Resellers must establish closer classroom bonds
Analyst predicts resellers will benefit from continuing growth if they make the right educational contacts
Resellers need to establish relationships with schools and local education authorities (LEAs) if they are to cash in on the growing education market, according to industry watchers.
Spending in the UK IT educational sector is set to grow by 8.5 per cent, from $1.3bn last year to $2.1bn by 2010, according to a new report by Datamonitor.
The Future of Technology in European Education report revealed that the bulk of IT purchasing will come from primary and secondary schools, although spending levels will be significantly more in the higher education sector.
James Adams, senior analyst at Datamonitor, said: “Universities can operate on a larger scale than schools, and can therefore take advantage of economies of scale. The other reason is that there is more scope for e-learning in universities.”
The analyst has predicted that the UK higher education market will grow from $477m to $1bn by 2010.
“Resellers have to remember that the higher education market is very different from the primary and secondary school market,” said Adams.
“They need to tailor their offerings to these markets and understand their goals. They also need to get in with the LEAs if they want a piece of this market growth.”
However, Mike Williams, public sector sales manager at VAR Misco, told CRN: “As of next year, the government plans to give funding directly to schools, so LEAs probably won’t have the same involvement as they have done before.
“Resellers should start building relationships with schools now if they are not already doing so.''
“At Misco we run a schools territory system. We have 40 dedicated education sales people, each looking after a different territory.”
Adams said the market is continuing to grow because of several education initiatives, including the Building Schools for the Future initiative, which aims to overhaul the infrastructure of UK schools.
The project aims to upgrade or replace all UK schools over a 10-to 15-year period, and also includes investment in IT.