20 July 2020
Conclusion
Based on the evidence seen by Jisc working with the sector, the following requirements are considered necessary:
- A resilient and minimum 1Gbps Janet connection, accelerating the upgrade path for those who do not yet have this using the £300m per annum capital fund
- Continued investment in end-user devices to support learners, especially for disadvantaged and vulnerable learners
- Up-to-date servers and storage, and the discontinuation of legacy operating systems
- Infrastructure upgrades to include offline back-ups where they do not exist. Ensure server and back-up solutions comply with Cyber Essentials Plus and ISO27001
- The creation of a senior technology role where there is no such position within an organisation’s structure
- Better strategic alignment of technology with the overall college objectives, with a clearly defined service catalogue in place
- Ensure staffing levels are appropriate within IT teams, staff are replaced when team members leave, and staff have the opportunity and capacity to access appropriate training and development, particularly on cloud services
- A coordinated approach to end user awareness training and awareness raising on safeguarding and cyber security issues
See their full blog entry here: https://www.jisc.ac.uk/news/it-infrastructure-in-fe-the-current-state-of-delivery-and-priorities-20-jul-2020