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As ICT becomes more widespread and more sophisticated in schools, ICT technical support has attained a higher priority. This area of spend accounts for 7% of primary school ICT budgets and 13% for all secondary schools. These figures are expected to grow rapidly in direct proportion to the challenges brought about by the large amounts of ICT equipment and technologies adopted in Schools. The management of a schools ICT provision has been more important or critical to its overall success!

In many schools and Colleges, the pressures and growth ICT developments has created some fundamental strategic and operational problems for schools among these are:-

• A need to compensate for a shortage of skilled staff. In many schools, the most common source of technical support is the school's own ICT support staff whom, in many instances, often have demanding teaching commitments.
• A need to address the shortage of 'specialist' ICT skills of their existing staff. New technologies are driving the pace of ICT and learning, which is creating additional pressure on training budgets and operational costs.
• A need to ensure continuous and integrated ICT provision throughout the school and also promote its use across the curriculum. In the case of Specialist Schools, often in accordance with Community plans.
• Inadequate funding to procure essential ICT equipment.

In many cases in the education sector, schools are not able to pay the industry rates for highly trained technical staff to manage and develop their ICT. Equally, where investment in technical personnel has been substantial, schools have been victim to staff leaving to join the private sector.

The wider strategic issues of the integration of ICT and its use to improve learning outcomes have presented challenges that overwhelm SMT's in schools. Solutions relating to the fundamental questions concerning the best ICT infrastructure, the right choice of technology and the deployment of ICT are being inadequately addressed by non-specialist staff.