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Bets are being laid on who will win the schoolyard scuffle that's brewing in the UK education sector between Microsoft and Google

Bets are being laid on who will win the schoolyard scuffle that's brewing in the UK education sector between Microsoft and Google.

Google is attempting to give the biggest kid in class the equivalent of a wedgie by cosying up to education secretary Michael Gove, plying kids with free apps, and launching a high-profile marketing campaign for its Chromebooks.

Rumour has it that Google is looking to repeat the success it is enjoying in the US on this side of the pond by securing 25 per cent of the market in its satchel.

But Microsoft aimed its slingshot back at the search engine giant this month by making sweeping improvements to Shape the Future (STF), a scheme it launched in the UK in 2012 in an effort to arm teenagers with affordable computers.

CRN understands the vendor is now offering Windows to OEMs and local manufacturers building STF SKUs for just $1 in a bid to make price less of an issue for schools evaluating Windows and Chrome devices. This means the price of an average Microsoft PC or tablet will fall by £35 - as much as 10 or 15 per cent - for schools using the scheme (on top of the savings that were already available through STF), according to estimates, presuming the entire cost savings are being passed on by the channel.

The price slash is just one element of a raft of far-reaching improvements Microsoft has made to STF, which onlookers have complained has until now failed to gain traction due to the restrictive criteria that govern who qualifies to take part.

Microsoft confirmed in a brief statement to us that the threshold for entry into the scheme for suppliers has been lowered from 10,000 to 3,000 devices. Schools and colleges can now use it for general refreshes rather than just for projects that conform to the government's one-device-per-pupil mantra, and a wider variety of school workers, including administrative staff, now qualify.

Meanwhile, we understand that OEMs and system builders can now become directly accredited, enabling them to make STF stock available to the channel through distribution. This will mean resellers no longer have to buy units in bulk from the manufacturer.

"For me, this is Microsoft's response to Apple and Google stealing market share in the client and operating system space," said Andrew Henderson, managing director of Lanway, which has signed up to STF in partnership with system builder Zootstorm.

"I don't believe this is a margin opportunity for us but it is a way for our schools and the taxpayer to get more for less," he said. "I don't want kids to understand how Google and Apple tools work. If a school leaver joins us on an apprenticeship scheme having known only Apple or Google, it's a steep learning curve to learn the Microsoft stack, which most businesses operate on."

Nick Berry, head of education at Softcat, which has been an STF partner since March 2013, hailed Microsoft's counter-move as a major opportunity for schools as they gear up to apply for budgets for summer projects.

"The changes make it a much more compelling offer and easier to understand for the reseller, manufacturer and customer," he said.

"We will look to drive off the back of this into the busy summer months."

Shaune Parsons, managing director of reseller Computerworld Wales, who also expressed an interest in signing up to STF, sympathised with Microsoft's plight.

"They've had their arses whipped," he said. "Apple are producing iPads, including OS X, for cheaper than what Lenovo can produce on an equivalent tablet because a large chunk of the price goes on the operating system. They needed to do something and do it quickly."

Parsons added: "I've asked them to let me know what I need to do to sign up, as the changes mean we can now join the same scheme as the big boys. I just wish they'd let us have access to the Surface Pro."

Alex Tatham, managing director of Westcoast, confirmed the distributor is becoming more heavily involved with STF and would primarily play a "policing" role to ensure resellers and end users comply with the scheme's rules.

"It will be extremely carefully monitored," Tatham said.

The STF changes reflected the pressure Microsoft was under to drop its prices because Google devices are becoming increasingly easy to manage and therefore a more viable option for schools, Tatham said.

"Google may have ambitions to give Microsoft a bloody nose, but it has not done so yet," he added. "But I think you can safely say there's a fight brewing in the playground."

Microsoft takes price out of the equation for schools

Microsoft's decision to effectively give away Windows will mean its schools battle with Google will no longer come down purely to price, said Chrystele Labesque, EMEA personal computing research manager at IDC.

Typically priced at £199 or £299, Chromebooks will be attractive to a schools market still reeling from public spending cuts, she said, and are also a natural choice for a generation of children that has grown up using Android smartphones. This could make them a viable replacement for mini-notebooks.

But with Microsoft effectively subsidising the full cost of its operating system on STF projects, Google's price advantage will be less of a factor for schools about to embark on a summer PC refresh, Labesque said.

"It means the decision will go back to what the benefits are of one operating system over the other, rather than purely price," she argued.

According to IDC, Chrombeook shipments accounted for just 2.7 per cent of the total UK notebook market in Q4 2013, up from 1.3 per cent in Q2.

"Sales have not been significant," Labesque said. "But Google has been successful in making a noise and creating visibility in the UK, which is putting pressure on Microsoft."

Google this month surpassed Exxon Mobil to become the world's second most-valuable company. The fact Eric Schmidt was name-checked in a speech about the curriculum by Michael Gove in 2012 provides evidence of the firm's increasing influence in the education market.

But although the company is undoubtedly a potent threat to Microsoft, Labesque said Google faces an uphill struggle to gain traction as rapidly in Europe as it has in its home market.

"Google has an ambitious plan and strategy of working with the manufacturers to bring devices to the market," she said. "We also understand it is working to get developers on board to create more education solutions. But the education channel in Europe and the UK is more fragmented than the US. You have to win over more people in order to reach the same volume. This is where Microsoft and Apple have a long history and I think they will defend their position."

What is Shape the Future?

Landing in the UK in late 2012, Microsoft's Shape the Future has the noble ambition of "closing the opportunity gap between rich and poor by putting technology into the hands of every child". Its arrival gave publicly funded schools in England and Wales the ability to buy laptops and tablets for up to 30 per cent off RRP. The programme originally aimed to provide affordable Windows 8 devices to students and teachers for their own personal use but under the changes that kicked in on 1 February, Microsoft has widened the types of projects that are eligible.

"As of 1 February 2014, we are lowering the threshold for entry into the scheme from 10,000 devices to 3,000 devices and are expanding the categories of those eligible to benefit to include administrative staff and institutions as well as personal, or 1:1 devices for teachers and students," Microsoft said.

"Combined with lower-cost devices, this is a game-changer for putting the best of today's technology into people's hands."