Northgate Managed Services to Supply Apple Macs
14 January 2009
Northgate Managed Services has worked closely with the Apple Education Team to become an Apple Accredited Partner and will now be supplying Apple computers to schools as part of its managed service.
Northgate Managed Services provide ICT managed services to schools, predominantly through the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. Northgate’s ongoing Innovation in ICT Programme investigates new technology which can be developed for schools. Enabling Macs to be used in school, as part of a managed service, offer numerous benefits to both pupils and students. Macs built-in features make learning fast and fun, while increasing student engagement through access to the latest technology.
Mac’s are designed to support and enhance teaching and learning in schools, however as they traditionally do not run Windows operating system, until now they were not fully supported in a managed service. To rectify this, working alongside Bristol Brunel Academy and the Apple Education Management Team, Northgate Education conducted a pre-pilot research project and pilot testing to enable the use of Macs in schools as part of Northgate’s managed services. The first BSF school to open its doors,Bristol Brunel was keen to take part in a pilot introduction of Mac’s into the school. Working with Apple and Bristol Brunel, Northgate was able to successfully integrate Macs as part of a Macintosh Managed Service provision.
Richard Goucher, E-Learning Director,BristolBrunel Academy,commented: “The Mac computers supplied as part of the trial integrated really well into our managed service at Brunel. The students found using the Macs a very positive and rewarding experience, the simplicity of use and the way the software and hardware seamlessly integrated together means they can concentrate on their creativity rather than on learning how to use the system.”
During the pilot Northgate provided BBA with five MacBook Portables and one iMac Desktop. The Mac’s were used extensively in music and art creation and in year 7 project based curriculum work. The pilot confirmed the benefits of providing Macs and identified the support needed to ensure reliability and high availability of the equipment. The pilot provided Northgate with the solution to enable them to offer Macs as part of its managed services offered to BSF schools.
John Parkinson, BSF Director commented: “Macs are used extensively in various professional markets today including science, website development and music. By exposing students to Mac tools early they can develop skills which will be beneficial to them when seeking employment. The success of the pilot scheme in BBA has concluded that implementing Macs into Northgate’s managed service provision will further enhance the flexibility of Northgate’s ICT offering.”
The ability to offer a Macintosh Managed Serviceensures schools have flexibility in their choices of ICT equipment and ensures creative’s arts can benefit fully from investment in schools ICT. As an accredited Apple Education partner Northgate benefits from Apple’s global expertise and in-depth understanding of the education needs facing schools today. With such a wide range of Mac products on offer, schools can maintain personalisation of their managed service by choosing which equipment best suits their curriculum needs. Macs with dual capability to run both Apple and Windows operating systems and applications are now available to enable schools to make the most out of their ICT equipment.
