A Day in the life of an (SBS) ICT Engineer

This blog follows a series of insightful articles from our staff about their day-to-day roles - see more >

I would like to start by saying I do not think there is a ‘typical day’ working in education, especially ICT. So, after putting myself forward to write this piece it dawned on me that this was going to be quite a challenge. However, the fact that no single day is the same is one of the reasons I love the job.

My day starts when my alarm blasts out at 6am, in the winter this can be tough, as the combination of the cold and the fact that I ride to work makes the commute less appealing than in spring and summer. I set off around 7am and once on my way I always enjoy my ride to work, by the time I arrive at school I am more than awake and ready to go.

When I arrive onsite, I sign in, say hello to all the staff then head to the server room to set about carrying out my SLA checks, checking that backups have all gone through successfully and that all antivirus scans have been completed. I refer you to my colleague’s blog last week when he discussed oversight negligence.

After checking in with school staff and dealing with any priority items, I set about checking the open jobs list. This has been made so much easier since SBS introduced a new ticketing system. Not only that, in my opinion it has vastly improved the service we offer our schools. Schools will log their tickets, then where possible our service desk will resolve the items remotely, leaving us engineers to concentrate on the items which require onsite resolution. This means more tickets get closed quicker and schools see even greater value from having me onsite.

One of the most common jobs I have seen over the last few months is the setting up of laptops and Chromebooks for students. This is of course to facilitate home learning. This gives me huge job satisfaction, knowing that I am playing a small part in helping children navigate the current pandemic to continue to receive their education.

Of course, there are many more jobs I am asked to complete when onsite, some laborious and monotonous, some exciting and challenging. However, each one is hugely important in ensuring that schools continue to run smoothly, especially during these trying times.

If I get time during the day, I like to update and work on the school’s ICT infrastructure strategy plan (see related case study). This is a live document, which we as SBS engineers maintain and report back to the school’s SLT. It details the latest ICT infrastructure and highlights where we believe there are risks and makes recommendations of priorities. Aside from that it also gives schools peace of mind that if followed they can be confident that they are doing all they can to mitigate unplanned expenditure.

At the end of each day, I complete an SLA visit summary report. This details completed checks and tasks, actions taken, tickets closed and pending tasks. I submit this to the SLT or designated person, check in to see if there are any further urgent items, before jumping on my bike and heading back home.

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Please contact the ICT Service Desk on 0345 222 1551 • Option 1 or email ICTservicedesk@schoolbusinessservices.co.uk

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