The Connected Falkirk programme was developed to transform learning and teaching using digital technology and meet the growing demand for digital skills in life, learning and work. XMA’s experience of large-scale deployments meant we were able to help in upscaling the council’s ideas into workable plans, starting with the delivery of the Planning Essentials workshop.
With an ongoing goal to reduce costs and improve operational efficiencies, the university were looking at how this could be applied to the procurement of their IT products and services. There was also a need to make technology more accessible, particularly during a time where remote working is required. XMA worked alongside the university’s procurement team, to deliver a solution that would help resolve these challenges.
XMA works with the University of Reading and Microsoft Surface to launch the new Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences Laboratory.
XMA has worked closely with Reading University and Microsoft Surface in designing and launching the new Behavioural and Experimental Social Sciences (BESS) Lab.
“The BESS lab is a mobile data collection service, that entails a bank Microsoft Surface Pro devices that users can check-out and take anywhere with them, wherever they need to collect their data.” – Dr Steven Bosworth, Co-Director, BESS Lab, University of Reading.
“The purpose of the lab is really to encourage interdisciplinary research as much as possible. We chose the Surface Pro devices specifically, because of the functionality and the flexibility which allows us to be able to record responses from a wide variety of people in a wide variety of circumstances, to which other devices wouldn’t allow us access to.” – Dr Eugene McSorley, Co-Director, BESS Lab, University of Reading.
Contact MicrosoftSurface@xma.co.uk for more information.
XMA have been awarded the opportunity to provide a wide range of off-the-shelf IT products to meet a variety of requirements across the Welsh Public Sector. Named sole supplier for the supply of a Commodity IT Hardware Catalogue, this framework is the All Wales Framework Agreement for the Supply of IT products and Services (ii).
The objective of the Agreement is to create a 1-stop-shop for IT commodity products and related services, enabling IT service departments to meet all requirements from a single framework; It also aims to reflect current technology, whilst ensuring sufficient flexibility to meet technology changes in the digital and IT market.
The catalogue range will include the supply of (but not limited to):
The full agreement consists of five lots, of which XMA have been named sole supplier on Lot 1, as well as achieving a place on Lots 2 and 5.
Lot 1: Commodity IT Hardware Catalogue
Lot 2: IT Hardware
Lot 3: Licensing and Subscriptions
Lot 4: Audio Visual
Lot 5: Solutions
Ian Cunningham, Sales & Marketing Director at XMA had this to say:
“XMA are delighted to be selected as partner to the National Procurement Service for Wales in the provision of a National IT commodity products eCatalogue. Our appointment is a reflection of the commitment we have to providing Public Sector customers in Wales with the most cost effective, broad ranging IT products, all delivered through our market leading eCommerce platform.”
The catalogue is accessible, secure and offers value for money. The catalogue is now live and you are invited to register your interest here.
The conversation around the shift to remote working is constantly ongoing, and we have all seen first-hand the positive impacts on businesses. This includes anything from improved collaboration and productivity, through to better mental health and wellbeing. Technology has been a key enabler in supporting the move to remote working.
Technology adopted during lockdown to enable employees to work remotely has shaped not just organisations during lockdown, but strategic business planning moving forward. We have already seen announcements from large enterprise technology organisations, shifting their working model to remote, either entirely or in part.
The productivity benefits of working from home centre around the loss of the need to commute. With the average person’s work commute at 60 minutes each way, this has saved on average a staggering 10 hours per week spent mostly in the car, on the train or bus. As a result of this, the European Environment Agency’s data confirms large decreases in air pollutant concentrations, of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations, largely due to reduced traffic and other activities, especially in major cities under lockdown measures.
Reductions of around half have been seen in some locations, for example:
(European Environment Agency, 2020).
After achieving and analysing this reduction in pollution, will the Covid-19 lockdown result in real progress to tackle climate change?
Whilst addressing long-term air quality problems requires ambitious policies and forward-looking investments, the Covid-19 lockdown demonstrated the capability we must vastly reduce our emissions. When the noise of airplanes and traffic was gone, it helped us understand and have empathy for the effects of climate change on future generations. The lockdown also demonstrated to employers that employees can effectively work from anywhere with best placed technology, and in turn contribute toward a greener and more sustainable future.
Is your business set up for remote working?
XMA have been supporting businesses throughout Covid-19 to achieve efficient digital workspaces. Get in touch to discuss your Digital Workspace now.
Reference: European Environment Agency (2020). Air Pollution. Available at: https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/air-pollution-goes-down-as [Accessed: 24.08.2020]
Technology has long been an important consideration when developing more creative and engaging learning opportunities. It is also an important tool for classroom management and assisting teacher workload. However, there has never been a year like 2020 where the importance of embracing all things digital is critical for the continuation of education.
It is safe to say the re-opening of schools, colleges and universities has been a rocky and uncertain road during and since the UK Lockdown. Educators planning ahead for the new academic year will no doubt have lots of obstacles to face, with the need to plan for multiple scenarios. This might include:
It has become clear that the only way to face some of these challenges is through the use of technology. The deployment and adoption of technology can be challenging when not properly executed and aligned with educational objectives – not to mention navigating during an unexpected pandemic!
That being said, institutions have been forced to develop or re-design their digital strategies to suit remote learning and contact free classrooms, while also maintaining security and safeguarding provisions. While considering this new way of working, senior leadership and IT departments will have a lot of questions.
Apple technology partnered with our expertise and capabilities to deploy, manage and support adoption provides the perfect solution to form your digital strategy. iPad and Mac work in perfect harmony together to provide devices that can benefit both student and teacher, in the classroom and at home. The App Store provides thousands of apps to enhance creativity, develop critical thinking and teamwork skills and manage workflows. Our dedicated Digital Learning team are also best placed to train educators, introduce unique ways to use your technology to deliver a well rounded curriculum and collaborate with learners and faculty both in school and at home.
We want to help answer your questions and the many others institutions are likely to have when planning for the new academic year. Find out more about what to consider when developing your digital strategy, as we move forward to ‘the new normal’ here.
One thing which 2020 has taught us all is the need for adaptability for businesses to survive.
Having turned your working practices upside-down, reducing the number of workers in your building and enabling employees to work from home – now you’re encouraging them to return to the office. How do you follow that up and create a plan for the future? What should that future look like?
We believe the next challenge is to create a plan which includes:
But, how can we do this?
Many businesses will have spent the last four, or more, months getting to grips with the opportunities enabled by their digital capability.
With the transformation made necessary by lockdown, businesses will have considered security and management as well as functionality. And, having developed these systems, ensuring they are stable enough for the future makes much more sense than going back to pre-lockdown limitations.
That’s not to say it will be easy, the changes made by many companies will have been developed in haste – ensuring these are the right changes (and changes made in the right way) will be a complicated task. As covered in a previous article, Navigating the New Normal, “Having taken those steps to change, now is the time to review, refocus and reinforce – to ensure these changes aren’t short-term fixes but strong, positive developments which will lead to future growth.”
So, while it will be necessary to review and reinforce these processes to ensure long term stability and opportunities for growth, this is the first step to creating the digital workspace your business needs going forward.
Returning to a subject we explored in Navigating the New Normal, the question is ‘How do we use our offices moving forward?’
At the most basic level, some of our issues can be managed through signage and provision of sanitising stations. However, to ensure the confidence of your people and efficiency within your space, it may be necessary to implement smarter measures – maybe using technology to manage the density of occupancy or monitor routes used by employees to avoid congestion.
In the future, it will be important to use your understanding of your employees and the technology you have available to ensure a safe, smart office environment.
Allowing staff to book desks for working is the first step; however, this needs to include an understanding of the other processes surrounding this desk use. Of course, nearby desks (within an agreed radius) must be kept free and, once used, a desk must be appropriately cleaned before being made available to anyone else.
As well as looking at how smart workspaces are allocated and managed, you might promote the use of smart meeting areas, to enable collaboration regardless of location, and adopt smart document solutions – with contactless printing or digital signatures. These changes, prompted by our current situation, will likely remain, so need to be focused on your goals of increasing productivity and engagement for the long term.
So, how do we ensure the changes we’re making are building systems which are fit for the future? This is something we’ve talked about before, in How Agile Working is Changing our Future.
We’ve already looked at the need to build intelligence into processes to ensure ease of use and efficiency for the workforce as a whole. Now is the time to be considering the possibilities as well as the precautions, to learn from our experiences and build stronger and more flexible systems which benefit everyone in the business. This will be particularly true as we develop systems enabling personalised digital workspaces – again improving efficiency and engagement.
In terms of our digital workspace, providing systems which are available wherever your employees are, tools which enable easy and efficient management and allow for easy communication – these are the most basic standards we have come to expect. Employee performance and engagement is improved by allowing individuals to have some element of choice over where they work.
Physical spaces should also work as well for our teams as they do for our customers and managers. One benefit to the business will come from providing the best workspace for employee engagement and efficiency, and this should be the aim when returning to work. There are additional benefits, of course, in the efficiencies now possible within these physical spaces.
As you look to provide the right environment for your customers and staff, how will you ensure you’re building systems and processes which are helping build your business?
If you need help to understand what’s possible – how you can build a hybrid agile workspace with room to grow and flourish – get in touch. It would be great to talk.
Written by Terry Chana – Director of Workspace Solutions @ XMA
I hope everyone is safe and well during lockdown and people are still finding fun ways to stay active and social. Like many people I’ve been having regular quizzes online with friends, often ending up in ‘JD Wetherzooms’ for a few drinks. I recently hosted a Britain’s Got Talent spoof on Teams and people were impressed at how some of the features were in the free version of Teams and how well it integrated with Windows 10 features!
I’ve been a windows 10 user for so long I’ve almost forgotten what Windows 7 looks like for those feeling nostalgic here you go..
With the evergreen Window 10 OS features are rolled out so regularly that often they can be missed! I’ve handpicked some of the top ways I have been more collaborative and productive during current COVID remote working!
Let us begin at the start…
Just like organising your apps on your phone, or bookmarking your favourites within your internet browser, by customising you Start Menu you will have you go to applications and documents just one click away!
Pin apps to the Start menu for quick access to what’s important by selecting Start> press and hold (or right-click) the app you want to pin > Pin to Start.
Treat your start menu to a spring clean by unpinning the apps you don’t need to make it less cluttered!
To get really organised you can actually create your own Start Menu folders.
Drag one tile on top of another to make a folder, then drag more tiles into it. To open the folder, just select it.
Share the workload!
Most people are aware of OneDrive and being able to save and share documents from their own cloud hosted folders. Once a document is in your OneDrive if you want to share the document for joint working you can simply do that via right-clicking the file and selecting More OneDrive Sharing Options.
To edit this document in real time with colleagues, once opening the document you can select Share, enter the email address of the people to share with and select Send. Now the file is shared with everyone on your list.
Whilst editing each user will be assigned a coloured flag to illustrate where they are in the document. This saves time emailing around the document and loosing track of versions, and allows maximum productivity when on a team call.
If you are not on voice call, you can still chat with colleague within the shared document. When editing a shared Microsoft Word document if you select the picture of someone who is editing at the shame time, you can hit the Chat.
Many screens make light work…
You may have had a dual screen set up in your office or an external monitor that would allow you to view multiple applications at the same time. A prime example for me is switching between a Excel spreadsheet price file and XMA quoting system. Windows 10 provide a handy way of allowing you to snap applications side by side. If you select any open window, then drag and bounce it against the side of your screen. All other windows you have open will appear on the opposite side. Select a window to have it fill the open space.
If your finding yourself spending more time looking at your phone screen as well, you can actually use the phone directly from your Windows 10 machine. The Your Phone App allows you to link your android phone to your device to respond to text, share photos, make calls and more. iPhone users can also use the all-in-one Office app to stay productive wherever you are. Ideal for when you want to get some fresh air and sit in the garden!
Saving your bacon!
Never underestimate the pain of losing documents and folders if your PC breaks when your darling daughter accidentally knocks a whole glass of orange juice over your keyboard!
Thankfully like me, you can automatically back up document, picture and desktop folders to OneDrive so they are protected whatever happens to your PC!
On the right side of the taskbar, select OneDrive > More > Setting and on the AutoSave tab, select Update Folders and specify which folders you’d like to keep automatically synced.
To prevent the offspring from deleting my work when I’ve left my laptop unattended whilst getting a cuppa I’ve also setup Automatic locking on my PC.
You can use Dynamic Lock setting to lock your PC once a paired Bluetooth device (possibly your headset or phone) leaves the proximity around your PC.
Under the Start menu go to Settings > Accounts > Sign-in options. Select the check box under Dynamic lock, and then take your device and walk away, safe in the knowledge that you PC screen is locked!
Oooo work-friends…
Keep your favourite people nearby… by using the People app you can keep important contacts right on your taskbar, so they’re always within reach when you want to chat.
People pulls in contact info from apps like Teams and Mail. Once you’ve connected those apps, use People to find your favourites and pin them to the taskbar for easy access.
Pin a contact to the taskbar
Easily get in touch with your favourite contacts. Select People > Find and pin contacts, then pick who you want to pin! Obviously, our marketing team are pinned in mine! ?
I hope that you’ve found the above features interesting and useful and honestly this is just the scratching the surface [no pun intended] of ways that windows 10 can help. For more tips and tricks please check out Microsoft’s Windows 10 page here
On the 5th of June I am running a webinar with Dan Boyles from Microsoft to discuss some of our favourite features in Windows 10 and how they are making our remote working lives easier. You can view the webinar here
In the meantime if you have any questions on Microsoft licensing, products or feature please drop me an email on James.Thorogood@xma.co.uk
Stay safe. Stay connected.
All the best,
James
A 1:1 deployment of thousands of Chromebooks into Leo Academy Trust has resulted in a reduction in teacher workload, an increase in accessibility for children of all abilities and an overall enhancement of pupil engagement.
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