Laptops, tablets, extra monitors, interactive whiteboards, digital projectors, speakers, charging carts and even mobile furniture have become essential to a highly engaging modern classroom. However, for large school districts, managing tens of thousands of devices comes with challenges.

Technology leaders want to minimize interruptions to learning while allowing IT departments to focus on strategic priorities. Short-staffed districts can call on their vendor partners for help with device management, offloading that complex, time-consuming part of operations.

CDW has a long history of procuring, warehousing, configuring and delivering large numbers of devices for schools, ensuring that all students and teachers have to do is open their devices and start using them.

In an effort to better support Texas districts that need quick access to and turnaround on these devices, CDW opened two Local Education Solutions centers, one in Dallas and the second in Houston. These services are vital to schools in these areas, especially those with one-to-one device programs. Today’s IT teams need to do more than simply configure new devices; they’ll also need to consider the entire lifecycle of educational devices, which includes break/fix services and end-of-life disposal. No matter how rugged these devices are, they do occasionally sustain damage or stop working, and these local centers facilitate quick repairs.

Outsourcing Device Management Could Prevent Work Bottlenecks

The centers also provide a level of flexibility that goes beyond delivering devices that have been part of the school’s device ecosystem for years. The centers can support schools adopting new technology or that need a one-off delivery.

Having to rely on internal staff alone can cause serious delays. A 2024 CoSN survey noted that K–12 has the most challenging staffing levels when it comes to providing instructional support in classrooms, offering remote support to students and family, and integrating technology into the classroom.

Let’s say your district needs to manage logistics for housing, configuring, delivering, unboxing and disposing of packaging for more than 10,000 devices. That would probably cause your internal operations to halt while you manage that entire process. And while most IT departments handle tech upgrades during summer or winter breaks, that is often not enough time to get everything done.

Additionally, while IT teams are generally tech-savvy, there could still be a learning curve for configuring new devices and accompanying software.

Another challenge schools may struggle with is what to do with the devices once the manufacturer delivers them. Most schools simply don’t have a central receiving location to temporarily house and palletize the equipment while configuring the devices.

Instead, schools would benefit from working with a vendor partner with highly trained project managers who can keep track of every part of the device deployment process.

Outsourcing Removes Barriers Between Teachers, Students and Tech

We’ve seen other schools express relief at not having to do it all internally. Recently, our CDW team delivered some adjustable-height desks for teachers in a large district. Thanks to our configuration centers in Texas, we quickly assembled all of these units in sustainable packaging and wheeled them directly to the specified classrooms.

In another instance, one of our districts needed teacher devices. So, we assembled, shrink wrapped and delivered backpacks with the laptops to each classroom. All the teachers had to do was remove the shrink-wrap and start using the devices.

Keep in mind that schools don’t have to go all-in on outsourcing every part of their device management. They may already have a system that works well. Instead, they can start small and decide which part of the process would give them back the most time. If your school district is in Texas, talk to your account manager about using these local centers. If you live outside of Texas, CDW has partners nationwide with local facilities that can perform the same services.




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