From Two Schools to Eight: Outgrowing Traditional Tools
Eastern Learning Alliance’s infrastructure was originally designed to support just two schools. As the trust rapidly expanded to eight schools, each with its own infrastructure and applications, the IT environment became increasingly difficult to manage. Microsoft Configuration Manager and other native Microsoft tools had worked well in a smaller environment, but keeping endpoints updated across a growing, distributed organization required significantly more manual effort.
With limited resources and increasing cybersecurity expectations, the IT team needed a solution that would simplify endpoint management without adding administrative overhead.
After researching alternatives, the team tested Action1 on its Windows servers. The difference was immediately noticeable. Instead of manually checking update status or troubleshooting failed deployments, the team gained a single view into endpoint health, missing updates, and outdated software across the environment. The pilot also uncovered forgotten applications and legacy software that had accumulated over time.
“It just made everything really visible. It put it all in one place, and you got instant visibility of whether updates had failed or not,” mentioned Mark Whicker, Director of Systems Strategy & Development.
Following the successful trial, Eastern Learning Alliance expanded Action1 across its staff devices and is now preparing to extend it to student endpoints as well.
Simplifying Endpoint Management Across the Trust
Today, Eastern Learning Alliance uses Action1 to manage approximately 1,000 staff endpoints, with plans to expand to another 1,000 student devices. The IT team has built 13 automations that keep Windows updates, third-party applications, drivers, and software deployments running with minimal manual effort. These automations also remove outdated software, deploy Windows feature updates, and ensure newly provisioned devices are automatically brought up to date.
Because Action1 is cloud-native, updates continue to run whether devices are on campus or off-site. This has been especially valuable for staff working remotely during school holidays or flexible work arrangements, eliminating the VPN-related challenges the team previously experienced while improving overall patch compliance. Browser-based remote access has also become an unexpected benefit, allowing technicians to securely support users from anywhere without relying on additional infrastructure. “Regardless of where the machine is, it’s getting those automations and updates applied,” said Mark.
Beyond patching, Action1 has become the organization’s centralized endpoint management platform. The team now uses it to identify forgotten devices with months of missed updates, manage Windows and Mac endpoints from a single console, deploy software, monitor hardware inventory, and create custom reports that help track compliance and outdated applications. Rather than juggling multiple tools and manual processes, IT now has a unified view of its growing environment.
Improving Security Without Increasing Complexity
As cybersecurity expectations continue to evolve across UK education, Eastern Learning Alliance has made endpoint security a strategic priority. The organisation aligns its security practices with frameworks such as Cyber Essentials and NIST and continues to develop its approach in line with Department for Education cyber security guidance and standards. Maintaining visibility into endpoint compliance and ensuring systems remain fully patched has become a critical part of that strategy.
Action1 has helped the team achieve that without increasing operational complexity. Rather than manually verifying whether updates completed successfully, IT can immediately identify devices requiring attention while allowing routine patching to happen automatically in the background. Internet-facing servers are patched first, followed by staged deployments across the remaining infrastructure, giving the team both speed and control while minimizing operational risk. End users also benefit from configurable maintenance windows that allow updates to be deferred when necessary, making the patching experience far less disruptive for teachers and staff.
Perhaps most importantly, Action1 has replaced uncertainty with confidence. Instead of wondering whether updates succeeded or failed, the IT team always knows the current state of its environment and can quickly remediate any exceptions.
“It just works. You don’t have to worry about it,” stated Mark, “It’s all the little bits. They all come together to be a really comprehensive suite of tools that just gives us one less thing to worry about.”
Looking Ahead
Following the success of its initial deployment, Eastern Learning Alliance plans to expand Action1 to another 1,000 student devices, bringing the entire trust under a single endpoint management platform. The organization also continues to explore additional capabilities, including broader software deployment and driver management, as it further standardizes endpoint operations.
For a lean IT team supporting thousands of users across multiple schools, Action1 has transformed patch management from a time-consuming administrative task into an automated process they trust.
As Mark Whicker summarized:
“We started with the free program just to do our servers. We liked it so much, we rolled it out to the staff machines, and now we’re planning to do the student machines as well… It’s just a great tool.”
