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5 reasons why Chromebooks for teachers make sense
Read our list of five reasons why Chromebooks for teachers make sense
A helping hand for Aston
Aston University was seeking to provide workstation-grade laptop devicesto their first-year Computer Science students to provide a consistency ofexperience for all students on the technology-intensive courses and toprovide the flexibility to continue their studies through any disruptionsexperienced. They were looking to take advantage of the agreements in place andidentified Getech as an ideal partner to assist them with the organisationand physical distribution of over 400 devices to students during term time,working around their study timetables. Getech, in partnership with Lenovo, identified the ThinkPad P15v as anthe ideal combination of portability and performance. Lenovo also upgraded thewarranty to provide Premier Warranty Support including Microsoft Windowssupport, ensuring that every student can obtain support 24×7 and minimiseany problems impacting their studies. This rollout has proven to be so successfully received, that they are lookingto expand the provision to cover a larger number of students and on othercourses going forward. Reflecting on the event, Getech Account Manager Michael Kelly said, “Iwas delighted to be able to assist the University in handing out theselaptops. Getech greatly appreciate the support that we received from theUniversity on both days, which we feel contributed to making the event aresounding success. From our interactions with students on both days, Iwas left with the impression that it was well-received by them too.”
Getech named BT Partner of the year 2022
Getech were announced as the BT Partner of the year 2022 at the BT Champions Day 2022. The Channel partner event was hosted at St George’s Park, the home of England football. With the awards handed out by Steve Holland MBE, The England Senior Men’s Team Assistant Manager. Our BT Business Development Manager, Sean Mitchell, collected the award on behalf of Getech, added “It’s a fantastic achievement, we’re delighted to have all of our hard work recognised” BT chose Getech as one of its first distribution partners in 1998. The continued success of this partnership has been recognised through another BT award. You can learn more about our BT partnership here.
Getech makes strategic shift to AVD capitalising on IGEL OS-powered LG thin client desktops
IGEL, provider of the next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces, announces today that Getech has selected its endpoint software running on LG Cloud Device thin client devices as part of a company-wide strategic shift to cloud desktop virtualisation and update of ageing desktop hardware. This is a notable customer win for IGEL and LG. Getech is a leading thin client distributor in the UK based on revenue, market knowledge and sales expertise. Over and above all the other well-known brands it supplies, Getech selected IGEL OS and LG for its own corporate solution. Guy Watts, Getech’s managing director, explains, “We’ve been selling IGEL’s technology for the past six years. IGEL OS was chosen because it’s hardware agnostic – it runs on any x86-64 device – as well as providing a variety of cost, management and security benefits. It means we can truly say to our customers that IGEL OS works, backed up by detailed technical advice based on our own experiences.” Capitalising on its familiarity using Microsoft Windows server platforms and applications, Getech has migrated to Azure Virtual Desktops (AVD) – utilizing six Windows 10 multi-session hosts – whilst installing CL600 thin client running IGEL OS. This has an AVD client built-in enabling easy connectivity. Two LG 24-inch monitors for each of its 85 staff have been purchased as well. The rollout was simple: 10 minutes per desktop managed by Getech itself department by department, with IGEL Universal Management Suite (UMS) then used to manage the whole desktop estate. The investment in AVD has also allowed Getech staff to work from home effectively and easily during the Coronavirus pandemic given the new platform is accessed via a standard browser and optimised for Microsoft Teams so that video telephony and workplace collaboration is reliably delivered. The business previously used Remote Desktop Services in Windows Server 2012 R2 and it was impossible with this legacy platform to provide this kind of functionality for the whole company. Michael Peck, Getech’s IT manager, says, “The use of Windows Server 2012 R2 caused various issues. Systems admin was difficult, newer apps like Teams aren’t supported, updates will end soon, R2 has the ‘look and feel’ of outdated Windows 8 technology so the user experience isn’t great, and staff struggled to login every morning as the system was slow. This could literally take minutes. In a nutshell, Windows Server 2012 R2 was creaking at the seams and didn’t meet today’s requirements hence the change.” In addition, from a desktop perspective, Getech’s existing LINUX-based thin client endpoints were already eight years old – long in the tooth from a performance and security perspective – and did not support AVD. Watts adds, “The replacement upgrade was on our radar long before the pandemic hit. Covid and the requirement to offer remote working for staff with video conferencing tools brought this investment programme forward.” Various benefits of a combined AVD, IGEL OS and LG desktop solution have been realised: Lower cost. AVD has meant Getech has moved away from on-premise Windows Server 2012 R2 – thereby solving its operational issues – as well as reducing the number of [physical] servers within the business. That’s meant a reduction from 25 to 6 with more to come. More money is being saved as the company’s disaster recovery facility has also been closed as it now has a solution in AVD that’s a proven alternative to a physical DR suite. Furthermore, compared to other competitive products, the LG Cloud Device CL600 thin clients were attractively priced as they came as a blank chassis with no OS on them. IGEL OS was then loaded straight away. In addition, LG Cloud Device thin clients have a compact fanless design. This means they’re quieter, take less space and use less power which lowers operational costs. Eleanor McBryde, LG Electronics’ general manager, IT solutions, says, “In the spring of 2022, IGEL OS will also be available pre-installed on select LG All-in-One Thin Clients. The collaboration between IGEL and LG Business Solutions is a result of validation of devices through the IGEL Ready Program as IGEL continues to expand its partner ecosystem.” Improved performance. In addition to the speed of the new LG endpoint devices – which each come with powerful Intel Celeron Quad Core processors and 4GB / 8GB options of DDR4 memory – the login process to AVD now takes seconds rather than up to two minutes at peak times as with Windows Server 2012 R2. Staff then access Office 365 and a bespoke in-house developed ERP system called G-Sys which combines CRM, sales and finance modules. Happy users and better team collaboration. AVD also supports Microsoft Teams for dependable desktop video telephony and workgroup collaboration. All users are better-off with larger LG 24-inch monitors which are ergonomically and attractively designed and perform well. Watts adds, “Unmatched by competitors, LG has a superb range of cloud devices including desktop, mobile thin clients with screens, and all-in-one units with monitors of varying sizes: 24, 27 and 34 inches.” Enhanced reliability and superior platform flexibility. With the old Windows Server 2012 R2 platform, the IT team spent a lot of time solving and fixing problems which often meant taking the system down out of hours. The reliability of AVD means that the focus now is on using time for productive development to enhance the overall environment. Peck says, “Different users work on different virtual machines. With AVD, these are now all in a pool so it doesn’t matter if I now take one offline and update it, staff can use the others. Before, each department had their own server and when updates were required, the respective system couldn’t then be used.” Easier management. The UMS central management console makes it is straightforward to power on new IGEL OS-powered LG endpoints, set them up in the correct workgroup and then configure each based on the individual needs of the user. Greener IT. Watts says, “Another reason for moving to AVD and using LG Cloud Device thin clients is
Laptop Buying Guide for Universities
Choosing which laptop to buy depends on how you’ll be using it. For learning from home to campus life, portability is key. Something light enough to carry from the kitchen to the lecture theatre. Power is important too – video editing needs different laptop specs to essay writing. Our buying guide will help you to decide what laptop you should buy. What size laptop do I need? Size is an important factor in deciding which laptop you should buy. The size of a laptop is defined by its screen size and its design. How large a screen you need depends on where you plan to use the laptop. If the device is going to sit on a desk in your study for the majority of the time, you can indulge in a larger display with a higher resolution. Up to 14-inch Smaller laptops are designed for life on the move. The narrower design can be easily slipped into a satchel-type bag. 16-inch The average laptop size. Combines portable design with a wider screen, so you can multi-task whether on the go or learning from home. 17-inch The biggest laptops. Large screens are ideal for creative projects or spreadsheets. Can also get more on the screen for multitasking. What power processor do I need? Your laptop’s processor is like its brain. It decides whether the laptop can run complex software, like video editing and design programs, and how well your laptop can multitask (run several applications at once). For basic home use — checking emails, scrolling through Twitter, watching dog videos on YouTube — a dual-core processor offers plenty of processing power. For more intensive tasks such as video editing and gaming, choosing a CPU with four or more cores will improve performance and reduce stuttering. What Storage do I need? Laptop storage is all about how much stuff it can store. This includes photos, music and video, but also documents, software and programs – for example, Word or Photoshop. Storage amount is measured in gigabytes, better known as GB, with everything stored inside a hard drive. There are two main options for laptop storage. The one you choose depends on what you need to store and how quickly you want to work. HDD (hard disk drive) Traditional hard drives offer huge storage capacities. The downsides? Slow and noisy to run. Chunky designs made up of moving parts mean they’re suited to larger laptops. SSD (solid-state drive) A solid-state hard drive loads much faster and is almost silent. They offer more compact designs, perfect for thin laptops. The downside? Smaller storage capacities and higher cost. With the advent of online streaming, cloud-based storage and better hard drive space management tools, the average user doesn’t need to worry so much about local storage limits. What memory do I need? Memory, or RAM, determines how many tasks your laptop can handle at the same time. If you regularly work with very large documents, editing files that are multiple gigabytes in size for example, RAM will give your laptop the headroom it needs to keep things from grinding to a halt. The more RAM you have, the faster your laptop will operate – retrieving, opening and running applications. Programs, sites and documents you use regularly will always be in easy reach. Experts recommend 8GB RAM as a minimum. But some laptops have as much as 16GB. Looking for a new Laptop? Getech can help you with your device solutions through our position on the NDNA framework Learn more >
Getech announce their first ever charity of the year
Getech Ltd has proudly announced they have chosen Colchester & Ipswich Hospitals Charity as their inaugural charity of the year. The company regularly give back to the community, but this is the first time in its history they have picked a designated charity to focus all its fundraising activity on. Getech is a leading desktop services distributor and provider based in Ipswich and has ambitious plans to raise thousands for The Children’s Appeal at Ipswich Hospital in 2022. Even before the official announcement, they had held a Christmas Jumper Day and staff raffle which raised £1874.50. They have also donated two Chromebooks and a PlayStation 5, along with a gaming chair, headphones, games and a monitor for the children to enjoy. Fundraising plans so far for the year include January’s ‘Name the Duck’ competition, as well as a ‘Picnic in the Park/Rounders Tournament,’ grown-up ‘Sports Day’ (complete with sweets & stickers), a BBQ and a quiz night. The company also has plans to participate in ‘The Santa Run.’ Guy Watts – Managing Director explained why Getech have chosen to support The Children’s Appeal: “We really wanted to show our appreciation and support for the fantastic work the NHS has done over the past 18 months during this dreadful pandemic. Therefore, we have nominated ‘The Children’s Appeal’ as our chosen cause for 2022. Being Ipswich-based, we were happy to choose a local charity and we feel this stands to benefit everyone in the Ipswich area. We are keen to raise lots of funds for the ward with the events we are planning over the forthcoming year, and we very much look forward to working closely with you.” The Children’s Appeal was launched in 2018 with an aim to transform every centimetre of the Children’s Department at Ipswich Hospital. The redeveloped department will be light, airy and modern with significantly improved facilities to match the highest standards of care already received by patients. Matron of Children’s Services, Kate Stockton said: “We are absolutely thrilled that Getech has picked us as their first charity of the year. We can’t wait to help and support them during the year in everything they do.” To find out more about The Children’s Appeal visit: www.colchesteripswichcharity.org.uk/childrensappeal
Getech and LEGO® Education – Building the perfect partnership
We are proud to announce that we will now be a UK Distributor for LEGO® Education, offering our customers a suite of LEGO Education products that promote learning through play. Guy Watts, MD of Getech, said, “We are known for bringing innovative solutions to the education sector. We are delighted to be working alongside such an established brand that offers a hands-on learning system that can create inspiring teaching environments.” With over 40 years of experience working alongside teachers and students, LEGO Education solutions teach critical 21st century STEAM skills through hands-on, purposeful play that help students and teachers build confidence in learning. LEGO Education products are designed for all school ages and include intelligent hardware to introduce children to robotics, preparing them for the jobs of tomorrow in an engaging, joyful setting. The LEGO Learning System provides teachers with the assessment tools, lesson plans and professional development they need to make learning inspiring, engaging and practical. Tom Hall, General Manager, LEGO® Education, said, “We look forward to bringing the proven benefits of purposeful play to more classrooms, teachers and students across the UK as we build vital confidence in STEAM skills through LEGO® Education.” Learn more about Getech and LEGO for Education >
Getech Announce Exclusive Partnership With Merlyn Mind
Ipswich-based Getech Limited, one of the largest independent value-added distributors and providers of IT services in the UK along with Leading cloud, AI, have announced they have become the first UK distributor for Merlyn Mind, the US-based company behind a new digital assistant for teachers powered by artificial intelligence. Symphony Classroom is the new hardware and software solution built just for classrooms to bring the power of AI enabled voice to teachers to help them with their work. Symphony Classroom comes as an AI hub, remote control and AI software platform custom built for the unique needs of education and the privacy and security needs of schools, colleges and universities. Powering all of this is Merlyn, the world’s first digital assistant for teachers. The solution from Merlyn Mind works with the technology teachers already use in their learning spaces. As a voice-enabled artificial intelligence solution, Merlyn responds to the teacher’s voice from wherever she is in the classroom. A remote control adds additional interactive features such as an air mouse and media navigation buttons. The solution is designed for education environments and delivers shortcuts to learning resources powered by just the teacher’s voice, so the teacher can focus on what they do best – teaching. Guy Watts, MD of distribution partner Getech said “We are known for being innovative in bringing leading technology solutions to the communities we serve and the Symphony Classroom solution from the team at Merlyn Mind is a great example of this. Along with our partners at C-Learning we look forward to helping educators in the UK to harness the potential of this solution to make life better for teachers”. Gus Schmedlen, President & Chief Revenue Officer at Merlyn Mind said, “After years of development, we are thrilled to share our technology with the global education community, delivering on our mission to give teachers the freedom to teach, powered by AI. We are delighted to partner with Getech on the next phase of this exciting journey to bring leading artificial intelligence technology to the classrooms of the UK.”
5 ways Chrome keeps your users (and your business) secure
Organisations are spending big to improve their security with products that claim to fend off hacks and eliminate vulnerability, spending up to 13% of their overall IT budget according to a study by Gartner, and that was five years ago. Since then, the number of breaches has continued to rise with over two-thirds of business leaders experiencing an increase in cyber attacks in 2019. Phishing scams, DDoS attacks, and malware are costing organisations billions due to data breaches and ransomware. Even the NHS isn’t immune, with the WannaCry attack costing our health service some £92 million in 2017. However, it’s not all down to opportunists getting past expensive third-party antivirus software – 95% of breaches are caused by basic human error. With working from home continuing to be a target for cyber-criminals, it’s now more vital than ever for businesses to invest in the technology that will keep their users, their data, and their revenues protected from online threats. What are we used to? A bloated and flawed operating system running software that requires extemporary and disruptive manual updates Gigabytes of locally stored intellectual property, personally identifiable information, and user credentials Third-party antivirus definitions with separate billing and renewal cycles Devices built using a mish-mash of components prone to conflicts and issues that need direct user intervention to keep patched over time Poorly enforced boundaries between system processes that can allow hackers total access to a device through a single compromised module What does this mean? Working from home creates new problems as tools and processes designed for corporate networks become less and less effective Ops teams that struggle with enforcing consistent device images and patching firmware and apps across distributed endpoints IT admins are forced to focus on monitoring devices to identify vulnerabilities and detect compromises Businesses have an opportunity to make game-changing improvements in endpoint security and administration by capitalising on the inherent advantages of cloud-based architectures. Admins are able to manage their entire IT estate remotely from a central cloud-based console, and processes can be streamlined or wholly automated, allowing them to focus on proactive improvements rather than reactive maintenance. Chromebooks and other Chrome OS devices have been designed from the ground up to solve many of these issues for organisations of all sizes. Below are just some of the ways Google makes it easy for administrators to keep their endpoints secure and their users safe when working online from anywhere. 1. Automatic updates Keeping your firmware and software up-to-date can be an arduous task, which is exacerbated further when dealing with a distributed workforce. Even when vulnerabilities are announced or new attack techniques are discovered, your users often dismiss your best efforts to keep them safe and their data secure. Chrome devices benefit from automatic updates, which can be controlled remotely from the Google Admin console. These occur every six weeks – far more often than other major operating systems. Updates happen in the background and automatically take effect the next time the device is booted, minimising disruption and allowing your staff to keep working as normal. 2. Verified boot When a Chromebook boots up, the read-only OS checks itself against a known safe version using a signature and a signed hash to verify that the version being loaded exactly matches the image approved by Google. The now-verified firmware then uses the same process to check all the blocks of code in the operating system and Chrome browser to ensure there are no discrepancies. If any evidence of tampering or malware is found, the process stops and the device reboots using a backup version of Chrome OS. As it’s impossible to boot corrupted firmware on a Chromebook, Ops staff can avoid the tedious work required to remedy compromised software and files on the machine. 3. Sandboxing Several classes of cyber attack use compromised websites and applications to take control of software components on the device, so Chromebooks utilises process sandboxing to enforce boundaries between applications in use. As apps on a Chrome device cannot communicate with each other (except under strict conditions), should your user unwittingly visit an infected website or side-load some unauthorised software, there’s no chance of it tainting anything else on the device. Simply close the app or page and the threat is swiftly neutralised and removed from the device. 4. Google Admin console When coupled with a Chrome Enterprise or Education Upgrade, businesses can unlock the Google Admin console and over 300 policies and settings they can tailor to the needs of their users and their organisation. Once the domain has been verified, IT admins are able to manage their Chrome estate from anywhere by visiting admin.google.com. Policies such as Forced re-enrolment and Restricted sign-in means that if the worst happens and one of your Chromebooks gets lost or stolen, the device cannot be taken out of managed status and your user and customer data remains secure. Considering such data breaches cost significant time, money, and damage to reputation, Google’s automated “set-and-forget” processes can prove invaluable. 5. Cloud infrastructure From the six layers of on-site security including thermal cameras and iris scanning to the data centre floors where less than 1% of Googlers ever get to visit, the infrastructure behind Google Cloud adheres to over 40 global data security standards and regulations. How does that compare to your traditional on-premises server room? Google custom designs and builds almost every part of the stack with a relentless focus on continual improvement and constant innovation. Cooling is one of the biggest overheads for any data centre, which is a hot topic for any organisation focused on sustainability. Google’s data centre in Finland for example, is 100% cooled by seawater. Want to know more?Getech is one of the largest suppliers of Chrome devices and management licences in the UK. We support channel partners by providing their customers with cloud-ready technology that helps them scale quickly, work efficiently, and save them money.team@getechenterprise.com