Understanding Costs of Mobile Deployments

It is important to understand the costs that surround a successful mobile technology deployment. The first thing that must be understood is that regardless of whether you are looking to implement a 1:1 or a BYOD deployment there will be heavy upfront costs. In fact, 70-90% of deployment costs come from how you set up the infrastructure of your deployment. These costs include: devices, Wi-Fi or infrastructure enhancements, software, and charging carts or stations. There are ongoing costs as well. These include: software updates/licensing updates, damaged device replacements, ongoing staff training, and staff time spent managing fleet. These ongoing costs make up anywhere from 10-30% of your deployment cost.

It is because of these upfront costs that there are not more 1:1 deployments. While most schools are interested, they are unable to afford a 1:1 deployment because funding for education has not followed the rise in costs.

According to NEA Rankings and Estimates Report from March 2015, funding over the last 10 years has remained flat, while costs are rising. A report from US News and World Report states that 30 of the 47 states analyzed by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities are providing less “per-pupil” funding for K-12 schools in the 2014-2015 school year than they did before the recession. In 14 of those states, funding had been cut by more than 10%.

Reduced budgets are not reducing the districts’ needs to assure their students are equipped with the necessary skills. This means funding is a challenge they are forced to overcome. This whitepaper will provide information on how to gain more funds for your mobile deployments through options you may not know are available.