The challenge of managing iPads at 135 schools
Managing the technology needs of 135 public schools has its challenges, notes Lee Jepson, founder and director of L.E.A.D. IT.
One of the challenges revolved around the management of the iPads in use at the schools. Since the iPads are often shared, a mobile device management (MDM) solution was needed for app deployment, device location tracking, and passcode management.
“Pushing apps was the main reason we needed MDM,” says Jepson. “With Miradore, even the helpdesk can push apps - it’s straightforward to use.”
A cost-effective and scalable solution for schools
L.E.A.D. IT finds Miradore to be cost-effective, easy to use, and scalable. Working with education customers can be difficult due to complexity, the need to deploy multiple sites, and oftentimes, reduced budgets.
“It’s a competitive domain, too,” says Jepson, but Miradore’s pricing and flexible licensing model is well suited to meet the needs of his company’s IT projects.
With easy device enrollment and app deployment, the process is streamlined, and the delivery time of new iPads to schools is now very fast.
Today, L.E.A.D. IT uses Miradore for its education clients for:
- App deployment
- Device location tracking
- Device count and status -- how many devices (online, offline, status)
- Passcode management
- Apple DEP
Saving 30 hours monthly with MDM
Before implementing MDM, L.E.A.D. IT had to connect each of the schools’ iPads to a Mac and all configuration was done with Apple Configurator. “It was very time consuming,” recalls Jepson. “It was wasting our time as well as that of the teachers.”
Earlier, a technician had to spend days in each school supporting, maintaining and setting up the iPads -- setting up 30 iPads took 3 days with Apple Configurator - which proved to be an expensive use of L.E.A.D. IT’s monthly fee.
“The biggest benefit so far of using Miradore is that I’m saving 30 hours per month per school,” says Jepson.
Today, L.E.A.D. IT’s internal efficiency is increased with the help of Miradore’s MDM, meaning more value to its education clients and lower costs for the company. “Setting up new devices is very fast and easy now,” adds Jepson.
