“Subscription blindness” - What is it and what can you do about it?
“Subscription blindness” - What is it and what can you do about it?
Subscription blindness is a term that refers to the situation where people become so habituated to subscribing to various services such as streaming platforms, software tools, newsletters, and digital content that they lose track of or overlook the total number of active subscriptions they have. The ongoing payments for services that are no longer used or needed, often going unnoticed for months or even years which leads to financial waste.
To counteract subscription blindness, it’s recommended to regularly review bank & card statements. In schools it’s so easy for various departments and subject cost centres to sign up to annual software subscriptions and services. As part of the strategic budget plan, it is essential to record all of these subscriptions along with renewal dates and the options for cancellation too. The latest DfE CFR Framework changes for 2024/25 specifically highlight the ‘Spend on technology’ which has now added the additional spend lines ‘IT learning resources’ & ‘Administration software and systems’ which means that any subscription details need to be recorded. This will further allow schools to monitor the subscription costs and whether they are providing true value to the school.
Some of the most common Software as a Service subscriptions that schools use are easy to keep a track of as they are usually invoiced annually by the provider. Popular web apps include Purple Mash, Mathletics & EdShed amongst many others. It is crucial to monitor the use of these services and the impact they have on the curriculum objectives and outcomes. It is often easy to simply keep renewing year on year without checking that they are being utilised fully. From my previous experience I have often found that when staff are asked about the use of these services they simply say that they have to keep it as it’s a fantastic resource. When we requested usage logs from the provider we discovered that the service wasn’t fully used to its full potential. It is crucial that subject and assessment leaders closely monitor how these resources are used. In many cases, the selection of devices used in schools can be dictated by the software and apps that are used. If everything the pupils need to use is web based, why does the school need to maintain an expensive, complicated Microsoft Windows deployment when Chromebooks and iPads will work more reliably and are much more affordable to purchase with a longer life cycle too.
The subject of Microsoft leads me to one of the most expensive ongoing costs that many schools still commit to year on year. Microsoft OVS (Open Value Subscription) agreements back in the day offered schools a much more affordable and value added features for Windows OS & Software licences. These 3 year OVS agreements are based on each full time employee (FTE) in school and in one recent example for an FTE of 52 cost the school in excess of £3,000 +VAT per year. When we looked at what the school was using, most of the school could function without the need for the full desktop Microsoft Office installed on the PC’s. They could work just as well using the free A1 Web based offering. We narrowed this down to around 12 users (Admin & SLT) who did need the full desktop software installed. The A3 offering even at the standard retail price of £63.60 per user, per year from Microsoft works out much cheaper all round.
Another issue that schools can get caught up in is the use of school debit / credit cards being tied to online subscriptions such as Amazon, Apple (Music & apps) & other similar services. Apple for instance many years ago created Apple School Manager which allows all apps & books to be purchased (even free) and deployed via Mobile Device Management (MDM). Apple School Manager credit is now available from resellers and can be purchased via purchase order. This means that the use of a debit / credit card doesn’t need to happen any longer. In app purchases aren’t possible with the Apple School Manager deployments and aren’t a recommended practice to allow. App developers have changed their business models over the past few years and can offer paid versions of apps rather than a free version with in app upgrade option. I often supply Apple credit for use with Apple School Manager, which for the record we do not make anything from this as it’s simply a value added service that ensures that things are done correctly.
To summarise:
Please be vigilant and carry out a full audit of all subscriptions that the school has across all areas
Record all of these in your system along with due dates
Make a note of any notice periods required to cancel
Monitor the effectiveness of all subscriptions and don’t be frightened of challenging anyone who questions any well informed decisions
Challenge your IT provider about the status of any ongoing licences or services
As always, I welcome any feedback or further questions you may have. If you need any more advice, please contact us.
