How an MSP Can Enhance Your Educational Network Performance and More
Discover how leveraging a managed service provider (MSP) can revolutionize educational institution networks, boosting performance, fortifying security and ensuring compliance without exhausting resources.
Are you looking to enhance the performance and scalability of your educational institution’s network without draining your resources? Does your institution's available network need to be dynamically flexible? This blog will explore the benefits of leveraging a managed service provider (MSP) to address the challenges K-12 schools and universities face in managing their IT infrastructure. From improving network performance to ensuring data security and compliance, MSPs offer comprehensive solutions that can significantly enhance the quality and reliability of educational environments.
Scaling Your Network Without Sacrificing Performance
In today's high-tech world, a well-operating, available network is expected, especially in educational institutions. However, maintaining a high-demand network for a large and growing population can require human and monetary resources that aren’t always available.
Some schools need help to address even the most traditional challenges with WLANs, such as network quality, troubleshooting, configuration, patching, cost to scale and insight into the user experience. According to eSchool News, while most school districts across the U.S. meet the FCC’s internet connectivity goal, “3,330 of the nation’s 12,911 school districts are not yet meeting the goal.” If school districts are still struggling to meet basic needs like internet connectivity, this raises concerns about their ability to address more complex yet fundamental requirements.
It is not surprising when schools and universities needing to scale their networks to adapt to their campuses’ growing needs turn to MSPs. An MSP can rapidly adjust resources by analyzing usage patterns, performance metrics and other relevant data. MSPs can identify areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions to enhance your network’s performance. This proactive approach helps anticipate and address potential issues before impacting users, ensuring a more reliable and efficient IT environment.
Ensuring the Security and Compliance of Your Systems and Information
MSPs can also significantly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of learning management and student information systems in educational institutions. They can ensure these systems are always appropriately integrated, up-to-date, secure and running smoothly. A well-equipped MSP can offer 24/7 support, which is crucial for promptly addressing technical issues and minimizing downtime. This allows educators to focus on teaching instead of technical problems, thereby improving the overall learning experience for students and freeing up your IT team’s time spent troubleshooting these system-related issues.
A reputable MSP like CDW can help identify and provide solutions for synchronizing data across multiple platforms, ensuring consistency and accuracy. This integration allows for a more cohesive IT environment, where information flows smoothly between systems, minimizes security risk and enhances the overall efficiency of administrative and educational processes.
Compliance and regulatory requirements, such as the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and others, are significant concerns for educational institutions. Qualified MSPs assist schools in navigating these complex regulations by implementing strong security measures and ensuring that data is handled in compliance with legal requirements. A good quality MSP should be up to date on the education industry’s latest regulations and best practices. That said, it is essential to verify that your chosen MSP is thoroughly knowledgeable about these regulatory requirements, so you can have confidence that your data is, in fact, secure and compliant.
Signs You Should Consider Consulting an MSP for Your Network Infrastructure
As technology continues to evolve, the future of managed services in educational institutions will continue to increase so that schools can keep up with the demand for specialized expertise. However, identifying whether to consider an MSP for your network infrastructure isn’t always straightforward.
Here are a few signs to look for:
- Your helpdesk staff needs additional support diagnosing wireless issues or would benefit from additional Wi-Fi expertise.
- Your IT team has received help tickets from faculty about students experiencing connectivity issues during lectures.
- Your IT team would like support prioritizing online learning applications above social media.
- Your IT team wants to quickly troubleshoot problems but often needs to recreate issues and capture wireless traces.
- Your IT team is eager to enhance their skills in managing an influx of mobile and Internet of Things (IoT) devices connecting to your network, especially when more devices are added.
- Your IT Team is struggling to keep up with patching or reviewing security vulnerabilities and knowing if they are applicable to the network.
CDW can offer a comprehensive solution to each of these challenges and more. CDW Managed Services can help you take advantage of emerging network capabilities to support digital business initiatives around increasing agility, enhanced connectivity, greater security and simplified performance management.
To learn more about how CDW’s Managed Services experts can support your school, visit our webpage, or call 800-800-4239.
