Schools Connectivity Services
Updata is a leading provider of IT services, support and solutions for
schools, working in partnership with over 3000 schools, academies
and local authorities to support their IT strategies and plans.
It’s time to get better connected!
With over 30 years’ experience in the education sector, we
understand how to make IT work for schools.
Schools today are using increasing amounts of online resources and applications to support teaching and learning. With students and teachers using the internet on a daily basis and relying on it to support learning, it is vital that schools have access to secure and reliable Connectivity in order to meet their demands.
Our service will provide fast, secure and reliable Broadband Connectivity which will include your schools WAN Connection, Internet Access, DNS, Web Filtering and Firewall services. Email Filtering will continue to be provided by the Google Mail and Microsoft 365 platforms.
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Following the recent IT procurement, Norfolk County Council has chosen Updata, Part of Capita, to be the provider of IT services to Norfolk Schools, working collectively with Capita Managed IT Solutions.
Schools in Norfolk will benefit from a brand new, secure and highly resilient authority Wide Area Network which has been designed and built specifically for the region by an IT partner who is a specialist in the education sector.
Your new IT partner
Core Schools Connectivity Services:
WAN Connectivity DNS Internet Access Web Filtering Firewall
24x7x365 network management and monitoring
Support service: Mon – Fri - 8am - 5pm
WAN Connection
As a result of the significant BDUK Better Broadband for Norfolk Investment, schools will be provided with a Next Generation Access (NGA) fttC connection, providing higher bandwidths. With our Schools Connectivity Service, your connection will be upgraded to 80Mbps or 40Mbps versions of the FttC service depending on your schools location and size.
A number of schools will be provided a higher bandwidth connection using fibre technology, providing bandwidth at 100Mbps and 1Gbps. Included within the WAN
connection, is access to the internet through the Updata network and a DNS hosting service.
Web Filtering
Schools need fast and safe access to educational resources, whilst preventing access to inappropriate content. The system offers flexibility by enabling internet access to be tailored by class, role and department or for specific periods of time. As new websites appear, the filtering services will automatically block sites that are inappropriate. Reports can be produced automatically based on filtering exceptions and user activity.
Firewall Service
The firewall service ensures your school network is protected, with updates taking place each hour to ensure you are protected against the latest threats at all times. The firewall service combines firewall, intrusion prevention, antivirus, antimalware and
Email Filtering
Schools email filtering will continue to be provided by the Google Mail and Microsoft 365 (MS 365) platforms and will not change. For those schools that do not use Gmail and MS 365 have their own mail server, optional access will be provided to Capita’s email and anti-spam and filtering platform, providing schools with anti-spam and malware protection as well as manage attachments in line with school policy. An administrative portal is provided for schools to control quarantined emails and provide reports
Internet Access and DNS
Included within the WAN connection, is access to the internet through the Updata network. This will also provide a DNS hosting service, where {schoolname. norfolk.sch.uk} domains will be migrated over to Updata’s DNS hosting service from the current supplier.
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Why should you choose Updata as your Connectivity provider?
In a nutshell
By choosing to partner with Updata you will benefit from:
Cost effective and future proof
investment
Schools will benefit from economies of scale from the overall service which encompasses the Norfolk region with the vast majority benefiting from an improved services at a reduced price. The investment in improvements to the infrastructure across the region also futureproofs the technology and your investment.
Fast, secure and reliable Service
The new service will provide a faster, more reliable Connectivity service to support the increasing use of the internet for teaching and learning. With the web filtering, firewall services and industry standard solution and services in place you can have peace of mind that your school’s data and student’s e-safety is protected.
Proactive 24x7x365 support
Our School’s Connectivity Service also includes remote and onsite support should anything go wrong with your network or associated hardware.
The network is proactively monitored 24x7x365 ensuring that any potential issues can be identified and often remotely fixed before they become a problem, ensuring that there is no disruption to teaching and learning. If an issue cannot be resolved remotely or hardware needs repaired, a local engineer is available to support your school onsite; providing you with peace of mind that any issues will be resolved quickly and with minimal impact to the school.
Updata will work with you to ensure
the transition from your previous
provider to our service is smooth.
Our education technical specialists will take care of all your installation requirements ensuring existing connections are retained to your school systems and applications, with no disruption to teaching and learning. On-going support will be provided, delivering a consistent and reliable broadband connection to your school.
Why Updata?
Being a part of Capita means we now have an extensive and growing partnership with Norfolk County Council. With our experience in delivering similar network solutions for local and regional governments, coupled with Capita Managed IT Solutions expertise and in the education sector and the Capita SIMs schools management system solution being delivered to Norfolk schools; we are fully committed to working together with you to support the transformational change to the schools infrastructure and the authority as a whole as well as the resulting social value this will bring.
At Updata
- We have extensive experience of design,
implementation and on-going management and support of education technology
- Our team of highly experienced education technology specialists build valuable partnerships with schools and are committed to deliver on the vision and potential that technology brings teachers, learners and support staff
- We understand the unique education environment and our approach is tailored to meet the needs of all educational establishments
Our experience
- Support over 3,100 schools, academies, colleges and universities across the UK
- Provide the first private education school cloud in Europe for over 1100 schools in
Northern Ireland
- Experience of delivering a large number of area wide BSF projects
- We work in active partnership with individual academies and academy trusts across
the UK
- Provide on-going tailored IT support services for schools
