When DeKalb CUSD 428 became a 1-to-1 district for grades 3 through 12 three years ago, Chief Technology Officer Ben Bayle had a new challenge: purchasing and maintaining the 5,000 Chromebooks that students took home each night.
“Even though we’re a large unit school district, money is tight,” Bayle says. “We needed to purchase proven technologies at a cost-efficient price, and extended warranties for new and existing devices with a provable return on investment.”
Bayle found all that and more with Trinity3, a value-added reseller that beat all comers on the cost of equipment and four-year accidental damage warranties for the Illinois district. Warranties for both new and used equipment have no deductible and cover unlimited incidents such as cracked screens, spills and manufacturer’s defects; Trinity3 also pays all shipping costs.
‘Trinity3 wins’ with ROI
“It was not so much the damage coverage as extending the life of current and future purchases,” Bayle says. “We’re going to get a minimum of four years out of each device now, instead of the typical three years, so the ROI is where Trinity3 wins over its competitors. They absolutely saved our budget.”
Here are some savings that the district made through its partnership with Trinity3:
- $88,000 on the purchase of 220 laptops for administration and high school staff
- Over $62,000 on four-year accidental damage warranties for 2,500 new Chromebooks purchased from Trinity3
- $10,500 per year on the 630 average Chromebook repairs, versus the cost of handling them in-house at one hour per repair on-site parts
Trinity3 provides batteries and other equipment so district staff can quickly complete minor repairs, rather than losing time packing, shipping and waiting for devices.
“It’s unusual to have a parts closet included in a warranty contract without a surcharge,” Bayle says. “With other VARs, you’re often in reactive mode and losing time on logistics, when all you need is memory or a battery. If it’s a relatively quick fix, you’re only down a computer for a day, instead of weeks.”
Equity for all students
Perhaps the biggest impact of the Trinity3 partnership involves the district’s 1-to-1 program.
“That’s where we see our biggest ROI, and not just financially,” Bayle says. “The 1-to-1 program brings equity to our students, regardless of their socioeconomic situation; 60 percent of our students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, and 50 percent are living at or near the poverty line. We want all our students to have the same access to technology so they have equal opportunities to succeed. Trinity3 enables us to do that.”
For more information, please visit trinity3.com
