With its subsidiary DATAGROUP Rhein-Main , DATAGROUP offers the district of Mayen-Koblenz all IT services from a single source as a digitalization partner of the education system in order to enable smooth operations in everyday school life.
When it comes to digitalization, the working world expects great things from young people entering the workforce, as they are growing up with social media, mobile devices and streaming services. Yet many young people only know their smartphones, as they have no or only very limited access to traditional office peripherals. The coronavirus pandemic has therefore shown that the education system needs an upgrade: Modern equipment, well-trained teachers and an expanded digitalization package. The district of Mayen-Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the digital pioneers here. Since 2017, DATAGROUP Rhein-Main has been closely accompanying and supporting it on its way to a modern digital school system at 20 secondary and vocational schools.
Many of us remember them from our own school days, the IT-savvy teacher who somehow managed the computer room and all the school's IT systems between lessons. Unfortunately, even today, after almost 20 years in some cases, this is still a reality in many schools. In many schools, IT support is still provided in-house. Instead of being able to concentrate on their main task, teaching, teachers also have to take care of IT.
The district of Mayen-Koblenz recognized the signs of the times years ago. In 2016, it ended the schools' self-administration and wanted to standardize all IT systems as well as provide comprehensive technical support for the schools. This made the district of Mayen-Koblenz one of the first in Rhineland-Palatinate to request a concept for holistic IT support. DATAGROUP Rhein-Main responded to this call and presented a concept that convinced the district.
The collaboration between DATAGROUP Rhein-Main and the district administration began at the start of 2017. Initially, support focused on the maintenance and servicing of the hardware and its replacement. DATAGROUP Rhein -Main was also available for all services relating to operations, i.e. classic IT administration relating to the provision of Wi-Fi, the maintenance of internet connections and software support (e.g. virus scanners, email accounts). Comprehensive first and second level support and fast ticket processing were implemented.
Over time, the parties involved realized that the scope of the contract was not sufficient. In 2022, a new tender followed for the further modernization of the IT infrastructure of the 20 schools for the next four years, and DATAGROUP Rhein-Main was again awarded the contract. Specifically, this involves the redesign of the school pedagogical network and administration network, including system and application support as well as support and inventory - a large and ambitious tender with a total of eleven categories.
For example, the management of the administration of all 20 schools is completely new. Previously, it was up to the schools themselves to decide who to commission for this. Now, DATAGROUP Rhein-Main is responsible for the entire management. This is another reason why DATAGROUP Rhein-Main has increased its on-site team from two to three specialists. The colleagues in the education team have long since become an indispensable interface between four institutions: the teachers and pupils in the schools, the district IT department, the education authority and the rest of the DATAGROUP Rhine-Main team.
The permanent presence of the specialists at three of the 20 locations enables, among other things, better and faster diagnosis of problem areas such as missing Wi-Fi access points, defective devices or insufficient power supply. The three education specialists are permanently stationed at three locations and travel to the other 17 schools on call and as required. The distances are short. Additional team members are also available remotely at DATAGROUP Rhein-Main. And a central support team bundles all incoming tickets and forwards them to the responsible colleague on site or to the appropriate specialist department.
When the district of Mayen-Koblenz centralized the schools' IT administration in 2016, the IT landscape in the schools was still very heterogeneous. DATAGROUP Rhein-Main reached deep into the CORBOX toolbox to standardize and provided all schools with uniform management systems for general school data maintenance and the educational network as well as website maintenance. Naturally, DATAGROUP Rhein-Main took over the associated IT security services. To ensure the smooth running of everyday school life, regular updates are also carried out outside school hours, including major system adjustments during the school vacations.
By being on site, the EDU team was able to analyze the technology and software requirements perfectly. The constant replacement of outdated technology and the implementation of new solutions is now reflected in stable systems. For example, the same manufacturer was used for switches, access points and other network components to ensure that all components function smoothly together. As part of the new contract, DATAGROUP Rhein-Main will continue to replace old hardware and further expand network components in addition to providing services. For example, 100 switches and 400 access points will also be put into operation.
|
around 14.000pupils |
1.100teachers |
400new access points in 2023 |
more than 100tickets/ month |
With around 216,000 inhabitants, the district of Mayen-Koblenz is the most populous district in Rhineland-Palatinate. As part of the DigitalPakt and its own efforts, the district is currently expanding local digital provision at schools. In addition to the broadband connection of all schools, this also includes equipping all pupils with mobile devices. This will allow digital teaching and learning materials to be used gradually in the future.