trying out a network (multisite) install

For context, we’re looking at a way of publishing information to local schools on the internet to support their business processes like finance and so on. We’re replacing an (old) MS SharePoint setup but using the opportunity to make more stuff public-facing. We want delegated publishing so people can manage their own area, so having sitename/finance, sitename/safety seems pretty neat.
I did a multisite install (it’s the old name still in cpanel) to set up a WordPress network.
I haven’t installed all the HT plugins as we don’t need all of them. This is a full list of all the plugins we use:

Advanced Custom Fields Pro (network activated)
Beaver Builder Plugin (Pro Version)
Breadcrumb NavXT (network activated)
Business Directory Plugin
Business Directory Plugin – File Attachments Module
Business Directory Plugin – Google Maps Module
Business Directory Plugin – Ratings Module
Business Directory Plugin – ZIP Search Module
Gravity Forms (network activated)
HT A to Z (network activated)
HT About this page (network activated)
HT About this page AJAX
HT Events listing (network activated)
HT Feature blogposts (network activated)
HT Feature news (network activated)
HT Feedback (network activated)
HT How do I? (network activated)
HT Most active (network activated)
HT Most recent (network activated)
HT Need to know (network activated)
HT News updates (network activated)
HT Search Autocomplete (network activated)
HT Top tags (network activated)
HW Image Widget (network activated)

There’s a few additional plugins that aren’t network enabled, so we can put them on individual sites to meet specific needs.
We’ve made a site /clone and configured it as a starting point for new sites. This has the HT plugins setup and tested – it’s a fully-functioning site. We’ve added test categories and so on. We’ve added a test blog post, news item and document.
We set up a user first and then use that account when we do the new site to become the site administrator – any user can adminster more than one site.
We duplicate the clone site as a new site, using MultiSite Clone Duplicator. This takes a couple of minutes. The plugin has warnings on it about how it may or may not work – but it really does seem to work for the Govintranet them and plugins.
One thing – I don’t think you can successfully administer a site as a super admin (the one that can set sites up). The options menu behaves oddly. But everything works fine as an administrator role.
We’re at POC stage – with several test sites set up and currently populating them for users to see.