The Cirrus Team are available Monday – Thursday 08:30 – 16:30, Friday 08:30 – 16:00. The team member can work alongside and complement your communications team, including any relevant members of your organisation, to develop their areas, to harness their knowledge and to deliver your website specific to your requirement and ambition. Currently we have four permanent full-time members of the Cirrus Team, this allows us to deliver a successful service to over 200 schools and a number of other organisations.

Dorian Robinson – Operational Team Leader

Worked for NYCC Schools ICT for 18 years and the Cirrus Team since inception in 2011. Managed and developed the Cirrus server infrastructure and software infrastructure including Linux, Plesk, security and DNS. Major project experience includes building and running Hambleton District Council website and Richmondshire District Council Website. Other projects have included the development  and launch various Local Authority websites including Headfirst, Make Care matter and Music Hub. Web experience includes over 300 websites for schools.

Kris Kane – Principal Support Officer

Worked for NYCC Schools ICT for 15 years and the Cirrus Team since  2014. Managed and developed the Cirrus server infrastructure and software infrastructure . Major project experience includes building and running Springwater SharePoint and Mowbray School SharePoint. Other projects have included the development  and launch various Local Authority websites including Northallerton Town Council, Make Care Matter and Music Hub. Web experience includes over 200 websites for schools.

Dan Brown –  ICT Officer (Web Development)

Started life at NYCC as a Digital and Technical apprentice in October 2017. After graduating Coventry University with First-Class Honours Batchelors Degree in Digital and Technical Solutions I took the step to join the team on a permanent basis in January 2019 after working with Cirrus as a NYES Digital Web Designer. Previous experience includes project management, website design, site maintenance and server maintenance.

Will Powell – ICT Officer (Web Development)

Began working for Cirrus Team NYCC Schools ICT in Summer of 2018. Undertake general upkeep of server software, infrastructure, project management and the managed service. Experience in Web Development, IT school support, general computing troubleshooting. Have a university 1st Class Bachelor of Science degree in Digital and Technical Solutions. Website experience includes running the Managed service, leading projects, creation of websites and maintenance. Projects have included the development, launch and assisting others in the launch of various Commercial sites such as ATC Biocides, North Yorkshire Finance and also Local Authority websites including Harrogate and Rural Alliance, Brierley Homes and Energy & Sustainability.

Cirrus Team Knowledge

• WordPress including plugins (Tiny MCE Advanced, LearnDash, Site Origin, Ninja Forms)
• Divi WordPress Theme & Visual Page Builder
• CRM (Customer Relation Management) – CIVI , WS Desk, Event Booking
• Web Presence Builder
• Cloud Server Technologies
• Plesk Obsidian Hosting Solution
• Database (MYSQL) Management
• Linux Cent OS  / Alma Linux (Server Operating System) and related tools (WINSCP, SSH, FTP, File Permissions, update management)
• HTML and CSS Coding (including Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 and above, Notepad++)
• Template design and modification
• DNS Management
• Redundancy, Backup and Restoration Management of a hosted environment
• Web Security Management (including Firewall, CloudFlare, Plesk Watchdog and Security Advisor)
• Developing and maintaining documentation
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Google Analytics and Webmaster Tools
• Microsoft 365 Products
• Teams
• SharePoint
• Email, PowerShell, Active Directory/AD Connect
• Productivity tools ; Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint
• Project Management using Agile Development methodologies
• Customer Training expertise
• Graphic & Image Design using Adobe Photoshop CS4 and Adobe Fireworks CS4 and above
• Web accessibility and privacy policies WCAG 2.1
• Social Media Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, linked In

Schools ICT will take full ownership of all calls made by the customer to the Help Desk, monitoring against SLA targets and managing to successful closure. Schools ICT will attempt to diagnose reported faults at first contact and so may request the customer carry out some simple troubleshooting or initiate a remote support session to isolate the cause of the problem. Once a fault has been resolved, the Help Desk will contact the customer by telephone or e-mail to confirm that the applied solution was successful. At this point the call will be closed.

Escalation: If the customer is not satisfied with the progress of a call, escalation may be initiated via the contacts outlined below.

For each call logged, the customer will be given a unique reference number and a priority level will be agreed based on the information contained in the Key Performance Indicators listed later in the document.

The customer should report all faults to the Help Desk as soon as they arise. When contacting the Help Desk, the following information will be required:

• School or Company and Contact details
• Site location – if this differs from main contact address
• Contact Number(s) – landline or mobile with suggested best contact times
• Call details
• Site access times should a visit be necessary.

The customer should be prepared to initiate remote access at the request of the Help Desk. The customer shall provide SICT officers with full and free access to their ICT systems and other equipment for the purposes of performing the service.

Complaints and Comments

If you wish to make a complaint or comment regarding a chat (i.e. that you think it is objectionable or in breach of these terms and conditions) then please contact us through our contact form here

In line with other traded services of North Yorkshire County Council, SICT contractual arrangements require a one month notice period by either party for termination. The customer is required to confirm, in writing, their decision to terminate either by e-mail to cirrus@schoolsict.co.uk, or by post to:

NYES Digital

North Yorkshire County Council

Technology and Change

County Hall

Northallerton

North Yorkshire

DL7 8SB

• To undertake the analysis, design, development, testing, implementation and documentation of your package and utilising 3rd party developed components and bought in packaged software if required;
• To undertake agreed duties and tasks allocated as agreed with the Customer
• To manage tasks/projects against agreed delivery schedule using agile methodologies and provide details to the Customer
• Follow predefined standards for the implementation of information and web services systems;
• Ensure all work is fully tested, within deadlines, to meet the customer requirements.
• Liaise with other teams within the organisation to provide an effective and efficient service to their customers;
• Provide best practice information to all levels of organisation with focus on web site development.
• Provide, or assist in, the delivery of enhanced technical support to users of business or the web services systems supported by the team;
• Provide accurate details on progress of allocated work;
• Follow standards of documentation and change control, and keep information up to date.
• To encourage and provide support to customer and colleagues;
• Train new and existing personnel in appropriate skills;
• Work with other members of the team to broaden knowledge and technical expertise and to keep up to date with changes in technology, assessing potential benefits and risk whilst promoting awareness.
• To comply with the Council’s policies and supporting documentation in relation to Data Protection, Information Security and Confidentiality.
• We aim to make sure that services are provided fairly to all sections of your community, and that all our existing and future customers have equal opportunities;
• Work in accordance with the aims of the NYCC Equality Policy Statement.

DNS (Domain Name Service) management

• The technology that makes your website, email and other web services work.  
• DNS record management  
• IONOS, Nominet and JISC registrar’s for domain names 

Hosting – storage space for your website files.  

• Linux based Cloud Server Plesk Hosting Environment 
• Plesk Customer Administration of your account such as passwords and configuration 
• FTP – Access and manage your web files 
• Plesk Advanced allows you to self-manage your web services 
• Unlimited Traffic 
• 3 Gb Storage + 1 MYSQL Database 

Server Management and Security 

• Daily and Weekly server checks  
• Fully hardware redundant with 99.9% uptime.
• Backup – Located in the UK , multi-tiered and geographically separate backup solution 
• Server Management and Security – Fully managed Linux OS and up to date server security. Includes Firewall, Security Policy, CloudFlare (on request) , monitoring and intrusion detection via Web Application Firewall and Immunify Anti-Virus.

Unlimited support, advice and guidance

• Unlimited Help Desk support for rapid problem solving.
• Remote connection to your computer for direct support.
• No limits are placed on the frequency or volume of requests for assistance that can be made in any contract period.
• The Help desk is open between 8am and 5pm (4:30pm on Fridays), every weekday.
• Convenient ways to contact us: phone, email, Teams chat and web chat.

Includes Internet Services Core SLA (Hosting, Support, DNS, Server Management)

Website Security 

• Website Weekly Checks and Monitoring 
• Plugin, Component and Module update deployment (pre-deployment testing as required) 
• Plugin management  
• WordPress updates and core management 

Includes all services in Internet Services Complete and Internet Services Core

Fair use would be considered up to 1 hour per week on tier 1.

• Simple Complexity Content (e.g. single newsletter, policy or document) will be completed within 4 working hours provided there are no ongoing server or technical issues which may need prioritisation.
• Moderate Complexity Content (e.g. page layout with multiple  images, files and text) that require specific deadlines should be notified 24 hours prior to requirement in order to allow resource allocation.
• Fair use means tasks will be prioritised based on service demand – All customers will be allocated time evenly over a week.
• Where possible content updates should be collated into a single digest on a weekly basis
• Ongoing content updates to be supplied via electronic methods (e-mail, CD-ROM, SharePoint, one drive).
• Where possible documents should be supplied in pdf format.

The managed service is load balanced so that time is fairly allocated to all schools. After this you will automatically be moved onto our managed service which will renew yearly.

*Schools ICT manage over 500 domains over 3 Servers and resource allocation needs to be planned in advance. The managed service is load balanced so that time is fairly allocated to all customers.

•  Response is defined by the first action taken by SICT to resolve the customer’s call. We aim to achieve target response for 95% of all calls.