news-and-insights

XMA Re-Awarded Place on SLRA Framework to Support UK Higher Education

UK Universities face constant pressure to maintain complex software environments while adhering to strict procurement regulations and demonstrating value-for-money. Navigating these requirements requires a partner with a proven track record in the public sector and deep expertise in licensing compliance.

XMA is pleased to announce we have been re-awarded a place on the Framework Agreement for Software License Reseller & Consultancy Services Agreement (SLRA). This framework provides UK Higher Education (HE) institutions with a compliant, efficient route to procure essential software and consultancy services.

Awarded Lots and Expertise

As of 20 March 2026, XMA is authorised to supply software under the following Lots:

Lot 2a – Adobe ETLA: Managed enterprise-level Adobe licensing.

Lot 2b – Adobe VIP & CLP: Flexible Adobe subscription and volume licensing programs.

Lot 3 – VMWare: Infrastructure and virtualisation solutions.

Lot 4 – Commercial Off the Shelf Software (COTS): Access to a wide range of standard software applications.

Ranked First for Adobe ETLA

For Lot 2a (Adobe ETLA), XMA achieved the first-place ranking. This ranking is significant for university procurement teams as it allows for Direct Award. This removes the need for a lengthy further competition process, allowing institutions to secure their Adobe Enterprise Term License Agreements quickly and with confidence in the pricing and service levels.

Supporting Higher Education Procurement

Beyond Adobe, our presence across multiple lots enables XMA to provide HE customers with a broad range of software solutions. We understand the specific operational landscape of UK universities, from data security requirements to the need for long-term stability in vendor relationships.

By using the SLRA framework, universities can reduce procurement timelines and ensure they are meeting the stringent security and social value requirements expected of public sector bodies.

For more information about our full range of frameworks we operate in, click here.

To talk directly to our frameworks team, email us at frameworks@xma.co.uk

XMA Awarded Key Position on New Welsh Government IT Framework

XMA has secured a place on the new Welsh Government Commercial Delivery (WGCD) – IT Products and Services Framework (iii). Commencing April 1, 2026, this framework provides all Welsh public sector organisations with a compliant and efficient route to procure essential Technology and Managed Print services.

Public sector procurement is often defined by the need to meet stringent security and value-for-money requirements. By using this framework, Welsh organisations can simplify their supply chain while ensuring adherence to government standards.

Broad Capability Across Four Critical Lots

XMA are one of only three companies appointed to four of the five available lots. This position allows us to act as a consolidated provider for the entire IT stack alongside the provision of Managed Print services, reducing the administrative burden of managing multiple vendor contracts.

We have been awarded places on the following lots:

Lot 1 – Hardware:Provision of end-user devices, infrastructure, and peripheral equipment.
Lot 2 – Software:Licensing, management, and software-based solutions.
Lot 4 – MFDs / Print:Managed print services and multi-functional devices.
Lot 5 – Integrated Solutions:Delivery of complex, multi-technology projects.

All Lots do allow for Direct Award alongside quotation and tender requests

Supporting the Welsh Public Sector

This award reinforces XMA’s status as a Compliant Specialist within the public sector. Our focus remains on delivering value-for-money and operational resilience to schools, local authorities, and NHS bodies across Wales.

Instead of navigating fragmented procurement routes, Welsh public bodies can

utilise XMA’s proven track record to deliver secure, stable, and scalable technology.

For more information on how to access XMA via the WGCD framework from April 2026, please contact our dedicated teams at wales@xma.co.uk

TePAS2 Procurement: Moving Beyond the Hardware List

Public sector IT procurement is often characterised by complexity, fragmented frameworks, and the pressure to demonstrate value-for-money under strict regulatory oversight. While the Technology Products and Associated Services 2 (TePAS2) framework, was designed to simplify this process, many organisations still struggle to utilise its full potential beyond simple hardware acquisition.

At XMA, we help you move past these hurdles. We provide the technical knowledge and framework expertise required to ensure your projects are delivered on time and within budget.

Little-Known Opportunities Within TePAS2

Most buyers use TePAS2 for standard laptops or servers, but the framework offers several overlooked services that can improve project efficiency:

Lot 8 Direct Award: For low-value or low-complexity items, organisations can use the Purchasing Platform to buy directly from XMA without a lengthy bidding process, saving significant administrative time.

Sustainability as a Service: Under Lot 7, you can procure refurbished and remanufactured hardware. This allows you to meet Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) targets while reducing the initial capital outlay for new equipment.

Flexible Financial Models: TePAS2 supports leasing and “as-a-service” models. This moves IT spend from a large upfront capital expense (CapEx) to a predictable monthly operational expense (OpEx), which is often easier to secure within public sector budgets.

The XMA Advantage: End-to-End Project Delivery

A common mistake in public sector procurement is treating hardware acquisition as a separate event from implementation and long-term support. XMA’s position on over 40 public sector frameworks, including G-Cloud and various CCS agreements, allows us to handle every aspect of your project.

Consultancy & Design: We use our knowledge and expertise to provide clear technical assessments before you buy, ensuring the chosen technology aligns with your strategic goals.

Mult-Framework Integration: If a project requires cloud hosting (G-Cloud) alongside physical infrastructure (TePAS2), XMA can handle it all. This eliminates the need for you to manage multiple vendor contracts and SLAs.

Lifecycle Management: We can provide configuration, installation, and user training as part of the initial delivery, followed by UK-based support and responsible recycling (ITAD) at the end of the product’s life.

By working with XMA, you are not just “buying boxes.” You are securing a partner with a proven track record of managing projects across the UK public sector. We handle the procurement intricacies so you can focus on delivering essential public services.

For more information about our full range of frameworks we operate in, click here.

To talk directly to our frameworks team, email us at frameworks@xma.co.uk

Maximising Value in Scottish Public Sector Procurement: A Guide to the Web and Proprietary Framework

For Scottish public sector bodies, procurement is rarely just about purchasing hardware or software. It’s a strategic exercise in balancing strict compliance, budget cycles, and the need for operational resilience.

The Scottish Web and Proprietary Framework provides a robust, pre-vetted route for organisations to acquire the technology they need without the administrative burden of traditional tendering. As a specialist in the Scotland, XMA provides the practical expertise required to use this framework effectively to meet both immediate and long-term objectives.

Addressing the Procurement Challenge: Lead Times and Uncertainty

One of the primary anxieties for IT Directors today is supply chain volatility. Unpredictable lead times can disrupt project timelines and result in budget slippage.

Our previous analysis on navigating lead time uncertainty highlights how the framework acts as a tool for stability. By using a framework that simplifies the acquisition process, organisations can:

Identify risks early: Gain better visibility into manufacturer stock levels and delivery schedules.

Improve project planning: Align technology delivery with your internal deployment capabilities.

Maintain momentum: Reduce the time spent in procurement cycles, allowing for faster implementation of critical infrastructure.

Strategic Alignment and Operational Ambition

Beyond managing day-to-day logistics, the framework is designed to help Scottish organisations achieve their broader strategic ambitions. Whether the goal is improving digital services for citizens or modernising legacy systems, the procurement route must support these outcomes.

In our discussion on meeting operational and strategic ambitions, we detailed how XMA acts as a “Compliant Specialist”. Using the framework through XMA enables:

Demonstrable Value-for-Money: Access to competitive pricing that meets the stringent requirements of public spending.

Compliance by Design: Full adherence to Scottish procurement regulations and government standards.

Technical Credibility: Partnering with a provider that understands the specific nuances of the Scottish NHS, education, and local government sectors.

Why the Framework Matters Now

The UK IT market is currently a high-stakes environment characterised by rapid technological evolution, particularly in areas like cloud adoption and cybersecurity. For Scottish public sector bodies, staying competitive requires a procurement partner that moves beyond transactional sales to offer consultative support.

The Scottish Web & Proprietary Framework is not just a list of products, it’s a mechanism for building a more resilient and efficient public sector. By consolidating your web and proprietary software needs through this framework, you can reduce complexity and ensure your technology investments are directly aligned with your organisation’s mission.

Are you ready to simplify your procurement process? XMA’s team of experts is available to help you navigate the Scottish Web and Proprietary Framework. We provide the guidance you need to ensure your next project is delivered on time, within budget, and in full compliance.

AI Without the Overhead: A Practical Path to Modernising Your Workplace with AMD and Windows 11 Pro

The Reality of AI for IT Teams

The requirement to deliver AI capabilities at scale is now an immediate, critical standard for public sector IT leaders. Whether you are managing local government, the NHS, or education departments, you are tasked with adopting AI tools to drive operational efficiency while acting as a front-line defender against an escalating wave of cyberthreats.

For organisations handling sensitive citizen data and navigating strict regulatory landscapes, maintaining a robust and compliant security posture is a non-negotiable requirement. You must modernise your technology stack within highly structured procurement frameworks, such as the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) or G-Cloud, ensuring every investment demonstrates clear value-for-money and adheres to stringent data security protocols.

However, for most IT departments, this aim brings significant challenges:

The Resource Gap: IT decision-makers are currently operating at the intersection of modernisation demands and strict cost containment.

The Security Paradox: Modernising the technology stack is urgent, yet it often conflicts with a workforce already operating at full capacity.

Infrastructure Strain: Moving every AI task to the cloud creates latency issues and unpredictable costs that many UK businesses prefer to avoid.

At XMA, we understand that modernisation should not result in complication. By combining Windows 11 Pro with AMD Ryzen™ processors, we provide a pragmatic way to meet these demands.

How AMD Supports AI-Ready Workplaces

AMD is shifting how AI is handled by moving the heavy lifting from the cloud directly onto the device. This is achieved through integrated AI acceleration built into the hardware. Windows 11 Pro devices featuring these advanced AI capabilities are ready for immediate use, allowing for integrated management and an intuitive experience.

On-Device Processing: Processing AI workloads locally on the device leads to superior performance and efficiency.

Time Savings: Organisations using these modern AI-ready PCs expect time savings of up to five hours per employee each week [1].

All-Day Productivity: Modern hardware allows for up to 22 hours of streaming battery life [2], keeping teams productive outside the office.

Data Privacy: Keeping data on the device rather than sending it to external cloud servers helps maintain data sovereignty, a critical requirement for BFSI and Public Sector organisations.

Security Benefits for Modern Windows Environments

Security is a foundational requirement, not an optional add-on. AMD Ryzen™ processors provide multiple layers of protection that align with the “secure by design and secure by default” philosophy of Windows 11 Pro.

Quantifiable Protection: Organisations have reported a 62% drop in security incidents after moving to Windows 11 Pro devices [3].

Silicon-Level Defence: The Microsoft Pluton security processor is integrated into the CPU, providing a hardware-based root of trust that is updated via Windows Update for long-term resilience.

Targeted Threat Reduction: Hardware and software working in harmony have contributed to a 3X reported reduction in firmware attacks3 and 2.9X fewer identity theft incidents [3].

Compliance Ready: These protections allow organisations to meet stringent regulatory standards, such as Cyber Essentials Plus or NIS2, without requiring complex third-party software layers.

Reducing the Operational Strain on IT Departments

The goal of any technology rollout should be to simplify, not disrupt. The AMD and Windows ecosystem is designed to reduce the “firefighting” often associated with new tech adoption.

Faster Onboarding: Using Windows Autopilot allows for zero-touch deployment, which speeds up onboarding and helps ensure consistent compliance across all devices.

Unparalleled Efficiency: IT teams anticipate a 10%–50% reduction in help-desk efforts due to faster provisioning and smarter content discovery [1].

Reduced Management Time: Proactive diagnostics and improved reliability lead to a projected 30% reduction in device management time [1].

Operational Resilience: Tools like Configuration Refresh automatically revert unauthorised security changes, maintaining your compliance posture without manual intervention.

The Outcome: A Secure, Practical Path to AI Adoption

Modernising your workplace with AMD and Windows 11 Pro provides a path to innovation that does not compromise control. You gain 50% faster workflows and collaboration on average, allowing your team to focus on strategic growth rather than technical debt [4].

Footnotes

New Tech: The Projected Total Economic Impact Of Microsoft Copilot+ PCs.Microsoft-commissioned study by Forrester Consulting, July 2025. Projected benefits for a single composite organization that has US$1 billion annual revenue and 2,000 employees with 80% using Copilot+ PCs. In comparison to a mixed environment of conventional Windows 11 and Windows 10 PCs.

Battery life varies significantly by device and with settings, usage, and other factors. See Windows Performance Lab.

Windows 11 Survey Report. Techaisle LLC, September 2024. Commissioned by Microsoft. Windows 11 results are in comparison with Windows 10 devices.

Results in comparison to Windows 10 PCs. Improve your day-to-day experience with Windows 11 Pro laptops, Principled Technologies, April 2023. Report commissioned by Microsoft.

Why Your Supply Chain is Your New Security Perimeter

Scott Wright

Scott is XMA’s Head of Pre-Sales. An IT industry greybeard, he believes strongly that proper planning & preparation prevents disasters waiting to happen.

In my role heading up the Pre-Sales team here at XMA, I spend a lot of time looking at the “big picture” of IT security for our public sector clients. One trend is becoming impossible to ignore: the shift from internal network security to the complex, often opaque world of supply chain risk.

Historically, we focused on “locking the front door” of the organisation. But today, your operational resilience is only as strong as the least secure vendor in your ecosystem.

The Government’s Clear Signal on Supply Chain Risk

The UK government isn’t just suggesting we take this seriously, they are providing a direct mandate. The official guidance on tackling security risk in government supply chains identifies third-party vulnerabilities as a primary threat to national infrastructure.

For public sector bodies (from local authorities to the NHS) the message is clear: you are responsible for the security of the data you handle, regardless of which third party is processing or storing it.

The Evolution: From Cyber Essentials Plus to NIS

Most of you have (hopefully) already achieved Cyber Essentials Plus (CSE+). That is a vital baseline, but it is no longer the finish line. The government is now pushing for public sector verticals to align with the Network and Information Systems (NIS) Regulations.

Moving toward NIS compliance requires a move away from “point-in-time” security. You can’t just check a box once a year. You need:

Complete Visibility: A clear map of every entity that has access to your network or data.
Continuous Assessment: A way to monitor the security posture of your suppliers in real-time.
Proactive Mitigation: The ability to identify a supplier’s weakness before it becomes your breach.

The Legislative Hammer is Coming

We are tracking pending legislation that will make supply chain risk management mandatory for several public sector verticals. Far from just avoiding a fine, it centres around maintaining your ability to operate. Non-compliance could lead to exclusion from critical procurement frameworks like G-Cloud or the Crown Commercial Service (CCS).

How XMA and Risk Ledger Solve the Complexity Problem

Managing this manually via spreadsheets is a recipe for failure. It’s slow, inaccurate, and data is out of date the moment it’s saved.

XMA utilises partners such as Risk Ledger to replace that manual headache with a professionalised, automated platform. Instead of chasing suppliers for audits, Risk Ledger provides a “social network” of security data.

Defensible Compliance: We provide the evidence and data needed to prove your due diligence to auditors and your board.
Reduced Overhead: Automating the assessment process frees up your internal IT team to focus on strategic projects.
Real-Time Alerts: If a supplier’s security status changes, you know immediately – allowing you to take action before a risk turns into a crisis.

Let’s Secure Your Chain

Security is about resilience. In the public sector, it’s also about public trust. At XMA, we’re not interested in selling you products, we work with you to implement a compliant, scalable framework that protects your organisation and the citizens you serve.

Navigating the Memory Price Surge: Stability in a Volatile Market

The global IT hardware market is currently facing significant headwinds. With DRAM contract prices almost doubling in early 2026, organisations across the UK are re-evaluating their device procurement and refresh strategies.

To understand how XMA is helping customers maintain stability during this period of volatility, we sat down with our Commercial Director, Paul Hamilton. Paul shares insights into how we use our Tier-1 partnerships and UK-based logistics to provide certainty for Enterprise and Public Sector (CPS) organisations.

How XMA Is Supporting Enterprise and CPS Customers Amid Rising DRAM Costs

Paul Hamilton: “With DRAM contract prices almost doubling in early 2026, many organisations are understandably concerned about the impact on their device procurement and refresh strategies. At XMA, we are taking proactive and measurable steps to help our customers maintain stability, predictability and value during this period of market volatility.”

Strategic Engagement at Executive Level: “We are in active, ongoing C‑suite dialogue with the world’s largest PC manufacturers. These direct relationships ensure we have early visibility of market movements, production constraints and forthcoming allocation changes enabling us to advocate for our customers at the highest level.”

Tri‑Party Engagement for Transparency: “Where appropriate, we facilitate tri‑party conversations between customers and our tier 1 vendors. This gives organisations a clear, unfiltered view of the vendor’s position, supply outlook and pricing dynamics. It ensures decisions are informed by real time insights rather than assumptions or market noise.”
Maximising the Channel Ecosystem: “XMA works across the breadth of the channel ecosystem to secure the best possible availability and inventory positions for our customers. By leveraging our scale, partner status and long standing relationships, we ensure our customers benefit from priority access to the latest stock positions and market intelligence.”

Secured, Ring‑Fenced Inventory: “For strategic partner accounts, we are already securing and ring‑fencing dedicated inventory in advance. This provides our customers with more predictable planning cycles, reduced exposure to sudden price spikes and assurance that the devices they require will be available when they need them.”

Budget Resilience: Evidence-Based Advice for IT Directors

For IT Directors managing multi-year refresh cycles, what evidence-based advice are we giving to help them demonstrate the ROI of proceeding with upgrades now versus waiting for a price reversal that analysts suggest is unlikely before 2027?

Paul Hamilton: “This discussion extends beyond immediate cost pressures and moves into a broader strategic assessment of organisational resilience and value creation. While rising component prices will influence deployment budgets, the wider geopolitical landscape spanning security threats, productivity demands, and ongoing supply chain volatility means that delaying refresh cycles often introduces greater operational and financial risk.”

“To support IT Directors in demonstrating clear, evidence‑based ROI, XMA partners with customers through structured innovation workshops. These sessions provide up‑to‑date insight on advancements in security, AI‑driven productivity, endpoint performance, and professional services.”

Supply Chain Agility: Strengthening UK Logistics

What specific changes have we made to our UK-based fulfilment and logistics operations to ensure we can still meet “just-in-time” delivery requirements despite global component shortages?

Paul Hamilton: “XMA has taken a series of proactive steps to strengthen our UK‑based fulfilment and logistics operations, ensuring we can continue to meet “just‑in‑time” delivery expectations despite global component shortages.”

“We have worked closely with our Tier 1 vendors to analyse market demand patterns, forecast volatility, and secure forward‑looking inventory positions within our UK logistics facility. By committing to early allocation and ring‑fenced stock, we can protect customers from both sudden availability constraints and unpredictable price fluctuations.”

“In practical terms, this operational model allows us to:

Hold dedicated inventory locally, enabling reliable next‑day delivery across the UK.
Reduce the impact of global supply chain disruption, thanks to pre-secured and strategically stored stock.
Provide greater pricing stability, insulating customers from short-term spikes driven by component scarcity.
Streamline fulfilment workflows, ensuring devices can be configured, kitted and dispatched rapidly from within the UK.
Strengthen vendor collaboration, giving us early visibility of constraints and enabling smarter sourcing decisions.”

What Does This Mean For Our Customers?

Navigating market volatility requires more than just reactive purchasing, it demands a partner with the scale and relationships to provide stability. By prioritising forward-looking inventory and direct vendor engagement, XMA ensures your technology roadmaps remain on track despite global component pressures.

Get in touch with your XMA account manager to discuss your upcoming IT projects, or contact us directly at enquiries@xma.co.uk to learn how we can protect your hardware budget.

The AI Capability Gap: Why Procuring Hardware Is Not a Strategy

Andrew Downes

With broad expertise of both Corporate and Public Sector challenges, Andrew specialises in translating complex technology concepts—from Datacentre and Cloud to Cyber Security and AI—into clear, services-led solutions that differentiate the business and deliver genuine value to the customer.

Artificial Intelligence represents a major wave of technological investment, with 68% of UK enterprises either implementing or planning to implement AI solutions. To meet this demand, the strategies and partner programs of major vendors are heavily influencing the market.

We are seeing a massive shift in infrastructure design across the entire technology stack. Key players like Microsoft, AWS, and Google are embedding complex AI services directly into their cloud environments. For on-premises and hybrid requirements, vendors such as Cisco, HPE, and Dell are releasing infrastructure explicitly built to handle intense AI compute and data storage workloads. Simultaneously, cybersecurity leaders like Fortinet, Sophos, and Palo Alto Networks are adapting their tools to secure these new, rapidly expanding environments.

However, this rush to adopt has created a significant capability gap. Procuring an AI-optimised Dell server, or provisioning advanced machine learning environments within AWS, is a transaction. It is not a strategy. When organisations treat AI as a simple hardware or software upgrade, high-performance systems sit underutilised, integration with legacy systems causes disruption, and a lack of proper governance increases operational risk.

To achieve a measurable return on investment (ROI) and optimise your total cost of ownership (TCO), you need more than capable technology, you need the practical expertise to apply it effectively.

Bridging the Gap Between Procurement and Performance

At XMA, our approach is built on practical understanding. We know that buying the equipment is the easiest part of the process. True operational resilience is established in the post-implementation phase, through rigorous integration, training, and ongoing management.

Here is how we ensure your organisation gets the most out of its infrastructure investments once the hardware is delivered:

Strategic Integration and Configuration: AI infrastructure rarely exists in a vacuum. Whether you are deploying HPE servers or Cisco networking gear, we ensure your new hardware communicates securely and reliably with your existing legacy systems. We handle the complex configuration required to optimise data flow and prevent operational bottlenecks.

Governance and Risk Mitigation: Advanced AI capabilities require access to vast amounts of corporate data, which expands your attack surface. We work with our security partners to implement strict identity management and access controls directly into your infrastructure, ensuring you maintain compliance and mitigate security risks.

Targeted Workforce Training: The most capable infrastructure is a wasted investment if your team does not know how to operate it safely. We provide targeted training programs that give your IT staff the specific skills required to manage, monitor, and maintain your new AI environments, reducing human error.

Proactive Managed Services: To free your internal team from day-to-day firefighting and allow them to focus on strategy, we provide proactive managed IT services. We monitor your infrastructure to identify and fix issues before they cause costly downtime, ensuring long-term stability.

Focus on Business Outcomes

Technology is a tool that requires an expert hand to deliver results. Simply buying equipment with AI capabilities does not solve business problems.

XMA provides reliable, secure, and affordable managed IT services. We help you modernise infrastructure, scale IT securely, and prove the value of IT to your board. We work with you to ensure your technology investments are fully integrated, properly governed, and actively driving business value.

Contact us at enquiries@xma.co.uk or talk to your XMA Account Manager about our full range of infrastructure capabilities.

Navigating Lead-Time Uncertainty with the Scottish Web and Proprietary Framework

The technology industry is experiencing a fundamental shift in component availability. Market data indicates a global DRAM shortage as manufacturers prioritise High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) for AI data centres. This reallocation of production capacity is creating significant uncertainty regarding component availability, lead times and pricing for client devices throughout 2026.

Mitigate Project Delays with XMA

The framework provides a compliant and direct route to a wide range of web-based and proprietary technology from Apple, HP, Samsung, Lenovo, and Microsoft.

As the sole supplier on the Scottish Web and Proprietary Framework, XMA works directly with global suppliers to mitigate supply disruptions and protect your project timelines. However, we believe the current memory and storage shortages will impact on the Framework. Please engage with us as early as possible in order to address some of your concerns and needs.

The Impact of Structural Price Increases

While product availability is a primary operational concern, the financial implications are equally significant. Market analysts predict that hardware prices could rise by over 20% in the first half of 2026 as component costs are passed down to end users. Specifically, DDR5 memory prices have already quadrupled since late 2025.

For public sector organisations in Scotland, this creates a volatile procurement environment where established budgets may no longer be sufficient to meet hardware requirements if purchases are delayed. Again, early engagement will ensure you have information about the latest pricing to inform your decisions.

Strategic Tools for Supply Resilience

To help you find solutions for both immediate and future needs, we provide several mechanisms to ease the pressure on your digital strategy:

Free 6-Month Bonded Storage: Secure the hardware you need now and keep it in our managed facilities at no additional cost for half a year.
Deferred Warranty: We provide a deferred warranty for products held in bonded storage. This means your warranty only commences on the date the device is received at your location, not the date of purchase.
Flexible Withdrawal and Logistics: Withdraw devices on demand with free delivery to as many UK locations as your project requires.
Finance and Leasing: Use our range of finance options to spread the cost of hardware, allowing you to secure stock early without straining immediate cash flow.

Local Expertise, Unmatched Experience

The framework is a pathway for consultation, not just a procurement tool. Our dedicated team is based in Scotland and understands the specific operational landscape of the Scottish public sector.

We provide free consultation and will visit your organisation to listen to your goals. Our experience is particularly relevant for large-scale 1:1 device projects within Local Authorities across Scotland. We understand the end-to-end strategic and operational processes required to make these projects successful, offering a level of insight that is unmatched in the region.

Partner With XMA For Your Next Project

The current memory shortage and production shifts are expected to persist well into 2027. The earlier we can begin the consultation process regarding your upcoming needs, the more we can do to mitigate supply delays. By engaging with the framework now, you can avoid the lead-time bottlenecks hitting the wider market and ensure your users have the tools they need when they need them. For further details on how we support Scottish public sector ambitions, you can view our frequently asked questions here.

Contact our Scottish team today:

· Email: scotlandsales@xma.co.uk

· Phone: 0115 846 4100

That’s A Wrap! Highlights and Insights from BETT26

Michael Conlon

Former teacher, school leader, and survivor of many education reforms. Now an Education Transformation Consultant, Michael specialises in turning big tech promises into actual classroom wins.

Reflecting on BETT 2026, what emerged, beyond the multiple pieces of hardware and software that do more or less do the same thing, was a much calmer sense of direction to last year when AI was being plastered over every stand and without any sense of purpose. More specifically at XMA we could sense the following.

The value of community: We’re always fond of saying “Devices don’t teach children. Teachers teach children”, and so BETT is a place for people to connect, to share ideas and progress, inspire and influence each other in ways which are authentic and important and stripped of the hype. Teachers and leaders spent purposeful time exploring what is in the market and connecting with vendors who are looking to add value rather than just deliver transactional technology. At XMA we had endless conversations around the present and future of learning and teaching and how our solutions and capabilities support a digital strategy, from devices to deployment, thinking about the “Why” and less about the “What”. We ended Day 2 with marvellous dinner with our key customers, allowing them to network and build a community of their own.

We found it hugely impactful to have some of our customers deliver talks in our mini theatre and reminded us that they are often our best champions, talking out the value of our partnership and how XMA deliver solutions that really support their needs and ambitions and gave us the opportunity to expose to other potential customers the breadth of our capability.

Human centred AI: AI was an inevitable focus for attendees, speakers and vendors but this year there was a more thoughtful, grounded approach. We really began to get down into the weeds of how AI actually supports teaching and learning, be it from Microsoft or Google, or embedded in apps like Canva, Kahoot, Adobe and Thinglink, to mention just a few. This is an important step and customers were beginning to challenge the value that some of them bring. Professor Hannah Fry and Amol Rajan explore the ethics of AI in their Keynote, very much reflecting our approach in XMA that AI must retain that human connection that support pedagogical principles. There are issues like misogyny and bias that schools need to tackle through Digital Literacy programs and be assured that what they are putting in front of teachers and pupils is part of a framework that has guardrails and can evolve over time.

Esports: Esports made its presence felt again, with schools beginning to value gaming as a legitimate way of introducing digital skills and Team benefits. They’re understanding the potential of how Esports help explore things like event management, broadcasting, team leadership and nutrition, a very credible cross-curricular dynamic. New qualifications are starting to cement this understanding and standards and frameworks are being built to ensure this is not just a flash in the pan.

On-device AI: Terms like NPU (neural processing units) and TOPS (Trillion operations per second) are beginning to become more familiar with customers as they begin to get to grips with the idea of AI work being done on device rather than in the cloud, and what speed and sustainability advantages a device with these kinds of chips will have. Vendors like Microsoft are building platforms that take advantage of this, allowing teachers the ability to build AI tool that support learning and teaching aligned to the educational standards in your country.

There was a good mix of smaller vendors, table top stands and technology-adjacent, many of whom we’re confident will grow and grow until their stands are prominent in the main floor. There is always almost too much on show at BETT and for many of our new attendees they felt it quite overwhelming at first. Despite being a veteran I still get blinded by the dozens of screen manufacturers and little STEM robot solutions that there are – an almost too crowded market in some respects, Dozens of talks and presentations, vendors and software, the show is at it’s best when people can navigate it through their field of interest and plan their day with comfortable shoes!

Finally, some solutions really come to life when you see children using them – that is often a clue in terms of how engaging the technology is and a reminder that we teachers work in service of these children’s future, so we should value what they tell us. I’d have a purely school children day but I realise that for some, many hundreds of kids in that space would be too much!

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XMA Re-Awarded Place on SLRA Framework to Support UK Higher Education

XMA Awarded Key Position on New Welsh Government IT Framework

TePAS2 Procurement: Moving Beyond the Hardware List

Maximising Value in Scottish Public Sector Procurement: A Guide to the Web and Proprietary Framework

AI Without the Overhead: A Practical Path to Modernising Your Workplace with AMD and Windows 11 Pro