NetSupport DNA really is a fresh approach to IT asset management.
For many years, there haven't been affordable solutions for schools, but they have been forced into spending on
a range of individual solutions that they combine to give a patchwork view of their school network.
With 25 years in the education sector and 14 million users, we knew
there was a better way.
We wanted a solution you could deploy in minutes, was affordable, easy to use, that made
every scrap of data easy to see and interpret and that had the features that
were actually useful and relevant to schools.
And so, NetSupport DNA Education Edition is the result.
Now, managing an enterprise starts with having a full inventory of all school IT assets,
a record of any changes over time and, of course, any relevant finance
information stored alongside. So DNA auto-discovers all staff and student PCs,
it captures inventory from tablets, and then even discovers SNMP-enabled devices such
as network printers. The real barrier though is accessing that core information
when you need it. So DNA lets a school produce QR code labels to print
or display on screens, so any technician can walk up to a PC, scan the QR code with
their free mobile app and instantly see the full inventory of that device with a
history of any recent changes. Now, software licensing holds the key to cost
savings and efficiencies for our schools. In our view though, it's the sum of what,
where and when that matters: what software licences a school owns, where the
software is installed and then tracking when applications are actually used. With
that picture, schools can identify what licences can be redeployed elsewhere and
perhaps which licences they don't even need to renew. DNA also allows schools to
limit specific applications to certain classrooms. It even includes an integrated
software distribution module to make sure future updates are a breeze.
"Proactive" is our mantra - and there's a gap with many IT solutions, as few
have the tools to actually warn of pending issues. So DNA features an
alerting module that allows IT staff to create hundreds of alerts so they can monitor the
school PCs - warning of simple things like disk space running low to more
sophisticated event log checking and security detections before teaching is impacted.
Endpoint security seems to be an ever-present consideration in companies, but it
isn't typically under the remit of education solutions. But we felt it could and
should be. So DNA lets schools decide if USB memory sticks can be used on
classroom and library PCs, or it lets them assign specific ones to staff. So
now a memory stick assigned to the head teacher can only be used in the
school on a PC that they are actually logged into. It's simple, but really effective.
Some products are very focused on the technology which, of course, we get. But
there's also a broader landscape to school IT management: staff and students.
So with DNA, schools can view and manage activity by users, and with our AD
integration, they can be alerted when user accounts are locked or passwords need resetting -
and all this can be done directly from within DNA itself.
DNA has a module dedicated to aid with e-safety and the broader topic of safeguarding. At a high level, all
internet activity can be monitored and controlled on schools' PCs and then at a
lower-level, DNA uses neurolinguistics to monitor student keyboard activity and
then trigger alerts if they are researching information on or engaging in
conversations about topics from self-harm to bullying or even
radicalisation. Students can also raise concerns themselves - privately and
discreetly - from any DNA-enabled PC; selecting a member of staff they trust
and want to send their concern to. DNA then tracks and manages this,
alerting relevant staff and keeping a history of all resulting actions.
The school's e-safety policy is then further supported with controls over webcams and
the delivery and enforcement of acceptable use policies. We know efficiencies come
from solutions working together so, as you would expect, our market-leading classroom
management solution (NetSupport School), our remote control and service desk products all
align seamlessly with NetSupport DNA to ensure schools have a single
cost-effective solution that works together seamlessly -
from IT staff managing a server from their tablet through to full-on classroom
assessment.
DNA even has interactive dashboards and charts, so all activity is easy to access
and analyse. And management reports for the leadership team can be automatically
generated each month. Now, the final piece of the puzzle was scalability with
security. DNA can be used across one or multiple school sites or campuses with
all data securely delivered back to a central point. So schools retain 100%
control of their data and its security.
So I guess when you add to the mix our 25 years in the education space and network of partners in
over 60 countries,
dedicated support and pre-sales teams, a low unit cost and the chance to try
NetSupport DNA absolutely free, we really do think it's a no-lose proposition for schools to
give it a try
and see the impact NetSupport DNA can have for them.