XMA delivers on its promise

When Blackburn with Darwen borough council was awarded a grant to provide computers and internet access to children in the most deprived areas, IT provider XMA delivered the whole package for them, efficiently, securely and, for the council, effortlessly.

“XMA has taken everything out of my hands, which has been brilliant for me.”So says Ann Bennett, head of services, at Blackburn with Darwen borough council about a recent IT project. That approach has proved invaluable to the council after it became involved in a Government-funded project to provide computers to disadvantaged youngsters. Although keen to deliver the benefits of the scheme, the council did not want to have to carry out the more technical aspects of the project themselves.

Bennett explains: “Last year, a Government grant was given to local authorities to provide computers and connectivity to school pupils aged between 11 and 16. The idea was that we would enable children and young people living in some of the most deprived areas of the country to have computers at home. The thinking behind it was to lessen the digital divide –the fact that pupils who have computers at home do better while in education than those who don’t.”

“We were excited about the Computers for pupils project but, clearly, needed help to make it a reality.”

Using a procurement framework set up by the Government that contained a number of approved suppliers, Blackburn with Darwen invited a selection of organisations to tender before asking XMA to take on the project. Since then, XMA has delivered 533 Toshiba laptops with T-mobile connectivity to homes around the district. Offering value-for-money

Bennett says: “Blackburn was one of the deprived areas identified so we were given £400,000 for the project. We decided to use XMA because the company offered us what we wanted, which was value-for-money. Obviously in a project like this, that’s very important because you want to maximise the effects of the money you’re given.”“We also liked the way the company dealt with us. They were willing to adapt and listen to ideas when we suggested them. It was very much a partnership rather than them saying, this is what we offer take it or leave it. They were willing to negotiate.”

XMA took on full responsibility

Despite that, Bennett says once the terms of the project were agreed she was happy to leave XMA’s experts to take responsibility for delivering the scheme. She says: “Probably the most important factor for me was that XMA could take everything out of my hands and deliver the whole package.”

For this particular project the whole package meant exactly that – including sourcing the laptops and 3G connectivity cards, implementing content filtering and security to enable the children to connect to the Internet safely and arranging all the warranties and insurance.

Bennett says: “What was great about XMA is that they organised everything. I just told them what each school needed and they got on with fulfilling that, even down to arranging the deliveries. We told them exactly what applications we wanted on the computers and they made sure that happened. Security was important to us – it was vital the pupils could only access appropriate content.”

“In all, we – and the schools – have had to do absolutely nothing from the moment the contract was awarded. That was brilliant as far as I’m concerned because I did not have to be involved in the time-consuming details of delivering the project.”

An ongoing relationship

The council is not yet sure whether the scheme will be continued but Bennett says she would not hesitate to use XMA’s services in the future. She says: “The project worked exceptionally well. I know some of the pupils from the most challenging schools and the most deprived areas were thrilled because it’s the first time they’ve been given anything like that and trusted
with it. From our point of view, we were very pleased with how we could trust XMA to deliver and we will definitely consider them when we put another project out to tender.”

“I would happily use them again because I liked the fact that what they promised, they delivered.”