Behind an Apple reseller's million-dollar school rollout

Was everyone happy with the switch to Apple?

Patrick: The types of enquiries that I had four years ago and the type of enquiry I get now are very different. It was previously ‘Why not Windows?’ and now it’s ‘We can see the benefit of the decision you made four years ago.’ 

There’s still the enquiry about ‘Why not Windows?’ because there are some die-hards, but the reality is that the peripherals are becoming more important for the new styles of learning, where you are needing to attach robotics and attach peripherals like 3D printers. [There are more] developers for the Windows platform than for the Mac, especially iPads. One of the reasons we didn’t extend iPads into the middle school was because of that potential.

What can you tell us about the infrastructure behind the scenes?

Patrick: Since the beginning of the one-to-one program, we have heavily engaged in virtualisation technologies. That has given us the ability to take on more enterprise equipment in a far more efficient way. It’s allowed us to be more confident that our business continuity and disaster recovery processes can be implemented and tested in a streamlined and simplified way that allows us to do it more frequently or on demand. 

We also have full redundancy. We have two server rooms on campus with about a 150-metre separation, so we have that level of diversity and of redundancy. We have two complete redundant SAN virtualisation infrastructures with UPS, air-conditioned, fibred – bells and whistles.

How is the broadband in this area?

Patrick: We were lucky enough to be part of the Connecting the Coast initiative because our fibre runs past our door through to Sunshine Coast University, so we were given the opportunity to tap into that back in 2010. We were one of the first to receive fibre on the coast. 

How did the ‘Laptops for Schools’ program impact you?

Patrick: The DER was a government program for certain age groups and they were given a subsidy. Parents paid some and the government contributed funds. Those funds could be used for infrastructure or for devices. We took some for infrastructure to bolster our existing wireless and we used the bulk for devices. We staged that over the lifetime of that program.

Did you consider a ‘Bring Your Own Device’ (BYOD) approach?

Patrick: When the DER came to an end, we researched the best way forward in terms of maintaining our own fleet, whether to use the fee structure to provide a fleet of standardised machines, or to offer a bring-your-own solution, which was a very popular financial model that many schools adopted.

In our investigations and our observations of other schools that undertook a bring-your-own solution, it was really hit and miss. There were some classic disasters and some reasonable successes. 

We felt that we were positioned perfectly to maintain a standardised fleet, have a quality of product and ensure that every student had that equity covered, so we had no compelling reason to change the model. 

Corrie, what are you seeing across other schools in terms of BYOD?

Corrie: I have seen several schools go down the BYOD path, more state schools, obviously. In private education, most schools have stuck with the one-to-one programs. 

Some schools have a full IT team and other small schools and Catholic schools might have a part-time IT person, so we go in there, set up the infrastructure for a one-to-one program and also help them with the MDM solutions. Some schools put the devices in the parents’ hands straight away. With other schools, we recommend that there is a MDM system in place. 

There is still definitely Windows in some schools in Brisbane that we deal with and on the Coast. Most of the Windows fleets I have seen aren’t touchscreen. They are the base model, a little 11-inch. We have also had a school that bought Chromebooks on the Coast.

Did Matthew Flinders consider Chromebooks?

Patrick: We continue to test and research the best for our students. If that is the Chromebook, then we may end up with that particular solution. We’re not there now. 

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