Primary school cuts IT costs by 54% with a full cloud migration
When this Primary School faced a costly server refresh, it asked a simple question: could it go fully cloud instead? We ran a full total-cost-of-ownership evaluation, right-sized the infrastructure rather than replacing it like for like, and migrated the school to the cloud over a two-day holiday window. The result: 54 per cent off ongoing IT costs and staff able to work from anywhere.
This 300-pupil Primary School had reached the point every school reaches eventually: its physical servers were due for renewal. Rather than assume a replacement was the only option, the school wanted to know whether it could move its systems into the cloud instead, and asked us to find out.
The challenge
The school wanted to follow the Department for Education's cloud solution standard, which recommends cloud technology over locally hosted systems, rather than sign off another expensive like-for-like refresh.
The school's on-site servers were approaching end of life, and a straight replacement would have meant years more of hardware, licensing, warranty and energy costs for infrastructure the school increasingly did not need.
- Ageing physical servers due for a costly renewal
- A DfE cloud solution standard the school wanted to meet, not sidestep
- A mix of server roles (domain control, remote desktop, application and file hosting, DHCP and DNS) that needed unpicking before anything could move
- No clear picture of what going cloud would actually cost, or save, over time
What we did
We started with evidence, not assumptions. Before recommending anything, we built a full total-cost-of-ownership model for the existing servers, covering hardware, software, licensing, warranties, expected lifespan and energy and power usage, mapped across the estimated life of a replacement.
We then audited what the servers were actually doing, and challenged each role in turn:
- File hosting moved to Google Workspace, giving staff secure access to files from anywhere.
- The management information system was already cloud-based, so needed no on-site server.
- On-site applications were no longer in use and could be retired.
- Remote desktop services, which carry well-known security risks, were retired altogether once files lived in the cloud, removing an exposure rather than simply a server.
- DHCP and DNS were consolidated onto the school's firewall.
Two systems were not worth taking fully cloud-native: the print server and the Paxton door-access server. Moving those would have meant replacing hardware, such as every door controller, or working around existing contracts, at a cost that outweighed the benefit. Rather than let those exceptions force another full-size server, we right-sized the estate, migrating only what genuinely warranted it into a much smaller, more manageable cloud infrastructure.
Finally, we changed the way people worked. Laptops were reconfigured to be cloud-first rather than dependent on on-site infrastructure, enabling secure working from anywhere.
The migration itself took place over a two-day window during the school holidays, keeping downtime for staff and pupils to a minimum and making the move to the cloud a seamless one.
The results
Measured on total cost of ownership including energy, against a like-for-like refresh.
When our server infrastructure was due for a refresh, I was worried about the cost. School budgets are tight, and a like-for-like replacement felt like a lot of money for something we weren't sure we still needed. PrimaryTech guided us through every step, helped us understand the options, and moved us to a cloud-first setup that has genuinely saved us money. I couldn't have asked for more.
Francesca Mawson - Head Teacher · The Grange Primary SchoolFrequently asked questions.
What is the DfE cloud solution standard?
The Department for Education recommends that schools consider cloud solutions rather than defaulting to locally hosted servers, and sets out minimum expectations for managing access, availability, data protection and backup. It recognises that local servers run continuously and use a lot of energy, and that moving to the cloud can reduce equipment, energy, support and licensing costs while letting staff work more flexibly.
Where is our data stored if we move to the cloud?
Under the DfE standard, data should be stored and processed in the UK or EU, unless any international transfer has been confirmed to comply with UK GDPR. As part of a migration we make sure your cloud services meet that requirement and that your data protection and backup arrangements are in place first, since those are standards the DfE expects schools to be meeting already.
Will going full cloud save my school money?
It often does, but only a proper evaluation will tell you by how much. We build a total-cost-of-ownership model covering hardware, licensing, warranties, lifespan and energy, then compare that against a right-sized cloud alternative. In this case the school saved 54 per cent on ongoing costs.
Do we have to get rid of every server?
Not always, and the decision is usually about cost and practicality rather than what is technically possible. Most things can run in the cloud these days; the question is whether it makes sense to move them. Some systems, such as certain door-access controllers or print setups, may rely on hardware or contracts that would be expensive to replace before the end of their life. In those cases the sensible move is to right-size rather than replace wholesale, migrating what delivers a clear benefit and keeping the remaining footprint as small as possible.
How much disruption does a cloud migration cause?
With the right planning, very little. This migration was completed over a two-day window during the school holidays, so staff and pupils returned to a working, cloud-first environment.
Could this be your story?
Start with a free health check. We'll show you what's possible, and exactly how we'd get you there.