Technology Solutions Provider Stone Group to Present Education Sector IT Research at BETT 2010

STONE, England, Jan. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Stone Group http://www.stonegroup.co.uk- the technology solutions provider to the education and public sector has this week completed a market research study into the use of IT within education. The results of the research by the education sector IT specialist will be presented as a white paper - pre-order a copy at http://www.stonegroup.co.uk/white-paper-survey.aspx - at BETT 2010 - the world's largest educational technology event which runs from 13 - 16 January 2010 at Olympia, London.

The research has sampled the opinions of IT decision-makers in UK schools, academies and colleges, and examines the education sector's concerns surrounding issues such as IT budgeting and strategy, purchase decision influencers and the barriers to delivery of satisfactory levels of IT uptake within education. The research will also gauge the industry's current position in the debates on IT outsourcing, managed services, IT security and the importance of IT recycling.

James Bird, CEO of Stone Group, comments, "At present there is a great deal being discussed about how the education sector will react to the current challenging economic environment and how it will impact budgets and service delivery in 2010. We have employed Redshift Research to conduct this study in order to better understand the likely effect of the economic conditions and the attitudes of the IT decision-makers in this sector."

Bird continues, "We believe that this research is likely to highlight that the education sector is increasingly exploring IT outsourcing opportunities to bolster their service provisions to students, and to find reliable, policy-driven and cost-effective solutions. Come and join us on 13th Jan at BETT 2010 and we will share the results of the survey."

Bird concludes, "As a technology solutions provider, we are developing our software and services offerings specifically for the education marketplace. Professional services, managed services and outsourced IT services appear to be gathering a great deal of interest from schools and LAs. All such services allow them to focus on their core skills of teaching and managing schools and classrooms. We think it is likely that the research will show the IT and business process outsourcing markets has grown and will continue to grow in the coming year. At Stone Group we are committed to being at the forefront of this growth curve."

Stone Group will also be launching a series of new hardware and software products at BETT 2010 - full details will be available on stand H39 on 13 January 2010.

About Stone Group

The Stone Group is the UK's largest privately owned hardware manufacturer and technology solutions provider, specialising in the supply and support of ICT and audio-visual solutions to schools, colleges, universities, local government, the emergency services, the NHS and MoD.

As a long-established UK hardware manufacturer, Stone Computers and Compusys have built up enviable reputations for their superior after-sales service as well as the stability and reliability of their desktops, laptops and servers, earning the confidence of their customers.

Having acquired Rock in May 2008, the Stone Group now sells direct to consumers and offers high-end business and gaming notebooks to all sectors.

The Stone Group has also significantly extended its services portfolio to include fully managed outsourced solutions, IT security, software applications and recycling.

As well as being awarded all major educational and public sector frameworks, the Stone Group has well-established relationships with leading manufacturers. Strong partnerships with Intel, Microsoft, LG, Seagate and Samsung ensure that all of its customers can be confident in the quality of the technology and receive the most competitive pricing structure.

Stone was recently ranked 21st in The Sunday Times Buyout Track 100 league table 2009 of Britain's top 100 private equity-backed companies with the fastest growing profits.

    For more information please contact:
    Dionne Barlow                          Tegan Boaler / Will Gardiner
    Stone Group                            The itpr Partnership
    Tel: +44 (0) 1785 812 100              Tel: + 44 (0) 1932 578 800
    Fax: +44 (0) 1785 817 225              Fax: + 44 (0) 1932 578 801
    Email: [email protected]  Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Stone Group