New Report Details Strategies for Managing Tight IT Budgets

A new report from the Consortium for School Networking (CoSN) looks at how schools are best managing their budgets under financial pressures. Intended as a resource for district and technology leaders, the report examines saving money through demonstrating ROI, sustainable technology practices, and good financial leadership.

The report is released as part of CoSN’s Smart IT initiative, which focuses on technology planning and management, and sponsored by Amplify, HP, Lenovo, and Sprint.

Specifically the paper examines the following elements IT leaders should consider:

  • How to calculate value of investment (VOI) and total cost of ownership (TCO) instead of only ROI;
  • Whether a green computing strategy, and an overall reduction of a school system’s carbon emissions, can save money;
  • How to build relationships between CTOs and CFOs and other financial leaders;
  • 5 tips to follow, from improving security and bandwidth to strengthening leadership skills, in the coming year.

"District technology leaders continue to face an uphill battle in receiving adequate IT funding to meet school needs. Today’s tight budgets force school systems to operate with a near-term outlook, rather than developing long-term technology solutions," said Keith Krueger, CEO of CoSN in a statement.

"Despite the circumstances, school technology leaders can strategically maximize their investment opportunities. Capturing current leading insight and expertise, supplemented by leading-edge tools, this new paper guides school technology leaders in that direction, so they can make the most of their dollars to improve education outcomes."

About the Author

Stephen Noonoo is an education technology journalist based in Los Angeles. He is on Twitter @stephenoonoo.

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