demonstrating the value of pcs in the education industry · demonstrating the value of pcs in the...

January 2014, IDC Government Insights #GI241799

Demonstrating the Value of PCs in the

Education Industry

W H I T E P A P E R

Sponsored by: Microsoft

Shawn P. McCarthy Randy Perry January 2014

E X E C UTI VE SUMMA RY

At the heart of technology in education is the desire to engage, motivate, and excite students and faculty. Technology can fundamentally change the way students learn, teachers instruct, and the education community communicates. As students pursue learning, they enjoy a more personalized experience and greater collaboration and tackle problems and projects in innovative new ways. Teachers can enhance their lesson plans and have more productive classroom time, and all constituents can feel more connected and informed.

Yet, despite these benefits and the best of intentions, technology departments are under constant scrutiny and budgetary pressures; administrators are working hard not just to prevent slashes in funding but also to justify new investments to bring to life their vision of a technology-enabled classroom.

In an effort to support and inform administrators with these activities, IDC Government Insights recently interviewed 11 schools about their technology investments. The specific areas of focus were PCs — desktops, laptops, and "hybrid" tablet PCs — and media tablets. For the purpose of this study, we are distinguishing "hybrid" tablet PCs from media tablets. A hybrid laptop can serve as both a tablet and a notebook computer. It functions as a notebook system when the keyboard is connected, and it works as a tablet computer when the screen is detached. In most cases, the touchscreen continues to function whether a keyboard is attached or not. Media tablets are electronic devices primarily designed and marketed to enable creation of and access to a wide range of digital content and services, including media and communications.

Key findings from the analysis include the following:

● The schools favored PCs over media tablets primarily for their ability to generate content — especially in the higher grades.

● Although PC devices cost more than media tablets, the costs of the additional technology required for tablets to deliver a full system that meets the needs of education — including management and security software, maintenance and warranty packages, and additional bandwidth — close the gap considerably.

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For the purpose of this study, we are distinguishing "hybrid" tablet PCs from media tablets. A hybrid laptop can serve as both a tablet and a notebook computer.

#GI241799 ©2014 IDC Government Insights

● The principal cost advantage of a PC is that it optimized for organizations rather than individuals and as such is easier to deploy and manage, resulting in annual maintenance costs that are 26% lower than those of media tablets.

● The schools in this study felt that the PC's usability and fit with their educational goals more than outweighed the cost advantage of media tablet devices.

I N T H I S W HI TE P A P ER

This IDC Government Insights white paper, sponsored by Microsoft, investigates the economic impact of PCs and "full OS" tablet devices in the education industry. The study was based on 11 in-depth interviews with Microsoft education customers.

S I T UA TI ON OVE R VI E W

Trends such as one-to-one computing initiatives, bring your own device (BYOD), and the acceptance of portable and non-PC devices are driving school districts and universities to seriously evaluate their computing strategies. A key question is whether — and how — to tackle tablets and the myriad challenges they may introduce into the environment.

● One-to-one computing. School districts are working to place more technology in schools to support one-to-one computing initiatives. In some countries, this is set as a formal goal (such as the Common Core States Standards Initiative, which promotes one-to-one computing, in the United States). In other countries, the effort is less formal but still regarded as an effective way to reach students. At the low end of the scale, this means more shared notebook and tablet devices that can be transported around schools for student use and more dedicated staff and teacher computers for general business use. At the high end, it means actual dedicated computers for each student or staffer.

● BYOD. As calls for BYOD increase, educational institutions are realizing that they need to place limits on BYOD expansion. For instance, many educational sites will only allow privately owned devices to access a "guest" network within a facility. An approved and centrally managed device is required to access the full range of internal resources.

©2014 IDC Government Insights #GI241799

● Acceptance of portable and non-PC devices. Portable and non-PC devices have made significant inroads in schools and colleges. Despite the fact that media tablets and other "light OS" devices have proven to be immensely popular, they are not without challenges. For instance, legacy computer software does not always run on tablet or "light OS" devices, which can create a need for two devices in some classrooms.

Against this backdrop of change and device proliferation, administrators are facing tough issues around life-cycle management, enterprise device management, and long-term compatibility. Replacing aging equipment is one thing, but other issues, such as the end of support for various technologies, the shortage of large-scale management options for media tablets, and the long-term portability of legacy applications, are putting great pressure on schools to make decisions about what they will use for classroom computers for the next four to six years.

Some school districts are finding that the most cost-effective approach is to invest in devices that can be used as both PCs and tablet computers ("hybrid" devices) and that can be easily managed across the organization while allowing access to legacy applications. Many school districts are also finding that it's to their advantage to maintain compatibility between teachers' computers and students' computers in order to benefit from economies of scale and to broaden teaching opportunities without allowing technology differences to hamper information flow.

Combined, these issues have created a set of catalysts that are accelerating the IT decision process for schools and making 2013 a pivotal year for educational computing.

R E S E AR CH R ES UL T S

In the spring of 2013, IDC interviewed 11 K–12 education systems based in the United States and Australia. These school systems ranged in size from 382 to 82,000 students and included public, private, and charter schools. The interviews were designed to assess the schools' experience with PCs and other computing devices. All of the schools had recently evaluated computing devices as part of their strategy for moving to one-to-one computing. Table 1 presents the respondent demographics.

Note: All numbers in this document may not be exact due to rounding.


T A B L E 1

R e s p o n d e n t D e m o g r a p h i c s f o r 1 1 S c h o o l S y s t e m s

Average number of schools in system 23.5

Average number of students in system 13,507

Average number of teachers 987

Student-to-teacher ratio 5:1 to 25:1; average 12:1

Average number of IT staff supporting computing devices 9.54

Average number of computing devices 8,402

Average number of students per device 1:1 to 16.7:1; average 3.1:1

Locations United States, Australia

Source: IDC, 2013

T h e O n e - t o - O n e G o a l

Although only one school system in our study has implemented one-to-one computing across all grades and four schools have implemented one-to-one computing in middle school and above, every school system has the goal of one-to-one computing in at least one grade by next year, and all have the goal of one-to-one computing across at least middle school and beyond in the next two years.

For example, one school began a large Windows 8 tablet pilot last year, distributing 900 devices to all students in science, business, and honors classes. It followed up this year with a rollout to all freshmen and juniors.

T h e B Y O D Q u e s t i o n

Like commercial enterprises, schools are evaluating the costs and benefits of BYOD for their users. Why not just allow students and teachers to bring their own devices? The research shows a variety of approaches for handling this issue, with few, if any, schools claiming they've successfully cracked the BYOD nut. On the one hand, administrators want students and teachers to feel comfortable with technology. On the other hand, there are support issues and lack of consistency in terms of device capabilities, applications, etc. For the most part, BYOD represents about 10% or less of the devices at the educational institutions. In our study, even though 73% of the schools allowed BYOD, only three of the schools provided support.


T h e M i x e d C o m p u t i n g E n v i r o n m e n t

The schools had a variety of devices, which is typical of educational institutions today and reflects changing strategies and requirements (see Table 2). Three of the schools were PC only, and two were Windows 7 and 8 only.

T A B L E 2

D e v i c e M i x ( % )

Overall Students Teachers Administration

PCs 92 94 93 83

Media tablets 8 6 7 17

Organizations with PCs and other

devices

73 45 45 64

Source: IDC, 2013

Some of the schools were still using the computer lab approach, which explains why desktops accounted for 42% of all devices. However, the model is changing as the schools increasingly use laptops and tablets (see Figure 1).

F I G U R E 1

D e v i c e M i x b y F o r m F a c t o r

Source: IDC, 2013

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Windows XP Windows 7 Windows 8 Mac OS Other

(%)

Laptops

Desktops

Tablets (includes hybrids and convertibles)


C h a l l e n g e s o f M e d i a T a b l e t s i n E d u c a t i o n

Despite much of the hype and excitement around media tablets, schools we spoke with that committed early on to this technology have experienced challenges such as content creation constraints and collaboration hurdles when trying to share content and enable collaboration between applications (see Figure 2). They also quickly discovered issues with legacy hardware support; for example, some peripheral devices could not be used without investing in vendor-specific connection cords. In addition, many education applications and instructional media files are created with technologies that are no longer supported by the device manufacturer.

Some schools also pointed to system administration and management of media tablets as a source of frustration. It was not unusual for IT administrators to be forced to physically touch each device to deploy applications. As one respondent said, "If I want to deploy six apps to all of [the devices], it becomes difficult. I either have to connect them all … or I have to use the mobile device manager. And with the mobile device manager, because [I can't] push apps to the device, I have to acknowledge the app being pushed with the device itself. I have to wait and hit yes, yes, yes, many times…To me, it was never designed for ease of use in education."

F I G U R E 2

F a c t o r s T h a t N e g a t i v e l y A f f e c t M e d i a T a b l e t S e l e c t i o n

Q. What factors most negatively affected your evaluation of media tablets and are decisive in

your selection process?

Source: IDC, 2013

45

55

60

73

82

82

82

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Collaboration constraints

Privacy/regulations

Accessibility constraints

Accessory management

Content creation constraints

Media consumption constraints

Legacy hardware support

(% of respondents)


A d v a n t a g e s o f P C s R u n n i n g W i n d o w s

While media tablets and other devices have made inroads in the education market as a result of design, ease of use, and user acceptance, PCs still lead in terms of ease of large-scale management and enterprise standardization across multiple vendor machines. PCs are also preferred when it comes to ease of customization and the availability of software (i.e., total number of applications).

Many schools have adopted mostly tablet PCs. Some have used a variation of tablet PCs for nearly 10 years, with a legacy that precedes the availability of media tablets. Other institutions have done some level of experimentation with virtual desktops, again almost always using the tablet PC as the client device.

System Management and Compatibility

While some of the study participants were challenged by the labor-intensive management of media tablets, the general consensus was that system management of PCs is more streamlined. As one respondent said, "Updating a laptop might also take about an hour. But we can do mass deployments. We can update multiple machines simultaneously."

Compatibility was also a consideration when selecting Windows 8 devices. Many systems that use Windows 7 also are capable of running on Windows 8 — whether they are tablet computers or more traditional PCs such as desktops or notebooks. Some of the customers interviewed did not expect that level of compatibility when they were using other brands of operating systems.

Managing Student Application Downloads

Educational institutions want to ensure that school devices are used for appropriate educational reasons. As such, control over the application environment is particularly important when attempting to manage student application downloads. The approach of some of the institutions we spoke with is to simply deny students the ability to download applications or executable files with hopes of incorporating more flexibility in the near future. One respondent noted this type of control was a critical deciding factor: "In a district of our size, with so many computers, if we don't have those controls, we have chaos…. I have little control over [light OS] devices because they weren't designed to be centrally managed by an enterprise. So that's a big factor for us."

Full Functionality

A key device consideration for several of the study participants centered around content creation and the ability to have full-fledged programs that allow for developing data and content rather than applications that enable content consumption. As one administrator noted, "The unfortunate


reality of schooling is that students do need to create data. And that is all very limited on an app-based device. So we believe that giving them a platform that allows both programs and apps gave them the best of both worlds — they can do content consumption and content creation."

Features and Functions

PC adopters have enjoyed new advancements that deliver convenience for IT while enhancing the end-user experience. For one, new devices have nearly all-day battery life. "That's huge for us," one IT administrator said. "The fact that our new machines are hybrids and you can take the screen off and use it without the keyboard — that has really helped personalize the end-user experience." According to the IT administrator, having a larger screen also impacted the decision-making process: "Some applications use split screens. We also like being able to choose larger screen sizes for some needs."

Improvements in Windows 8.1

The interviews used to create this IDC Government Insights White Paper were conducted in the first half of CY2013, after the release of Windows 8, but before the formal release of Windows 8.1.

Many of the discussion points in the preceding section were positively impacted by the improvements incorporated into the Windows 8.1 product. The improvements can be grouped into several key areas, including mobility, security, and BYOD. A small subset of the new benefits included in Windows 8.1, which are relevant to customers in the educational sector, are discussed here:

BYOD Improvements

● Native Miracast Wireless Display: Classroom education has changed dramatically in the past decade, with the use of large-format displays and interactive white boards (also known as smart boards or touchboards). Teachers and students alike use these large displays for resenting class lessons and for presenting homework assignments. The ability to project a lesson or the results of a project from a Windows 8.1 device to a Miracast-enabled display in a classroom setting will be a useful new feature particularly for classroom environments.

● Improved Remote Desktop Services (RDS): Microsoft's RDS technology has long been used in environments such as the educational sector, where the need to provision vast numbers of desktops or applications, and lifecycle-manage them, and at the end of a semester, marking period, or at the end of a class, to recover those resources for re-allocation in the future, is a key feature. Windows 8.1, working in conjunction with Windows Server 2012 R2 (the server-side counterpart to Windows 8.1), administrators in an educational environment can now better manage and oversee users' sessions.


● Workplace Join: With prior versions of Windows, the ability to join a domain was digital: either you could, or you could not join a domain. With Workplace Join, users can gain access to a domain resources that corporate administrators choose to make available, but at the same time, administrators can enforce some key governance parameters on the device.

Mobility Improvements

● Power consumption improvements: While some of the greatest power consumption improvements originate from new devices built on Intel's Haswell processor, there are incremental improvements that come from Windows 8.1 as well. For instance, less battery consumption was made possible by Windows 8.1's use of embedded wireless radios that are included in many new devices.

● VPN improvements: Microsoft improved the Windows 8 VPN capabilities, supporting a broader list of VPN clients in Windows 8,1, on both x86 and ARM-based devices. Windows 8.1 now allows applications to trigger a VPN session. In addition, Windows 8.1 allows so-called auto-triggered VPN, which makes Windows 8.1 able to initiate a VPN connection, and will give users a 1-click option to start the VPN session.

● Windows to Go Windows Store Enablement: This technology is an interesting and unique way to empower students to have their own Windows 8.1 experience without actually having a dedicated PC. Windows to Go is a USB-based Windows 8.x image that can be booted on any PC regardless of what the primary operating system may be on that PC's disk, and will operate on that machine as the root operating system. While Windows to Go is not a new feature in Windows 8.1, the inclusion of Windows Store functionality makes it easier to provision a Windows to Go instance. IDC notes that for customers to have access to Windows to Go, requires a subscription to Software Assurance, Microsoft's software maintenance program — something that not every educational customer has.

Security Improvements

● Device lockdown: Windows 8.1 offers the ability to lock down the device to operate with a single application. This capability is intended for use by organizations using PCs in a very task-oriented manner, and by educational institutions that want to limit the use of the device to a single learning experience.

● Improved malware resistance: With adventurous users that may click on dubious links, students surely are a challenge for security administrators to keep in check. Windows 8.1 offers Windows Defender at no cost, and security improvements in Internet Explorer 11.


B E NE FI T S

C u r r i c u l u m D e l i v e r y a n d L e a r n i n g

O u t c o m e s

While technical advantages such as greater control and interoperability are important, investments that positively impact curriculum delivery and learning outcomes are the Holy Grail. In forward-thinking institutions, the curriculum is driving the device choice, not the other way around. As one respondent noted, "We chose Windows 8 tablets because we wanted students to become producers, meaning producers of their own knowledge, with content creation. Rather than being passive consumers of information, we want them to collect, reprocess, regenerate, and reproduce ideas for new and novel learning. The best production device for them, in our school environment, is a Windows 8 tablet."

The customers we spoke with found some unexpected and favorable uses that inspired collaboration and creative problem solving. For instance, students in a statistics class use their tablets to collect and share data sets in real time. Because of the standardization of the Windows environment, the application had the same look and feel, enabling sharing and learning among the students. Some students are now using styluses to write and take notes. Both students and teachers tend to hold the devices more casually and carry them around the classrooms to interact and discuss the work. The touch functions have become more important for navigation than initially anticipated, making the tablet more viable as an e-reader. "The best part is that the technology is starting to blend into the background. The focus can be about teaching and learning and the curriculum," explained one executive. IDC notes that the ability to extend the mobility of these devices through improvements coming from Windows 8.1 adds to this value proposition.

C OS T A NAL Y SI S

Because all of the schools had both PCs and non-PC tablet devices, IDC was able to explore the costs associated with buying, installing, and maintaining all of their computing devices independent of the relative effect of best practices or volume purchase advantage. Media tablets are relatively new to education; therefore, there is no data concerning useful lifetime costs for the devices, and IDC could not track the total costs over time. IDC projected a three-year ownership evaluation period to assess total costs.

C o m p u t i n g S y s t e m C o s t s

When comparing the costs of PCs and media tablets, many educational organizations look no further than the cost of the device. The clear advantages of media tablets with regard to device cost have contributed to extensive piloting and, in many cases, acquisition.

"We chose Windows 8 tablets because we wanted students to become producers, meaning producers of their own knowledge, with content creation. Rather than being passive consumers of information, we want them to collect, reprocess, regenerate, and reproduce ideas for new and novel learning. The best production device for them, in our school environment, is a Windows 8 tablet."


In this study, PCs cost 62% more than media tablets. However, the device itself is only part of the computing system operations cost; enabling the student to learn requires additional technology:

● Management and security software. Organizations in the study were paying $10–48 annually per media tablet to third-party security and management software providers, while all but one of the schools used the software delivered in its enterprise license and included in its contract. One school stated that built-in management capability was one of the reasons it chose to standardize on Windows 7/8: "That was a definite plus in Windows favor. If we had to buy this third-party control software, it would have taken time to set up. It probably would have taken six months for us to learn how to use it right. The first year would probably be about 120 hours to manage it. And then once it got into a purring state, maybe 20–30 hours a year."

● Maintenance and warranty packages. Microsoft has designed its maintenance and warranty packages with educational organizations in mind. For instance, the vendor has a three-year warranty. Only two of the school systems had to purchase an additional program to cover their Windows PCs; for the other nine, extended packages for three and, in some cases, four years were included in the price of the device. Media tablet contracts typically include replacement and break/fix service for one year, but the schools had to purchase another two years of service at a cost of $30 to $60 per year per device.

● Additional bandwidth. Schools that are migrating from a device-based learning environment to a Web-based learning environment and at the same time trying to move to one-to-one computing have found that they need to upgrade bandwidth to ensure reliable application availability and performance. One of the study participants estimated that it would need a "Meg per student."

"That was a definite plus in Windows favor. If we had to buy this third-party control software, it would have taken time to set up. It probably would have taken six months for us to learn how to use it right. The first year would probably be about 120 hours to manage it. And then once it got into a purring state, maybe 20–30 hours a year."


Table 3 delineates the three-year total costs for a computing system.

T A B L E 3

T h r e e - Y e a r C o s t s p e r C o m p u t i n g S y s t e m

PCs ($) Media Tablets ($) % Difference

Device 854 523 63

Software (to include

additional management

and security)

47 78 -40

Maintenance or

warranty/insurance fees

(replacement, break/fix)

29 143 -80

Additional bandwidth – 48 -100

Total 929 792 17

Source: IDC, 2013

T h e C o s t o f M a n a g i n g C o m p u t i n g D e v i c e s

PCs really have an advantage over tablets in deployment and management costs. Several of the study participants complained that media tablets are designed to be consumer devices and are not optimized for organizations. All of the schools have Active Directory and are using other included tools such as MDOP. As a result, they can load images and deploy applications for five to ten PCs simultaneously, whereas each media tablet requires accounts to be set up and provisioned separately. Some of the schools allowed students to set up and provision their own accounts, with mixed results. In the extreme case, media tablets required three hours each to be deployed. On average, PCs can be deployed 17% faster than media tablets. Schools that had recently deployed Windows 8 PC tablets reported that the Windows 8 devices can be deployed 27% faster than Windows 7 devices.

The advantages PCs enjoy in deployment costs are multiplied each year in support costs. Every time an upgrade or a new application is introduced to a media tablet, someone must physically make the change or ensure the change is made. Some schools reimage all devices after every holiday break. One of those schools admitted that it had not had to touch its PCs for two years but was spending two to three hours per year reimaging each media tablet on top of another two to three hours a year addressing ongoing maintenance issues.


Although failure rates are similar and may slightly favor media tablets, most of the schools were experiencing much higher repair rates for tablets. With PCs, they have a lot more control in terms of what students and staff can do. Being able to push applications and lock people out reduces the incidents of user errors with PCs. With media tablets, if a student accidentally wipes out or removes an application, IT has to touch the device to fix it. This constant requirement to directly deal with devices that were not designed for student use has led some school systems to go back to PCs.

There are other issues specific to schools as well. As one respondent noted, "I think that, proportionally, we have more failures with the tablets than the PCs. Because the devices are smaller, the kids are dropping them more and damaging them more. It's not the OS. It's form factor."

Table 4 shows the advantages PCs have in terms of computing device deployment and operational support.

T A B L E 4

C o m p u t i n g D e v i c e S u p p o r t

PCs Media Tablets % Difference

Deployment (minutes per device) 38.98 47.21 -17

Annual management and support (hours

per device)

4.41 5.94 -26

Three-year support (hours per device) 13.87 18.62 -25

Three-year computing device support costs $305 $406 -25

Source: IDC, 2013

C o s t A n a l y s i s S u m m a r y

For schools, the real cost benefit from PC devices is enterprise-wide standardization, along with significant annual management and support cost advantages. In addition, Microsoft is offering complete systems that meet the contract and budget needs of educational organizations.

The total cost analysis conducted in our study reveals that media tablets have only a 3% cost advantage over PCs in a three-year time frame — essentially a dead heat (see Figure 3). In this analysis, Windows 8 made up only 20% of the devices deployed — which is roughly half the share of Windows 7 devices (41%) and lower than the share of Windows XP devices (24%).


Schools that are evaluating which computing device they will choose to institute one-to-one computing in the near future will be comparing Windows 8 PCs, which are 37% less expensive than previous versions of Windows. Device pricing continues to decline.

For the cost reasons identified above, and increasingly today due to these compelling new form factors, schools and universities are showing renewed interest in Windows devices for both staff and students, and Windows 8 is the conduit for this growing interest.

F I G U R E 3

T h r e e - Y e a r T o t a l C o s t o f O p e r a t i o n s f o r C o m p u t i n g D e v i c e s

Source: IDC, 2013

PCs Media Tablets

Additional bandwidth $- $48

Software (to include additional management and security)

$47 $78

Maintenance or warranty/insurance fees (replacement,

break/fix)$29 $143

Support costs $305 $406

Device $854 $523

0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

($)

$1,234 $1,198

∆3%


While this study specifically considered products that were in market in early 2013, the portfolio of Windows 8.1 devices has expanded significantly over the past year. Some of the new devices that have come onto the market in the past several months — devices that are likely to be used in future educational deployments — include the following:

● Microsoft Surface 2: Released in mid-year 2013, Microsoft revamped the original ARM-based version of its tablet, the Microsoft Surface RT, with the Microsoft Surface 2. This product offers exceptional battery life thanks to the ARM CPU, includes Microsoft Office, and runs any Windows 8 modern applications. Microsoft's entry into the tablet hardware market has been with well designed, high-end devices intended to attract customers that otherwise might consider tablets running a non-Microsoft operating system. The Surface 2 is expected to be popular with consumers including students.

● Dell Venue 8" or Dell Venue 10.8". Dell has brought a pair of attractive tablet devices that offer a choice of an 8" or 10.8" screen. Designed specifically for Windows 8, this device offers long battery life, dual cameras, and options that include Microsoft Office Home and Microsoft Student 2013.

● HP Pavilion: This product line from Hewlett Packard is focused on customers that want or need a traditional laptop form factor — with the optional ability to detach the display into a tablet form factor. The Pavilion portfolio includes touch screen laptops and hybrid devices that have a detachable keyboard that converts a tablet into a traditional laptop clamshell design.

● Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 or Lenovo Miix 2: Like other PC OEMs, Lenovo is moving quickly to expand its portfolio to include tablets and hybrid devices. The ThinkPad Tablet 2 is a 10.1" tablet that offers a light-weight design with a 10 hour battery life. The Lenovo Miix2 is an low-cost 8" tablet with a wide angle view display, and a five-finger multitouch display.

● Asus T100: Devices with tablet displays that detach from the rest of a laptop clamshell are becoming common in the industry, and have the potential to be the next generation workhorse for corporate road warriors. The Asus T100 joins this market segment with an 11 hour battery life on a 10" tablet device.

● Acer W5: This is yet another convertible device that functions as a tablet and as a laptop depending on the user's needs. The Acer Iconia W5 has a different twist to its hardware configuration, where the keyboard can be rotated a full 295 degrees so that the keys are on the bottom, and the display is perched on a sleek flat surface.

These devices provide some indication of where the industry is moving to.


C ONCL US I ON

All types of educational institutions face the ongoing challenge of providing high-quality academics with good student achievement outcomes under tight and, in some cases, severely constrained budgets. School districts and colleges are looking for solutions that are efficient and support their overall mission of educating students and preparing them for the world. It's always a challenge to find funding for IT investments, but detailed financial calculations such as those shown in this document can help illuminate costs and considerations beyond merely the price tag of the device.

C o p y r i g h t N o t i c e

Copyright 2014 IDC Government Insights. Reproduction without written permission is completely forbidden. External Publication of IDC Government Insights Information and Data: Any IDC Government Insights information that is to be used in advertising, press releases, or promotional materials requires prior written approval from the appropriate IDC Government Insights Vice President. A draft of the proposed document should accompany any such request. IDC Government Insights reserves the right to deny approval of external usage for any reason.

This document was reprinted by Microsoft with permission from IDC Government Insights.

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