Combatting isolation as a network manager – Why Salamander sponsors ANME

Running IT at a school can be isolating. Small teams with big, growing responsibilities. And it’s not uncommon for one person to be managing an entire school’s IT needs.

Something breaks? You’re the first person staff contact. New accounts need setting up? It lands on your desk. New technology needs choosing, buying and rolling out? You’ve got to make sure everything runs smoothly.

And at Salamander, we know the pressure all too well.

We’ve spent the last two decades working with 5,000+ schools and trusts, supporting network managers with user provisioning and identity management.

We hear it directly from the source – the challenges, day-to-day obstacles and real-life stresses of managing school IT.

School IT can be a lonely job, but with communities like the Association of Network Managers (ANME), it doesn’t have to be.

What is the Association of Network Managers (ANME)?

The ANME brings together Network Managers, IT Directors and IT Technicians from across UK schools, trusts, colleges and universities.

With currently over 1,900 members, the ANME facilitates termly face-to-face meetings that foster continuing professional development, networking, and wellbeing. Committed to accessibility, the ANME offers an online Portal for round-the-clock peer support.

Membership is complimentary, with no cost to join or attend meetings, making it an invaluable resource for education sector IT professionals seeking growth and collaboration.

Incredibly, the community is run on an entirely voluntary basis by Rick Cowell, who founded the association in 2014 whilst still working as a school network manager.

Today, it is funded entirely by sponsors like Salamander, who understand the unique situations the members face daily.

We’ve been supporting ANME since 2015, making us one of their longest standing partners and the fourth continuous longest supporter. Alongside fellow TLG member School ICT, we have continuously supported both ANME events and the Portal.

Why Salamander sponsors the Association of Network Managers (ANME)?

We have been supporting the ANME for X years.

This autumn, Salamander is sponsoring and attending three ANME events:

• ANME EM22 – East Midlands Meeting 22 on Tuesday 10 November 2026
• ANME SW20 – South West Meeting 20 on Thursday 12 November 2026
• ANME NW32 – North West Meeting 32 on Thursday 26 November 2026

“We’re aware that around 20% of IT professionals in schools work alone. And working in school IT can be isolating,” explains Gavan Vetesse-Wilson, Managing Director at Salamander.

“Many of our staff have experienced this way of working in previous roles. And Salamander operates fully remotely, so while we prioritise team building and support, we experience isolation first-hand.”

In 2023, Salamander and the ANME conducted a survey focusing on wellbeing at work to 3,600+ IT staff who work in schools across England.

Some key – and alarming – discoveries were:

• A quarter of IT staff believe their workload to be unacceptable.
• Almost 40% of IT staff in schools feel undervalued for the work they do.
• Over 40% of all organisations are not working with their team to reduce workload pressure.
• Schools are not currently asking their IT staff about wellbeing.
• A large percentage of employees would not feel comfortable asking for help if they were struggling.

Reasons to attend your local ANME event

The ANME host three events each year across nine regions in England – South, South East, South West, North East, North West, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands and Yorkshire and Humber.

One of our customers, Dave Leonard, Strategic IT Director at Watergrove Trust explains it best:

“It’s a brilliantly supportive community of IT professionals working in UK schools. We’re here to spread the word about good practice and to make people feel that they’re not on their own. As IT professionals, we’re often the only person doing that role in our organisation, so having a bit of support is always welcome.”

Dave has volunteered as an ANME ambassador for around ten years:

“Sometimes it’s just sitting down and sharing a problem. We might not have a solution for you, but knowing that somebody else has the same issue means you’re not the only one facing that challenge, and it’s not something you’re doing wrong individually. The old adage “a problem shared is a problem halved” is really relevant here. It’s about making those connections, building networks, finding out about solutions and technologies, and having somebody to call upon.”

What’s more, if you can’t make an in-person event, there’s always the online portal:

“It’s not just the meetings. We also have an online portal where you can post and get responses immediately from 2,000 people working in education IT support in the UK. Most of the time, you post a question and somebody has an answer for you, and often they’re good answers too.”

Want to get involved in The ANME?
You can find the full list of upcoming events on their website:
https://anme.co.uk/events-meetings