IT Tradeoffs in Schools

School users are also well-known for trading reliability for functionality and ease. IT professionals know that systems can be configured to perform many more functions than are typically used. Further, many users will use only a fraction of the tools and features available in the applications they use. Of course, using these tools and features increases the complexity and sophistication of using the tools; configuring those tools also increases the complexity of the tasks associated with managing and supporting (including training) of the systems. Further, complex configurations can increase the complexity of using the systems and make them more unreliable as there are more potential “break points.” In many cases, teachers would prefer IT systems that are less complex and provide fewer features if what is provided is very reliable (it is always available) and robust (it is reliable even when many users are connected).