Education Market Ripe for MSP Picking

The primary and secondary school market, despite budget woes, can be a great place for savvy MSPs. These schools have their hands full with curriculum, administration, parents and a diverse set of students.

Meanwhile, the public school market is undergoing radical change as computers and tablets are increasingly augmenting humans as teaching tools, and in some cases replacing them altogether. And distance learning, a hot issue for colleges, will be transforming smarter school districts.

That all seems like plenty to worry about, but these schools also have to think about their computers. Here’s where a managed service provider can help.

One such provider is Trapp Tech, an Arizona MSP that is now selling to schools across the country. Included in what Trapp believes is a pretty soup to nuts lineup is managed IT, blended bandwidth Internet, application hosting, IT training and professional services.

“K-12 school districts who want to reduce costs, upgrade infrastructure or resolve technical challenges with their systems now have an alternative source for IT services,” said David Trapp, CEO, Trapp Online. "Trapp Tech has the skills and training to meet those needs at an attractive price. We understand education IT and look forward to serving those districts that choose to work with us.”

Besides knowing the technical side, Trapp claims to understand how government accounting works, critical for public school systems. “Customers seeking on-site, hosted or co-location IT managed services will have the advantage of working with an MSP that understands the education ERP application environment. Trapp Tech’s customers will also enjoy the option of fast, reliable, and redundant Internet service with a 100% uptime guarantee,” the company argued.

ENA – the Education Network

Education Network of America (ENA) is another MSP focused on this market, offering a range of network services and most recently staking a claim in the managed WiFi space.

It is doing so with new partner Aerohive Networks which provides the hardware in the form of controller-less WiFi and other mobile networking gear. ENA builds this all into a managed WiFi service.

Customers are reportedly lining up, as ENA just landed a contract to support all the public high schools in Idaho. Idaho is spending some $2.25 in this effort.

ENA was founded in 1996, and today has managed services and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) aimed at the K-12 educational market, plus libraries and governments. The company boasts more than 500 school districts using ENA’s fully-managed converged network. In total, ENA embraces some 2.5 million students and 3.6 million library users. 

Edited by Cassandra Tucker