How Novatech helped WinchCombe School to reduce costs

Winchcombe School is a primary school based in Somerset, in the South West of England. As a ‘Learning Without Limits’ school, it strives to foster a nurturing environment in which its pupils can flourish to the best of their abilities. The school’s network manager, Jay, has been working alongside Novatech for the past eight years. So, when the time came for a hardware refresh, we were a reliable choice. 

Discussion

As a result of the pandemic, learning organisations across the globe were faced with mass disruption, price hikes and supply chain issues. And Winscombe school was no exception.

“Pricing for hardware went up because demand was outweighing supply,” says Jay. “The type of kit we wanted wasn’t readily available - and where it was, it was at an inflated cost.”

But the school was in need of new hardware for the PCs in its computer science labs and graphics departments. A key issue was that the school didn’t have the budget readily available to buy the complete hardware set brand new. But not only that - it also required specific case styles (the all-in-one H Model Style Chassis) and cable management to suit the needs of its students and classrooms. 

“So, instead, we looked into the option of refreshing the kit and reusing existing components where we could to save cost,” Jay explains. And the school specifically chose Novatech to help them to achieve that. 

Design

Working closely with Novatech, Winchcombe School quickly discovered it could significantly reduce costs while also making sure its classrooms had the right equipment. 

And, the way to achieve both of these things at the same time, was by refreshing and re-using its existing hardware - rather than just disposing of the equipment. 

Novatech took this hardware back from the school, cleaned and renewed it, and then re-built new components into it - within a timeframe of just three weeks. 

“It was surprisingly straightforward,” Jay says. “We got all the machines stripped out in a couple of days and packed up on a pallet. Then it was collected and Novatech did its thing. It was returned in good time for me to get everything back in place for the start of the year.” 

Learn more about how Novatech is helping transform the education sector in 2022.

Delivery

The school realised numerous benefits as a result of this project. 

Firstly: “It made quite a significant cost saving,” Jay says. The refresh not only enabled the school to avoid paying hiked prices for brand-new hardware but also realise cost savings of more than £1,500. 

Secondly, the refresh meant that the school could keep using the exact hardware that they needed - they wouldn’t have to compromise on specifications or change to hardware that was more cost-friendly but unsuitable for the classroom.

Thirdly, the project was completed quickly and efficiently. Jay was able to have all PCs up and running before students returned at the beginning of the school year.

Lastly, the school was able to do the right thing for the environment. “We’re not chucking stuff back in the ground,” Jay says. As well as refreshing old pieces of equipment, Jay salvaged components that they took out of old cases to enhance some of the school’s older pieces of hardware and keep them going longer.

And, Winchcombe isn’t the only school that benefits from this. “I have forwarded some of the components we don’t require to other recycling schemes so they can be reused for sustainability projects elsewhere,” Jay explains. “Schools in Africa, things like that.”  

Why Novatech?

“Novatech is open and honest,” Jay says. 

Working with Novatech for the past eight years, Jay chose Novatech in particular for its high quality, durable, reliable, and cost-friendly hardware. “Their kits are very good quality, they last, and they have very little fault rates.” 

Jay also has a great relationship with his account manager. 

“Nothing is ever a problem,” he says. “If I just say, ‘this is my plan, this is what I want to try and do, this is what we’re trying to achieve,’ he’ll go away and see what he can do. And he normally comes up trumps with the goods - cheaper than anyone else can do it.”

Moving forward

Because of the success of the project the school will now opt to refresh and recycle hardware in future, where possible.

“Refreshing kit is now a primary option, rather than a secondary option,” Jay says. “When I come to refresh any kit in the future, it’ll certainly be first port of call that I look to see which elements I can reuse rather than pull all the old stuff out and put new stock in.

“It benefits everybody, really.” 

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