One supplier or several for school classroom technology?

What is the choice between one supplier and several?

A classroom's technology has several parts: a display such as a projector, the teacher's and pupils' devices, a learning platform, the support and training that keep them working, and the way the school pays. A school can buy all of them from one supplier, or buy each part from whoever suits that part best.

Neither is right for every school. The choice depends on how many people the school has to manage the contracts, how much it is spending, what its own buying rules require, and how much it values a single place to call when something stops working.

Decide what the classroom needs first, and how many suppliers second. The UK Department for Education's buying guidance for schools describes a specification as “The document you give to suppliers explaining what you want to buy.” One specification for the whole classroom lets a school compare one supplier's offer with several suppliers' offers on the same terms.

When does one supplier make sense?

One supplier makes sense when the school has little time to manage contracts, wants one contact for support, and needs the display, devices and platform to work together from the first day. It means fewer contracts, fewer renewal dates and less room for each supplier to blame another when something fails.

Support is where one contact helps most. The UK Department for Education's IT support standard notes that “In schools and colleges, IT support is often provided through a mix of internal staff and external contracts”, and advises: “If you use external suppliers for IT support, check your contract to understand the service levels they’re required to provide.” With one supplier there is one contract to check; with several, there is one for each.

With a single supplier, the trade-off is choice: the school takes each part as that supplier offers it, so check each part against the specification rather than accepting the bundle as a whole.

When do multiple suppliers make sense?

Several suppliers make sense when one part of the classroom needs a specialist, when the school already owns some of the technology and only needs to add to it, or when its buying rules ask for competing quotes. Each part can then be chosen on its own merits and priced against others.

Competing quotes are part of normal school buying. For schools in England, the Department for Education's buying guidance lists, as one route, to “get at least 3 quotes from suppliers for low or medium value purchases”, and says “How you buy for your school depends on the amount you’re spending.” A Malaysian school follows its own buying rules; the principle of comparing like with like is the same.

With multiple suppliers, the trade-off is coordination: the school, not a supplier, has to make sure the pieces work together and keep track of each supplier's contract, warranty and support terms.

What should a school ask any supplier, one or several?

Ask every supplier the same questions, whether it supplies one part or all of them: does this work with what the school already has, who supports it and how quickly, how long do the warranty and the security updates last, what training comes with it, and when does each contract renew. The answers make one offer comparable with another.

The UK sources are written for schools and colleges in England. What a platform contract should say about renewal, notice and price is covered in Easy Edu's school platform contract checklist.

How do you make sure the parts work together?

Test the parts together before buying at scale: connect the teacher's device to the display, sign in to the platform on it, and run a normal lesson in a real classroom. Ask each supplier what it needs from the others, and write down who fixes what if the parts stop working together.

The school's own needs come first, not the supplier's bundle. The UK laptops, desktops and tablets standard asks schools to look at “how devices are being used, including who uses them, where they are being kept and what they are being used for”, to identify “the number and type of devices needed” and “the level of technical support needed”.

The classroom test is the same whether the answer is one supplier or several. Within the group, Citzen says on its own site: “We run hands-on demo sessions at schools so teachers and students can try the CZ-4 in real classroom workflows. By appointment.” Whether a classroom needs a projector or a flat screen is a separate question, covered in projector or TV for a classroom.

What if the school wants to leave a supplier later?

Settle the exit before signing: ask what happens to the school's data and accounts, to devices under warranty or on a payment plan, and to any subscription when the contract ends, and how much notice the school must give. The more the school buys from one supplier, the more those terms matter, because one exit then touches every part of the classroom.

Depending on one supplier is a risk the contract can limit. With a single supplier there is no second quote to compare at renewal unless the school asks for one, so diary each renewal early. Easy Edu's school platform contract checklist lists renewal and notice and what the price covers among the clauses to settle for a platform, and the UK governance standard warns of “budget pressures due to accidental renewal of subscriptions, software and hardware that might not be needed, or are not the best value for money”.

How do you keep track of several contracts?

Keep one register of every supplier, what each supplies, its warranty end date, its support terms and its renewal date, and review it once a year before the budget is set. A school with several suppliers needs the register more than one with a single supplier, because the dates are spread across more contracts.

The UK Department for Education's digital leadership and governance standard says registers “keep track of buying and licensing so that schools or colleges can get better value for money when renewing software and hardware”.

A register turns several suppliers into one list the school controls. How to budget for those renewals is in the group's guide to planning a school technology budget.

A worked example. A school that already has a learning platform wants displays in six classrooms and laptops for their teachers. Its one specification describes those classrooms, the platform the laptops must sign in to, and the support and training it expects. It sends that specification to one supplier that covers both parts and to separate display and laptop suppliers, asks each the questions in the table above, and compares the offers on the same terms. Whichever it chooses, the displays, the laptops and the platform each get a line on the register with their warranty end and renewal dates.

Which group company covers which part of a classroom?

Within ES Producation Groups, each part of a classroom's technology sits with a different company, so a school can talk to one group about several parts, or ask about only the part it needs. Each company's own site holds the detail where it has one; ES Producation Services is reached through the group contact.

Buying from more than one group company still means separate terms for each. Neon+, for example, gives a 365-day local warranty with 1-to-1 replacement for product faults in warranty, as its FAQ sets out, and offers 0% instalment plans for Malaysian teachers, application required.

How does a school ask for a classroom technology quote?

Send the number of classrooms, the displays and devices already in use, the learning platform if there is one, and which parts the school wants to add or replace. Say whether a payment option is wanted. With that, the group can put the school in touch with the right company for each part.

• How many classrooms, and which already have a display.
• The teachers' and pupils' devices in use.
• The learning platform, if any, and its renewal date.
• Which parts the school wants to add or replace, and whether a payment option is wanted.

WhatsApp the group on +60 12-565 2091 or email info@neonplus.com.my, and we will put you in touch with the right company. Every school technology guide from the group is listed on the insights page.