Preventative maintenance has two main costs: capital and revenue.
Capital costs include:
- choosing good quality components for the network rather than always
basing your purchasing decisions on price
- duplicating critical parts of the network to minimise the impact of component
failure
- buying a stock of spare parts for the network
- investing in data-backup systems and other security measures.
These costs will vary from school to school depending on the needs of the network.
Early tasks in implementing preventative maintenance measures are to evaluate
the needs of the network and to budget for the necessary equipment.
Revenue costs include the need to provide technical support personnel to carry
out maintenance tasks. A good rule of thumb is to have one technician for every
150 pieces of equipment. Provision may be:
- an onsite technician or technicians
- technical support shared with other schools
- technicians provided via a support contract with an outside agency.
In all cases it is important to ensure:
- coverage for holidays and sicknesses
- clear understanding of the range of tasks? to be performed in order to
prevent problems
- implementation of an agreed, documented programme of preventative
maintenance.
