This might seem like a moan, it is not just an observation based on experience.
I find it difficult to come to terms with the fact we as Squadrons fund raise to purchase our own ICT equipment, pay for our own phone lines and telecom bills and pay for our own Internet accounts.
We have Bader / Utilearn which is online and requires all the above, we are now required to use it, we now get very little paperwork from Wing
The comment it is all on Bader is now the stock answer
And yet none of the equipment required to use Bader is provided.
I do understand that the organisation does not have the funds ( ACE platforms is another funding discussion)
Bu it is still rather difficult to stomach at times
Funding is not the issue.
It is more being told that we must use something that is not centrally provided for what is now a required function
Similar to the fact that we do not get issued with DPM but are expected to have it for Fieldraft and ranges.
Not everyone is close to an RAF station or has RAF contacts.
DPM is a different topic but computers are now fundamental to the success of a squadron and us meeting AFI targets
Ok well as you are most likely aware we (ATC) are using Ultilearn software via Bader so you’re sqn should have those facilities [/quote]But surely that is the point: Ultilearn has been imposed upon squadrons while no account has been taken as to the availability or suitability of IT at units. They may have a variety of options (many of them unhelpful) but there is still a clear expectation for units to provide IT facilities and connectivity.
Ok well as you are most likely aware we (ATC) are using Ultilearn software via Bader so you’re sqn should have those facilities [/quote]But surely that is the point: Ultilearn has been imposed upon squadrons while no account has been taken as to the availability or suitability of IT at units. They may have a variety of options (many of them unhelpful) but there is still a clear expectation for units to provide IT facilities and connectivity.[/quote]
This has been a problem for more years than since the imposition of SMS and more recently Ultilearn. Getting for 10/11 years, the fact that Corps isn’t/won’t provide IT kit, and here I include printers, projectors and broadband, despite a HQAC envoking a policy of moving away from snail to email, and as I say imposing personnel database and online learning system (the former was implimented with a you will or else) and therefore an expectation that sqns would print everything, this has been on the CO’s bunfight agenda.
You run into the same facile argument CWCs are expected to pay for it all, which is all well and good but when you get CWC types who get all snotty about buying “office equipment”, you have other things you want to spend money on and more so in the last 4/5 years getting any sort of grant for anything has been more difficult, in the same period general fund raising has been just as dire. One of my local CO chums does a bag pack twice a year and the last 2 have been down by 40%. Local to us a sqn with new build had to spend £150 to get a phone line in, as they hadn’t got one. Does anyone know if phone lines come as part of the spec for a new build, given that an ATC unit can’t function without one?
I have said this before HQAC rely upon and put huge pressure on CWCs to provide things, that if they (HQAC) are going to say this is how it is, then they should pay for it. It might make them stop and think before coming up with new and wonderful ideas.
I think a more worrying point is the speed at which IT kit becomes obsolete and needs replacing.
We are lucky as our CO’s work IT dept give us lots of their kit that is being chucked out as it is about 3 or 4 years old however I know from some friends that their sqns are not so lucky by far and have a PC in the office and that is it, they are still using ACP’s as they have no choice as to anything else. I don’t know if they have approached any companies though as it obviously gives their IT dept work as they have to make sure any data is securely deleted before they give it away and making sure that it is logged that it isn’t recycled but donated instead could probably give them a headache so why would they do it. Also doesn’t help that to setup a network with sufficient resources can be a headache and take a long time and then being reliant on the computers when they break and the person who looks after them isn’t there it causes even more problems.
We have problems that as the old hard drives are on their way out and everything is on XP except the server which is on 2k8R2. The cost to upgrade to 7 and office 2010 would be far to much even if we could persuade microsoft that we were a charity and could get enough of the licenses as we would need about 20 of them. In a few years time when it is windows 9 no doubt it would cost even more and then everything would be on tiny little tablets where you download an ultifail app and login with code generated by your 3822 app on your phone. Unless they make a technological breakthrough that ink on paper can be used instead of a screen and a biro is better than a mouse.
Be careful what you wish for; ask for it to be centrally provided and you would end up with DII terminals and all the pain in the backsides they cause…
This is why I would not take old tat from places looking to offlload, including the MoD. The PCs on our desks at work are 6/7 years old and would be more trouble than they are worth. I know sqns who have had ‘donations’ from businesses and schools and while it looks impressive, you need someone who is either an IT geek or does it for a job, who is prepared to do all the work when they fall over.
How many PCs and or laptops do squadrons need? We’ve got a desktop and 4 laptops with 3 projectors, which I feel is ample, but I know of a squadron, with 9 desktops sitting in a room gathering dust for most of the time and 6 laptops gathering equal amounts of dust, of which all but 1 desktop and 2 laptops it was given. I would love to have a room I could give over to one thing and not compromise general activities.
[quote=“glass half empty 2” post=263]How many PCs and or laptops do squadrons need?
[/quote]
how long is a piece of string?
i recall mentioning something about PC use in the old forum, but i’ll repeat my comments here
we have 4 desktops in the office, of which 3 are always in use, its rare they are not all in use.
we have 3 laptops, for use in each training room and a desktop in the main hall
i know of Sqns with only one office PC and two others who have a similar number to us (sometimes made up of personal laptops)
[quote=“steve679” post=264][quote=“glass half empty 2” post=263]How many PCs and or laptops do squadrons need?
[/quote]
we have 4 desktops in the office, of which 3 are always in use, its rare they are not all in use.
we have 3 laptops, for use in each training room and a desktop in the main hall[/quote]
If I get more than one or 2 staff sitting in the main office, then I want to know why.
As for numbers, OK the piece of string is an analogy, but it’s all investment in something that’s obsolete and devaluing like a brick falling down a cliff, practically from the moment you buy it. Which is one reason a lot of grant providers, don’t support grants for IT. I got a grant for the sqn for IT kit, but only after 8 noes.
We aren’t the RAF, we’re given support by them, but if we want to play, then we have to play by the rules. Any squadron’s first port of call for kit that isn’t on the scales of equipment is the Civilian Committee. That’s the way it’s always been. The RAF or the RFCA isn’t even obliged to give you a building. I know of one squadron that has been without a headquarters for over 10 years.
If you don’t have the scratch, get fund-raising or get writing for donations of the kit you need from companies and non-profits. 25 quid a month for a phone and internet isn’t going to kill anyone. Think laterally too. A lot of cadets have their own laptops. Get them to bring them in . Tablets start retailing at about 60 notes apiece. Get a few of them in. At a push, BADER and Ultilearn can even be accessed on a smartphone. We’ve been going for almost 72 years. If we’re not masters of improvisation and making do by now, then we’d better call it a day.
I don’t think that the MOD/HQAC should supply us with IT equipment, and as others have stated, if they did we’d be lumbered with DII and all the hassle that system involves.
It would be nice if HQAC used some business sense and negotiated preferable rates for broadband, printers, computers, software etc…
[quote=“perry mason” post=305]
It would be nice if HQAC used some business sense and negotiated preferable rates for broadband, printers, computers, software etc…[/quote]
that i can subscribe to!
the idea of being supplied by the MOD for pcs would put me off, but what Perry mentions would be ace, they coudl even go as far as negotiate a preferred supplier with discounted prices, no different to the Minibus supply system. we (the Sqns) have ownership and control, but through a channel the MOD/RAF/HQAC have set up in our favour
[quote=“perry mason” post=305]It would be nice if HQAC used some business sense and negotiated preferable rates for broadband, printers, computers, software etc…[/quote]IIRC, Mould’s looked into this and negotiated with some very high profile IT vendors and ISPs - the long and the short of it is that we could get better deals locally than what they could offer nationally - purely because the markets are all so competative already.
I am aware of at least two squadrons who got their CivCom to fund a decent computer suite - but, rather than walk into PC World and buy the gear, they did some competative tendering and managed to significantly increase the value for money they got.
One of my big gripes is that because we are at the end of a bit of wire from the exchange we only achieve about 2 Meg download speed. When I try to share this amongst half a dozen or more cadets (or more) by wifi they all grind to a halt - makes exams difficult if not impossible. We need a better solution for this years exams, but it does need to be cheap because in 18 months - 2years it is expected that our HQ will disappear under a 900 home development and our area will be a pub. 900 homes, that’s potentially a big squadron… but seriously any thoughts on my main issue?
Your issue isn’t with your bandwidth - even 2Mb shared across a handful of computers will give a reasonable speed for most online activities. The issue with exams lies with Ultifail not being able to deal with us all logging in at the same time. It doesn’t matter if you have a superfast broadband connection running at 100Meg download, if the kit (hardware or software) isn’t up to spec at the other end, it’ll fail. This is the issue we face at present.
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