Ottawa Area Intermediate School District Technology Planning ...

Infrastructure Improvements
As noted above, technology operational planning flows from the already existing planning processes of
the OAISD. This is also true of improvements to the technology infrastructure. Additionally, the OAISD
engages in several practices to ensure continuous upgrading and interoperability of its equipment,
including:
• Equipment refresh cycle guidelines are established for each category of equipment, e.g., 5 years
for PC’s, 3-4 years for laptops, 3-5 years for servers, etc. These are guidelines and lifecycles may
be extended if equipment is still viable to meet its needs. These determinations are made by
mutual consent of the Director of Technology Services and the respective building director or
department manager.
• Technology and software purchases are coordinated through the Technology Services
Department.
• The Director of Technology Services is tasked with providing strategic direction and coordination
of the technology infrastructure.
To date, requests for E-Rate funds have been limited to Priority 1 commitments and have not included
equipment purchases. It is anticipated that this will be the case for the next three years, as well. All other
plans for infrastructure upgrades take place within the context of normal OAISD strategic planning and
annual budgeting processes. It should be noted, however, that the OAISD is committed to maintaining
and improving its technology infrastructure and has backed that with adequate funding over the past
several years. As of the writing of this plan, there is no reason to assume that this condition will change.
Technical Support Overview
The Technology Services Department provides the primary support for the technology infrastructure. The
department consists of approximately 25 full-time staff. The department is organized into 5 functional
teams: Client Support, Enterprise Systems, Academic Systems, Network Operations, and Technology
Services Operations. The staff in these teams engage both in technology operations, e.g., break-fix,
account maintenance, etc., and development, e.g., database application projects.
A Director of Technology Services leads the department and sits on the OAISD Superintendent’s Council
and the Administrative Team. This helps to ensure that the technology operation is aligned with the other
operational areas of the ISD.
In addition to the Technology Services Department, staff in other departments provides support for many
of the items identified in this document. For example, the Instructional Services department and the
Careerline Tech Center each have a full-time Instructional Technologists. Also, Special Needs
consultants provide assistive technology support and numerous other consultants engage in technology
integration training.
Starting July 1, 2012 five (5) districts in the southern part of the OAISD region are forming a technology
services consortium, known as the Ottawa Area Information Technology Consortium (OAITC). The
mission of the OAITC is “to relentlessly improve the consortium partners’ learning ecologies by means of
effective educational technology. The operational principles of the OAITC are as follows:
1. Reliable: The people who rely on our systems need not worry - ever.
2. Flexible: Our systems meet the current and emerging needs of our clientele
3. Dependable: Our colleagues can trust us to do the right things for the right reason every time.
Districts benefits from participating in the consortium in the following ways:
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