These days, technology plays a critical role in education, from the digital resources that are improving students’ learning experience to the MIS that manage all school’s data and critical processes. As a result, ineffective or out-of-date technology can have a significant detrimental impact, like slowing down processes, putting your school at risk of cybersecurity attacks, and hampering learning outcomes.
Knowing when it’s time to update or replace your hardware and software is critical to maximise your school’s efficiency and support your students. So, in this blog, I thought I’d go through the key signs your school’s technology needs an upgrade.
You’re using outdated hardware
Old hardware like computers, printers, and projectors can be significantly slower than their more modern counterparts or have limited functionality, resulting in inefficient processes that take up your staff’s time. It can also be hard to run new software on older systems, limiting their capabilities and stopping your school adopting new technology.
Most hardware has a working life of five to 10 years, so make sure you’re aware of when things should be replaced. Don’t forget to keep an eye on their performance, too, so they can be replaced before they have a detrimental impact on your school.
Your software is hosted on servers
Cloud-based software is far superior to solutions hosted on servers in several ways. But the most significant is that maintaining on-premises servers is costly and time consuming. They need regular upkeep, frequent security updates that have to be implemented by an IT professional, and replacing every three to five years.
Cloud solutions, on the other hand, are run on servers accessed via the internet so the servers are managed for you, receive automatic security updates, and are regularly upgraded remotely. That means your team won’t have to lift a finger to stay up to speed with the latest advances in technology.
You’re spending too much money on repairs
While investing in new hardware can be expensive, regular repairs of older systems can quickly add up and cost much more than simply replacing it. Newer technologies are also often faster, easier to use, and come with fresh capabilities that can boost your team’s efficiency, leading to time and cost savings in the future.
Your staff don’t find your software intuitive or easy to use
The most obvious indicator of outdated software and hardware is unintuitive, clunky systems which are hard to navigate and use. This can make processes slow and inefficient, taking up staff time that could be better put elsewhere. We often hear from teachers that use old-fashioned systems that they have to relearn how to do certain tasks that they don’t do regularly, as well, which slows things down even further.
Your school relies on disconnected technologies
For many years schools have used a number of different systems to run their school, for example, they usually have an MIS that is used in addition with a number of third-party apps to take care of things like behaviour management, parent communications, and homework. Unfortunately, these disconnected systems can lead to data silos and increase your staff’s manual workload as they have to re-input data across multiple systems.
It’s recommended you look for all-in-one solutions, like Bromcom MIS, which contain all the functionality you need in one system so you don’t have to worry about finding add-ons that integrate with your MIS, and only have to input data once into the system.
Future-proof your school with Bromcom
We offer a wide range of innovative solutions for schools, multi-academy trusts, and local authorities, including our fully featured MIS, our finance system, and Vision (our central data hub for MATs and LAs). As the first MIS provider to put an MIS on the cloud and the first to incorporate AI to an MIS, we’ve always been on the forefront of technology in the education sector.
Our cloud-based systems are regularly updated and enhanced in alignment with customer feedback and the latest advances in technology, ensuring our customers are continuously reaping the benefits of the most cutting-edge solutions, including time and cost savings.
You can learn more about cloud MIS and why you should switch to one in this blog.
To find out more about Bromcom and how our solutions could benefit your establishment, book a discovery call with our team.
