MSP Opportunities in the Classroom, Survey Reveals

Managed services providers (MSPs) may face the same bring your own device (BYOD) challenges with K-12 schools and universities that they do with enterprises. Enterprise app store and marketplace solutions provider Partnerpedia released a survey on mobility in the classroom, revealing the need for the right tools to distribute and manage mobile apps in a learning environment, mirroring the challenges faced by many enterprises. Here are the results.

Partnerpedia’s Education Mobility Survey found that classrooms require support for multiple devices and platforms, making management more difficult for internal IT departments, a nice area of opportunity for MSPs. Support for tablets is needed by 78 percent of those surveyed due to the popularity of the iPad, the company claimed. Laptop support is needed by 76 percent, while smartphone support is a concern for 52 percent of respondents. Only 8 percent of respondents sought support for other devices, including e-readers.

Not surprisingly, 75 percent of respondents said they needed support for iOS systems. Sixty percent need support for the Windows operating system and 30 percent seek support for the Android platform.

To adapt to the broad range of devices and platforms, IT administrators have developed a mix of BYOD policies, the survey revealed. Others, however, plan to implement BYOD with school-owned mobile devices. Out of those surveyed, 73 percent, plan to issue school-owned mobile devices, with 59 percent also adopting a policy of BYOD.

“Technology has long held the promise of transforming the classroom in the same way that it has catalyzed innovation in business,” said Partnerpedia CEO Mark Sochan in a prepared statement.

Data for the survey was collected from attendees of FETC 2013, an education technology conference in Jan. 28-31, 2013. Respondents consisted of IT support staff, electronic resource managers, and technology educators.