Understanding the benefits to WARP members

General

• Early warnings on relevant security threats: new or active viruses, trojans and vulnerability exploits. This is likely to maximize up-time and minimize recovery costs.

• A private discussion area , where members can meet colleagues and both seek and give advice on current security issues and problems.

• A private and anonymous area where members can report security incidents. This will help other members who can watch for, and possibly anticipate, similar occurrences.

• Security awareness . All security experts and consultants stress the need for security awareness. Since security is a continuing process rather than a product, continuous security awareness (training) is important. By its very nature, a WARP is a vehicle for security awareness training.

Schools specific

• Patch management : the reality of teaching, where staff can move quite frequently between schools, encourages the use of mainstream systems. This means that the majority of members will be installing the same patches with the same difficulties and problems at around the same time. A WARP provides the ideal environment through which members can warn colleagues about difficulties with new patches, explain solutions, or simply ask for help.

• Support : many areas have very large Schools; many other areas have very small Schools. In such areas, small Schools may have very limited IT knowledge and expertise. A WARP is the perfect tool for providing technical support where it would otherwise be in short supply. All schools can benefit from the mutual collaboration and co-operation that WARP membership encourages.

• Face-to-face meetings : WARPs provide an opportunity for members to get together at a meeting. This is valuable for any WARP. Such events develop trust, a sense of belonging, mutual co-operation and team work. WARP members tend to work together better than non-members. This is particularly useful in the schools environment where the individual members are physically isolated and geographically distant from their specific colleagues.

• Best practice guides : WARPs are ideal mechanisms for distributing best practice guides. These could be industry best practices, or indeed schools-specific guides. The latter could even be developed by the WARP members using the discussion area of the WARP that is inherent in the advice brokering element.

• Other benefits : each potential Schools WARP will find additional benefits, possibly exclusive to their own environment. It is worth taking some time to consider how else the WARP structure could be used. For example, some schools operate their own 'hacking' evenings, where students are allowed to attempt to break into the systems. There are many advantages: it helps let off steam, it puts what is going to happen anyway into a controlled environment, it hones the skills of the students, and it keeps the IT staff on their toes. A WARP environment, with potentially pooled resources and skills, could make this a major event for both staff and pupils.

Now that you understand some of the benefits in being a member of a WARP, you now need to check your capability.

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