Harris Federation and RM announce new £26 million partnership

RM, a leading supplier of technology solutions to the education sector, today announced the details of a new partnership with The Harris Federation – a leading multi-academy trust in and around London.

The two organisations have signed a contract to refresh all of Harris Federation’s IT infrastructure and devices over the next five years.

The programme of works, worth £26 million, will utilise RM’s network of partnerships to procure best value and quality for the Harris Federation.

Sir Dan Moynihan, CEO of the Harris Federation, explains:

“This partnership enables the Harris Federation to keep our local Infrastructure and Service teams in place whilst also benefiting from RM’s expertise in the field as well as its buying power. The combination of improved innovation and reliability that is delivered will transform our IT systems and equipment, making a tangible improvement not just to pupils’ learning but to our teachers’ working lives.

“This programme of works will have a positive impact on learning by delivering modern, reliable systems and equipment to our pupils and staff whilst making significant savings through the kinds of economies of scale possible with a large trust.”

The main features of the planned works include:

• Every academy to have a full infrastructure refresh. This includes increasing wireless points and switches and well as cabling to ensure all staff and pupils have the infrastructure required to future proof the Harris IT strategy.
• Replacing all devices, including interactive boards, with a standard design that will allow all teachers and pupils in every Harris academy to harness the power of IT, in a variety of ways, to improve the quality of teaching further.
• Ensuring cyber resilience and sustainability plans are both supported through a IT lifecycle strategy.

Sir Dan Moynihan adds:

“The pandemic highlighted the importance of a robust and accessible IT system across our schools. We invested heavily in devices and finding ways for pupils to access resources from their homes and elsewhere. Our staff innovated to make sure IT could be used to support all learners off and on site; many of these ideas can continue to be developed and genuinely support our less financially advantaged pupils or those experiencing personal challenges in engaging with learning – this could be due to temporary housing, serious illness, disability or other critical situations making it impossible to attend school regularly.

“A stronger and more resilient infrastructure, as well as access to devices from home, can help us continue to support our pupils in exciting ways. RM is committed to working with Harris to continuously develop strategies and research the impact of the way in which IT can further improve learning for all of our pupils”.

Jason Tomlinson, Managing Director, Technology for RM added:

“RM is uniquely positioned to underpin Harris Federation’s digital transformation along every step of their journey. Our ability to not only augment their IT organisation but also provide them with access to best-in-class next generation platform-delivered managed services, automation and our enhanced buying power through our unique partnerships, will give them the leverage they need to achieve their strategy and deliver the positive impact they are looking for.”