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Southbrook School Case Study
November 15th, 2023 by admin
Tell us a little about Southbrook school…
Southbrook School is a Special Needs (SEN) school with just in excess of 120 secondary age
pupils who have mild to moderate learning difficulties. Each year group (years 7-11) has
approximately 30 pupils split into two classes.
What are some of the main IT challenges you have faced?
Safeguarding our pupils is a top priority as they are more vulnerable than pupils in mainstream
schools. Keeping them safe and being able to help them with any issues is very important.
In addition, classroom monitoring is important for us to keep pupils on task and ensure they
don’t stray from the work they’re meant to be doing.
How has DNA helped at your school?
DNA has helped us to keep track of our pupils’ activity and what they’re typing, searching for or copying in all applications, not just the internet. It alerts us to what a certain pupil has typed or images they might have copied. DNA also has a large number of keywords that trigger alerts, which we really like. It also gives an explanation of each phrase, which is helpful for our staff if they don’t know what a certain phrase means.
How have you found the remote support tools in DNA?
We use the remote control tools to provide support to staff across the school without having to
physically go to them. We also use the remote support to log off machines that have been left on
in classrooms.
DNA includes SoftLINK classroom management. What do your teachers find are the main benefits?
We’ve trialed SoftLINK and our teachers really like it as they can make sure pupils are on task
and lock machines to take away any distraction. They can also share their screen so that the
pupils are focused on the right thing during lessons.
How do DNA and SoftLINK compare to previous solutions you have used?
We’ve previously used some free software, but they just didn’t provide the level of features we needed. The safeguarding has been really beneficial for us.
What do you think of the DNA support team?
The tech support team have provided quick and easy fixes over the phone for any problems we’ve had.
How do you see DNA and SoftLINK supporting your school in the future?
We will definitely continue to use DNA. It sits in the background and does what we want it to do. We’d also like to continue to roll SoftLINK out across the whole school.
York High School Case Study
November 15th, 2023 by admin
Tell us about your school…
York High School is a medium-sized community secondary school catering for approximately
735 students between Years 7 – 11.
What are some of the main IT challenges you faced prior to DNA?
One of our main challenges was to encourage staff to be as independent as possible, to enable them to do the tasks they needed to carry out and to encourage them to problem solve. It’s not just about fixing problems but empowering people and reducing their reliance on requesting support.
How has DNA helped at your school?
DNA has enabled teachers and other staff to be able to carry out various tasks that they may have otherwise asked the IT team to do. The SoftLINK element also ensures teachers can get the attention of the whole class instantly and keep their students focused. Staff have found DNA easier to use then our previous solution – and the integration with Group Policy is a bonus for the IT team. We find it’s a well-supported product that is easy to use and it has increased our productivity by saving us time with its automated tools.
Do you use DNA to support your safeguarding efforts?
Yes, it has enabled safeguarding staff to be able to view internet history independently without having to ask the IT team to look at any logs or reports. They are also able to follow up on any safeguarding alerts that come in.
DNA includes SoftLINK classroom management. What do your teachers find are the main benefits?
Some teachers just want to see the SoftLINK element to help them with delivering lessons. It also helps them to improve students’ behavior, with the ability to monitor their activity and ensure they are working on the task set for the lesson.
What do the staff think of DNA in terms of usability?
The staff who see it and try it like it, but the biggest problem we have is that staff do not always have time to learn how to use new systems. However, once they start using DNA, they do find it intuitive and easy to use.
What do you think of the DNA support team?
The support has always been excellent!
How do you see DNA and SoftLINK supporting your school in the future?
We have no plans to use anything else, as it does what we need it to do. We’d definitely recommend it to others.
City of Dickenson Case Study
July 12th, 2022 by admin
Tell us a bit about City of Dickinson…
City of Dickinson is the local government for Dickinson, North Dakota. Dickinson sits in Stark County and has a population of over 20,000.
What IT challenges were you trying to solve?
We wanted a product that would not only track our user’s internet usage but also allow us to filter what sites they have access to, helping keep staff on task and productive.
How is DNA currently being used in your organization?
We are currently using DNA to track internet and application usage, to restrict internet usage, and to track some of our hardware assets. The internet and application metering tools allow us to track what websites and applications our staff are using, when they are using them and how long they’re using them for. We can also create lists of approved and restricted URLS so we ensure staff stay on track and productive during working hours. It provides robust reporting capabilities that keep staff accountable for the sites they are visiting during work hours, as well as ensuring that business resources are only used for business purposes. When it comes to our hardware assets, DNA’s Hardware inventory tools allow us to track and manage our assets and see important information from one central place.
Why did you choose DNA?
We found DNA to be more user-friendly and robust than the alternative products offered by other vendors that we tried during our testing phase. Plus, it’s affordable and has lots of useful features.
How/where has DNA added value?
DNA for us is used in a manner to keep staff more accountable for their usage of technology, which in turn means more time spent on work and less spent surfing the web. It’s not only helped increase staff productivity and performance, but our IT staff have also found it really easy to use.
Would you recommend DNA?
Yes, definitely!
Digital Applications International Study
March 13th, 2022 by admin
Tell us about Digital Applications International…
Founded in 1971, Digital Applications International is a UK-based software company specializing in logistics automation solutions. We have five customer facing offices located in the UK, Switzerland and China.
What IT challenges were you trying to solve?
We were looking for a solution that could help us understand where our software licenses were deployed without manually having to review each PC.
How is DNA currently being used in your organization?
At the moment, we are using DNA primarily to monitor how software licenses are being used across our organization. The software inventory shows us where software is installed, when it’s used and who by, plus which licenses aren’t being used, where they can be better deployed. With this information, it’s helped us reduce software overspend by company and department.
Why did you choose our DNA?
We were recommended DNA and found that the software offered additional features over others that we looked at. It also has the potential to bolt on other complementary products later if we decided to. We also found DNA really easy to use and the cost was less than other similar solutions.
How/where has DNA added value?
All of our staff have found DNA easy to use. We use DNA to create an audit trail for software and hardware purchases. This has helped us reduced our spending on software and hardware as we know exactly what we have and what we do/don’t need.
Would you recommend DNA?
Yes, it’s great – keep going!
The Egging Company Case Study
January 12th, 2022 by admin
Tell us about The Egging Company…
The Egging Company offers complete, start-to-finish processing of heavy steel plates, from burning, shearing, and welding to painting and more. We’ve provided the highest quality steel fabrications to both small and large customers with a wide diversity of needs since 1957.
What challenges were you trying to solve?
Our company is spread across two facilities and so we needed a remote control solution to help support and manage users from one single point while also being able to manage and control what websites staff use and how frequently.
Why did you choose our solutions?
We chose DNA which also includes the remote control tools we needed due to ease of use and its range of features. We were particularly keen on the web metering tools to ensure staff remain productive. However other tools such as power management and real-time screen visuals are also great.
How is the software currently being used in your organization?
We use the remote control tools (Manager) to maintain and work on PCs and servers across both sites, while we use DNA for internet filtering and monitoring.
How/where has DNA & Manager added value?
We have used DNA and Manager for many years and over the time it has saved us money and time, plus increased productivity and performance. For example I don’t have to go to every PC for issues/management, and if I do installs or updates, I can do several at one time. It suits our needs perfectly and we have always been happy with it.
Dawleys Case Study
August 5th, 2021 by admin
Tell us a bit about Dawleys…
Dawleys are a multi-channel response and fulfilment agency, based in Ross-on-Wye, with over 30 years’ experience in providing outsource solutions.
What IT challenges were you trying to solve?
We wanted a solution which provided an accurate and easy to-read overview of all our assets, from proactively finding devices to highlighting software usage vs licenses bought.
How is DNA currently being used in your organization?
It’s used to track and monitor all our IT assets across the business and keep an up-to-date inventory, which is great for renewing or redistributing items. We also use the power management tool to monitor energy costs and schedule PCs to turn on and off, which is a real money saver. The proactive alerts act as a great safety net by allowing us to keep track of any changes that occur, helping to avoid any major issues.
Why did you choose our DNA?
As an existing user of DNA, we are thrilled with the latest update and all its new features. We were especially excited to use the endpoint security feature, which helps our business to control which devices and individuals can access our system and when. We have the ability to see exactly where all our PCs are – and with DNA pro-actively finding new devices on the network, it’s been a real time saver.
We initially chose DNA as it’s secure, easy to use and has a wealth of features – all for a really good price.
How/where has DNA added value?
DNA is an excellent product packed full of features. It’s saved us money and time, improved performance and is really easy for our staff to use.
Would you recommend DNA?
Yes, absolutely!