to bring about the effects that parents
and taxpayers expected in the first place.
4.
We're different from other districts. Sure, it's
nice to do things your own way. But bucking computer-industry
standards or insisting on highly customized software products
to fit your quirks is a wasteful strategy. If you can't get
the task done your way with the staggering array of off-the-shelf
hardware and software available today, then maybe you need to
change your ways. Highly customized solutions cost more to buy,
cost more to support, and cost more to throw out when someone
finally sees the light.
5.
This one is just right. Call it the Goldilocks principle:
Some technology purchases are too big, some are too small, and
some are just right. Most common is the purchase that is too
big and too complex. Caught up in a wave of enthusiasm, a district
will try to do everything at once. New administrative servers,
new personnel and budget software, a new network, laptops for
the teachers, and a student ID-card system all arrive one late
summer day at the back door. The custodians are enlisted to
help configure the network, and a special dumpster is brought
in to handle the 600 shipping boxes. Everyone knows the project
is doomed to fail, but somehow it seemed like a good idea at
the time.
Less common
are the purchases that are too small. Rather than following
a thoughtful technology plan, the district buys computers and
printers one or two at a time for the most vocal users. The
district has 17 brands, no vendor loyalty or support, and high
per-unit costs due to small volume. How do you get it just right?
Define your business problems first, sketch out a two- or three-year
technology plan, and make purchases that balance your budget
with your needs.
6.
This one is even faster! Computer servers and PC
desktop clients are often misunderstood. They often look the
same and hold some of the same components. Unfortunately, this
leads some districts to purchase a desktop PC for a task that
really should be handled by a server. Plus, the focus is often
on chip speed -- the faster the better.
In reality,
servers and desktop PCs are very different animals. The job
of a server is to supply data to many different clients at nearly
the same time. Sometimes actual processing takes place on the
server, but today it is more often the desktop PC clients that
are doing the processing and the server that is storing and
retrieving data over your network. For this reason, a server
needs to have copious amounts of very fast disk space, lots
of memory, a very robust I/O (the stuff that shuttles data back
and forth internally), and a blazing network connection. The
speed of the chip, measured in megahertz, is really a secondary
concern for a server.
PC clients,
on the other hand, do need fast chip speeds. They also should
have lots of memory, comfortable ergo- nomics, and big monitors
with crisp resolution. Many disk drives in office desktop PCs
sold today are actually too big for the average user. The lesson?
Work with your vendor to configure servers and desktop PCs correctly.
Bigger and faster is not necessarily better -- just more expensive.
7.
Chevy or Ferrari? Local-area networks are difficult
to install and maintain, even for experts. Connecting multiple
schools with their own local networks into a single wide-area
network only aggravates the headache and often drives school
districts to extremes. Either the district continues to use
a network scheme that was put in place years ago, even though
less expensive and easier to administer options exist today.
Or -- thanks to lack of expertise or extravagant dreams -- the
district wildly overspends and overbuilds its network. When
phone companies, Internet service providers, and networking
vendors all get involved with the same project, money can flow
faster than the network traffic.
How can
you avoid these extremes? First, determine your network requirements
for now and for the next couple of years. Decide who needs access
to what, and when and where they need it. Second, educate yourself
and your district on the basic networking options available
today so you can make an informed decision. Finally, take your
requirements to your vendors and ask for the least expensive
but most reliable solution they can recommend. Do not ask for
the finest or most elegant solution. Ask for the best way to
meet your requirements for the least amount of outlay. If a
Chevy will get you safely and reliably from point A to point
B and back again, why buy a Ferrari?
8.
Brand A and only Brand A. This pitfall first caught
my attention many years ago when just about the only computer
you could find in a school was an Apple Macintosh. Oh, the money
spent with Apple Computer and only Apple Computer! Yet,
other brands were available that could serve the same need.
Schools eventually started buying other brands of computers
as well as Apples, but this pitfall is still around in other
forms.
To some
extent it does make sense to standardize on a brand of hardware.
Support costs are lower, training times are shortened, and volume
discounts can be obtained. Standardization of software is also
key to preserving interoperability within a district. But it's
easy to become overly attached to a brand or a vendor. Why bother
looking around when everything is going so well? Because things
could be going even better. Technology buyers must force themselves
not to become dependent on a single brand or vendor and not
to become complacent. Visit other school districts. The next
time you need to make a purchase, ask a new vendor to make a
recommendation. If nothing else, it will keep you and your current
vendor honest.
9.
We've never had a problem before. Boy, have I heard that
one -- usually during the panicked phone call from the school
that just had a fire or a power failure and hadn't backed up
any data in two years. Look, stuff happens. But many districts
fail to put enough thought into backing up important data, providing
network and physical security, and planning for a method of
recovery in the event of a disaster. It costs money to avoid
this pitfall, sure. It also costs money (and time) to recreate
student grade histories, to re-enter a payroll, and to explain
to little Johnny's angry parents why their darling's electronic
portfolio is no longer available to show Grandma on visiting
day.
Your district
servers should be protected by uninterruptible power supply
systems, and your daily backups should be stored off-site. So
should your monthly tape backup. While you're at it, store some
of your important printer forms off-site, too. Your network
should have a firewall installed. Your desktop PCs should be
physically secured when your employees are not present. Your
technology vendors should have an open purchase order so you
can buy quick replacements when needed, or you should have a
contract with a disaster recovery vendor.
10. Feuding
tribes. I've saved my favorite for last: feuding
tribes of users, administrators, teachers, and others who fight
over the direction of the district's technology efforts. This
political infighting has probably caused more damage than any
other pitfall, and it's probably the most difficult to avoid.
I've seen otherwise good people sabotage replacement software
and hardware merely because it was different from what they
were previously using.
Schools,
like other organizations, must learn to adapt and grow stronger
in a constantly changing world. It ain't easy. But with strong
administrative leadership, with a realistic and clearly defined
technology plan focused on business problems, and with a little
common sense, it can be done.
John
Painter
is marketing director for Computer Solutions Inc. in Orange,
N.J.
