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DECEMBER 2016
BUSINESS SPOTLIGHT
Kansas Association
of School Boards
Strategic technology decisions enhance efficiency, flexibility, and security
Kansas Association of School Boards (KASB) is a nonprofit education association whose purpose is
to secure the best possible public educational opportunity for all children in the State of Kansas.
KASB’s mission is “Service Educational Leaders, Inspiring Student Success,” and the association
works to provide a culture of collaboration and service, be a voice of public education, and
improve student education outcomes.
About 30 full-time employees work in a wholly owned
40,000-square-foot office building in Topeka. KASB provides lob-
bying efforts, board training, publications, seminars, research, legal
information, negotiations, and policy services for its members.
These members come from governing boards for unified school
districts, community colleges, area vocational-technical schools
and cooperatives, interlocals, and regional service centers.
Outsourcing IT to Networks Plus
Networks Plus has served the needs of KASB for many years.
Richard Lincoln, Business Consultant at Networks Plus, says,
“Originally, KASB had an in-house IT person and used Networks
Plus to help them with projects. When this IT employee left, KASB
decided to go with Networks Plus for all of their needs. They use
a combination of our SafetyNet Assist program that includes the
Help Desk and ad hoc on-site services.”
The decision to go from an in-house IT person at KASB to using
the Networks Plus SafetyNet Assist program was prompted by
cost efficiency. RandyWeseman, KASBAssistant Executive Director
of Operations, explains, “Given the rising costs of in-house employ-
ees, it made sense to secure a 24/7 model of technical support. In
short, we are leaner and more nimble as a result of using Networks
Plus,” explains Weseman.
Data Center Adds Security and Confidence
KASB also uses the Networks Plus Data Center. Lincoln notes,
“KASB originally had seven servers on premise. We recently con-
solidated and relocated most of the servers to the Networks Plus
Data Center. Now KASB only has one server on premise to handle
their Active Directory in order to make sure their user experience
is very good. They also have five virtual servers in our Data Center,
which means most of their applications and data are hosted in