IT Management for Educational Institutions: The Complete Guide for Schools and School Boards

IT management in education is a discipline of its own. You are dealing with dozens of pupil devices, changing classrooms, digital exams, adaptive learning tools and privacy rules written specifically to protect children. In this article you will learn what IT management for primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands looks like in 2026, what role SIVON and Kennisnet play, what the IBP Standards Framework (Normenkader IBP) requires of you, and which choices you need to make about devices, Wi-Fi and cloud productivity.

Why education is a separate discipline

An average SME has a handful of laptops per employee and an office network. A primary school with 250 pupils quickly has 300 to 500 devices connected to the network every day: Chromebooks in classrooms, iPads for the youngest children, teachers' laptops, interactive whiteboards, printers, cameras and staff's personal phones. Secondary education scales up even further: 2 to 3 devices per pupil has become the norm for modern network designs.

On top of that, schools process sensitive personal data. Pupil data (names, addresses, grades, developmental indicators and sometimes medical information) is subject to strict privacy rules. Parents, the parents' council and the Education Inspectorate are all watching. A data breach at a school usually makes the local paper within a day.

Finally, there is the logic of the sector itself: dedicated purchasing organisations, public funding, mandatory tendering above certain thresholds and a lively community of specialist suppliers. A generic IT partner without experience in this world gets stuck on the very first learning platform (ELO) integration.

The sector infrastructure: SIVON and Kennisnet

If you work in Dutch primary and secondary education, there are two organisations you simply have to know.

SIVON is the IT cooperative for primary and secondary education. School boards are members and jointly decide on shared tenders, standard contracts and knowledge sharing. In 2026, SIVON renewed its Network & Management tender (formerly Network as a Service) for primary education; schools choose from three selected suppliers: Cloudwise, Infracare and Veldwerk. You are not obliged to buy through SIVON, but in return you get a contract at market rates and legal certainty.

Kennisnet is the public IT partner for education. Among other things, it provides the National Service Centre (NDC) for basic internet access and security, and publishes an annual cybersecurity Threat Assessment for education. Through SIVON's Veilig Internet Brons (Safe Internet Bronze) service, schools pay around €110 per month for a coax connection including managed security via the NDC.

Kennisnet and SIVON work together; they are not competitors. A good external IT partner knows both and understands which public service provides a solid foundation and where additional measures are needed.

The IBP Standards Framework: the legal bar

For several years, Dutch education has had the Information Security and Privacy Standards Framework (Normenkader IBP), published via kennisnet.nl. It is the shared standard for digitally safe education, based on ISO 27001, ISO 27002 and NEN 7510 and supplemented with sector-specific standards.

The timeline has become tight. From 1 January 2027, school boards must be able to show where they stand against the IBP Standards Framework, through a self-assessment, and have a plan to reach maturity level 3 (out of 5) on every standard. By 1 January 2030 at the latest, every school must meet that level.

In concrete terms, the IBP Standards Framework requires, among other things, a Data Protection Officer (DPO, mandatory under the GDPR), an approved information security policy, a register of processing activities, DPIAs for high-risk learning tools (SIVON, for example, commissioned a DPIA on Snappet), MFA for administrator accounts, a patch policy, a backup policy, an incident response plan that is rehearsed, and a periodic penetration test or security audit.

For school board members this is not optional advice. The Inspectorate is paying increasing attention to IBP maturity, and insurers are asking about it too. You can read more about the broader standard in our article on ISO 27001 for SMEs.

Cyber threats: why schools are attractive to attackers

Every year, Kennisnet publishes a cybersecurity Threat Assessment for primary and secondary education. The number of attacks on primary and secondary schools has risen clearly since 2023. Concrete incidents from recent years include an attack on SURF in early 2025 that forced digital exams to be postponed, and a 2024 ransomware attack on education supplier Iddink in which several years' worth of pupil and payment data was stolen.

In October 2024, Kennisnet launched School-CERT: a service that gives schools crisis advice on ransomware, phishing and data breaches. Schools are attractive to attackers because they hold a large amount of valuable data while their IT budget is often more limited than in the business world. That makes a structured ransomware policy all the more important.

Device management: Chromebooks, iPads and laptops

Your choice of Google, Apple or Microsoft ecosystem largely determines how you set up device management.

Google ecosystem (Chromebooks): the Google Admin console is the central point of management. From here you push policies, Wi-Fi and proxy settings, automatic app installation and access restrictions to every Chromebook. Chromebooks are quick to reset and inexpensive, and they only work with an internet connection, which is a big advantage for central management but a drawback during an outage.

Apple ecosystem (iPads and Macs): management runs through an MDM solution (for example Jamf, Mosyle or Apptec360) combined with Apple School Manager. As soon as you switch on an iPad, it enrols automatically in the school's MDM and enters supervised mode. For the youngest pupils, the interface is intuitive and robust; iPads are, however, more expensive than Chromebooks.

Microsoft ecosystem (Windows laptops): Windows Autopilot and Microsoft Intune deliver zero-touch deployment: you switch on a laptop, it connects to your tenant and automatically installs the right apps and policies. This suits secondary education well, with teacher laptops and senior general secondary and pre-university (havo/vwo) pupils who work more independently. The approach resembles workplace management for mainstream SMEs.

Many schools opt for a mix: Chromebooks in classrooms, iPads for the younger years and Windows laptops for teachers. What matters is that you set up a management platform for each ecosystem rather than configuring 300 devices by hand.

Wi-Fi and networking: capacity is everything

Wi-Fi in education is a discipline in its own right. As a rule of thumb: 2 devices per pupil in K-12 and 3 to 5 in higher education. For a primary school with 250 pupils and 25 staff, that means 500+ connected devices at peak times. BYOD (personal phones) adds complexity, with background apps, updates and social media competing with learning materials.

Practical points to watch: at least one access point per classroom (two in larger rooms, with Wi-Fi 6 or 6E as the baseline), VLAN segmentation between teacher, pupil, guest and building management traffic, content filtering per class or group, bandwidth management so updates are scheduled outside school hours, and sufficient physical uplink: at least 1 Gbit/s at the gateway and, for larger schools, 10 Gbit/s internally.

In our article on slow office Wi-Fi we described the general causes; in education, peak load is simply more extreme.

Cloud productivity: Microsoft 365 Education and Google Workspace for Education

Both major players offer a free basic package for schools.

Microsoft 365 Education (Office 365 A1): free for all pupils and staff with a valid school email address. It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Teams and OneDrive. For more advanced functionality (device management via Intune, advanced compliance, more storage) you upgrade to A3 or A5, which come with education pricing.

Google Workspace for Education Fundamentals: free, with Classroom, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Meet, Gmail and Chat. Since 2024, Google has used a per-user licensing model: every active user (so every pupil and member of staff) must have a Fundamentals licence. For extra functionality (Vault archiving, Meet recordings, advanced security) there are Education Standard, the Teaching and Learning Upgrade and Education Plus.

The choice is more cultural than financial, since both basic versions are free. Schools that have worked with Google for years often stick with it; schools with a Microsoft heritage choose Teams and OneNote. Either way, make sure each school board has a dedicated tenant and a well-designed role structure.

Our comparison of Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace focuses mainly on SMEs, but many of the principles also apply to education.

Education-specific systems and Single Sign-On

Schools work with specialist systems that need integrating: ParnasSys for administration in primary education, Magister or SOMtoday in secondary education, learning environments (ELOs) such as itslearning, Google Classroom or Microsoft Teams for Education, and adaptive learning tools such as Snappet, Squla, Gynzy and Numo.

Single Sign-On means pupils and teachers do not have to log in separately to every system. In higher education, SURFconext is the dominant standard, with around 200 connected organisations and roughly 2 million users. For primary and secondary education, providers such as EduConnector and eLoo offer integrations with Magister, SOMtoday and ParnasSys, often combined with Microsoft Entra ID or Google Workspace authentication.

Snappet, the largest adaptive learning platform for primary education in the Netherlands, costs around €60 per pupil per year and covers nine subjects. A DPIA is available through SIVON, which considerably reduces the compliance burden for school boards.

What to ask an education IT partner

If you are considering outsourcing all or part of your IT management, ask at least these questions: how many schools do you manage (number and type: primary, secondary, vocational/MBO)? Do you know SIVON, Kennisnet, School-CERT and the IBP Standards Framework? What experience do you have with Chromebook, iPad and Windows rollouts? Can you integrate with ParnasSys, Magister, SOMtoday and Snappet? How do you help with the IBP self-assessment and reaching maturity level 3? What is your SLA during test weeks and digital exams? And do you work with School-CERT in a crisis?

Choosing an IT partner is at least as important for schools as it is for businesses; contracts often run for years, and switching costs energy you would rather spend on teaching.

Frequently asked questions about IT management for educational institutions

Is my school board obliged to buy through SIVON? No, SIVON is a voluntary cooperative. Membership gives access to joint tenders and framework agreements that are safe under procurement law. You can buy smaller items independently; for larger amounts above the European tendering thresholds, using a SIVON framework agreement is often the simplest route.

What is the difference between Kennisnet and SIVON? Kennisnet is the public IT partner for education, funded by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW); SIVON is an IT cooperative of school boards. Kennisnet provides public services and knowledge (including School-CERT, the IBP Standards Framework and the NDC); SIVON handles tenders and joint purchasing. They work closely together.

What does maturity level 3 in the IBP Standards Framework mean? Level 3 means processes are documented, demonstrably carried out and periodically evaluated, with evidence available at audit. Level 1 is ad hoc, level 2 is repeatable but informal, level 4 is measured and controlled, and level 5 is continuously improved. For most schools, level 3 is a realistic target for 2030.

What does IT management cost for a primary school with 200 pupils and 20 staff? If you only take a basic connection and managed security via Kennisnet/SIVON, you are looking at around €110 to €250 per month. For fully outsourced management including workstations, MDM, a service desk and compliance support, the range is between €15,000 and €40,000 per year, depending heavily on scope, number of devices and whether you employ an in-house IT coordinator.

Is Microsoft 365 A1 really completely free? The basic licence is, yes, with email, the online Office apps, Teams and OneDrive. For Intune, Microsoft Defender for Endpoint, advanced compliance or larger OneDrive quotas you need A3 or A5, at education rates per user per month.

Does every school need its own Data Protection Officer (DPO)? Every school board must appoint a DPO, but not necessarily every individual school within the board. Smaller boards often share an external DPO to keep costs down; that is permitted, provided the DPO demonstrably works independently and is sufficiently available.

Conclusion

IT management for educational institutions demands more than a generic IT partner can deliver. The combination of high device density, strict privacy requirements under the IBP Standards Framework, sector-specific systems such as ParnasSys and Magister, and peak moments around digital exams makes it a discipline in its own right. SIVON, Kennisnet and School-CERT give you a strong public foundation; with a partner who knows the sector, you build a structure around it that is secure, reliable and workable for teachers and pupils alike.

TRON Group works with small and mid-sized organisations across the Netherlands and has experience with education-specific managed IT services, from network management to MDM and IBP support. We are happy to help you plan the route to maturity level 3, the right device mix and an SLA that fits the school year. Call us on +31 85 303 5869 or request a no-obligation introductory meeting; we will gladly map out where your school or school board stands today and what the most practical next steps are.