Kansas District Outsources IT Management

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 05/23/12

DeSoto Unified School District in Kansas has voted to outsource the management of its technology services in a deal that's estimated to save the district $1.2 million over five years. The agreement with Kansas City-based technology service provider k12itc was put in place after an evaluation that considered three other vendors, including Dell. The district said it sought to find an outside provider to address challenges in finding and retaining qualified personnel to lead its technology department.

k12itc will use a combination of cloud-computing and on-premises resources to deliver IT services including help desk, storage, customer service, self-service, and software updates, among others.

"Based on months of research, consideration of multiple internal and external solutions, and a comprehensive assessment of all proposals, we believe k12itc will not only deliver reliable services, but will respond to and guide the instructional and technological growth of our school district," said Jessica Dain, director of professional and program development. "We are confident that through this partnership the district will overcome the challenges and adversity of the current state of technology and strategically position us to meet the needs of our students and teachers."

In a statement, the district said that k12itc's sensibilities for collaboration, professional development, and willingness to "co-create" a vision for the district's future fit well with its management plan. That included a strategic plan for cost savings.

The transition to the k12 ITC will begin in July 2012.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

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