The ECNO program was first implemented as a joint initiative of the Ontario Ministry of Education and Training and the ECNO member School Boards. Through this partnership, ECNO and Ontario Ministry of Education and Training developed and managed a significant suite of software assets, and built a strong and successful co-operative Information Technology program involving 72 Ontario School Boards. In 1996, prompted by a decision by the Ministry to reduce funding of the ECNO program, ECNO decided to re-group. With a renewed vote of confidence from the membership, the cooperative secured control of all software assets, and began to reestablish and expand on the services, previously provided by the Ministry, through new strategic alliances and partnerships with the Private Sector.
After a competitive proposal process, the contract to provide technical support services to ECNO was awarded to SRB International, an Ontario based firm, with experience in providing administrative software and services to education. As a direct result of this partnership, all essential ECNO products and services were transitioned to the new ECNO Corporation, with virtually no interruption of service to the members. A new, strong and viable support organization was established. And, in the end, the costs for maintaining the ECNO products and services were reduced by over 66 percent.
As one of the most successful co-operative ventures in the history of Education in Ontario, ECNO is truly greater than the sum of its parts.