Future Procurement - What Should it Look Like?
In the age of the latest IT innovations, and with technology that is due to accelerate in coming years (VR,AI, etc), coupled with tighter budgets, it’s become increasingly difficult for schools to keep up with the vast array of technology available.
Schools are having to try and juggle this into their budgets for the classroom and work out what they actually need (the same can be said for every business – the challenges are pretty aligned).
Over the last few years the tendency has been to shop around online, looking for the best price as a means to getting the equipment required. This is not always the best policy, as buying on price does not always get the customer the best solution for their needs (and can pull valuable resources away from where they are desperately needed).
Furthermore there has been a push by some IT resellers to be a catch all (i.e. experts in everything). Teachers know this is not possible; how can a teacher be the best at every subject? The information they would need to know would be too great. It is the same for IT Resellers.
So “Where Do You Start”? You need to try and find a reseller that has strong links, not just with the vendors they work with, but partnerships with other specialists that can help the school on a journey where they get the best solution for what the school needs. This approach will invariably get you the best end to end solution, greatest return on investment and longevity of hardware/software to fit the budget.
SystemActive work on this approach, as we can’t possibly be experts at everything – the cost to schools would be too great. We therefore create an ECO system of suppliers and partners to work alongside us, bringing those specialisations together to give the customer an end to end solution. This is the only true way any school or business can make their IT work for them, rather than have a mish mash of technology that only ‘kind of’ works.
As technology improves our lives, the complexities tend to increase. Schools and businesses need tools that work for them. There has never been a bigger reason to work with organisations where the school is seen as partner in a solution. Collaboration is the reason we evolve, without it the end product is never as good as it could be….
Mark Budgen
