Understanding Your Nonprofit Technology Needs (November 5, 2013)
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Understanding Your Nonprofit Technology Needs Leslie Bauer Chief Information Officer 501cTECH November 5, 2013
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Transcript of Understanding Your Nonprofit Technology Needs (November 5, 2013)
Understanding Your
Nonprofit Technology Needs
Leslie Bauer Chief Information Officer
501cTECH November 5, 2013
About Me
q 30+ year of IT experience à Data Entry Clerk to CIO
§ Programmer/Analyst § Project Manager/Executive § CIO
§ Mainframe à Minicomputer à Cloud Computing
§ Government à FBI à Army § IBM à Courts à Unemployment à Sports § Distribution à $12B à Public § Media à $350M à Public § 501cTECH Nonprofit à Technology
501cTECH
q NPower nationwide network was funded by Microsoft, Meyer Foundation, AOL Foundation and the Fannie Mae Foundation § Provide technology support and solutions for nonprofits
nationwide § Later dissolved NPower organizations and cut funding § Name changed to 501cTECH and continued operations
q IT department for nonprofits that serve the common good
q Services include: § Technology Consulting and Services § Assessments § Outsourced IT (Help Desk) § Cloud Computing Migrations
Objectives
q Provide an understanding of technology basics and current trends
q Provide an understanding of advantages and disadvantages to certain solutions and low/no cost options
q Review technology priorities, budget planning and technology resources to help create a technology roadmap
Let’s Break it Down
Technology Basics
q Start with your workstation § Operating system § Applications
• Office 2010 § Excel spreadsheets, Word documents, PowerPoint
§ Data files
q How old are your workstations? • 3 to 5 year replacement
§ Are they up-to-date? § Do they have up-to-date virus protection, patches,
etc.? § Are your files backed up? If so, where?
Technology Basics
q Server § Operating system § Applications
• Email • Quickbooks • Constituent Relationship Management System
§ Data files • Shared files
q How many physical and virtual servers?
§ How old are your servers? § Where are the servers located?
• Kitchen or data center? § Do they have up-to-date virus protection, patches, etc.?
q Are your files backed up? If so, where?
Technology Basics
q Internet connection-Bandwidth § Speed requirements increase with more cloud activity § Must have adequate bandwidth § Minutes to download a document § Size to meet the demands of your business § Productivity loss is expensive § Connection to the Cloud
q Firewall-Security
§ Must have
q Router-Directs traffic
Technology Basics
q Backup
§ Data loss happens § Backup as a Service (BaaS) § Local backup § How long will it take to restore? § Who is responsible for the backup? § What is your record retention policy?
q Disaster Recovery Plan
§ How long to restore one system or all systems? § Data shuttle + Restore time = Long time § Are you using tape? § Benefit of cloud computing
• Somebody else has to fix the problem • Even they have outages
q Business Continuity
§ What will your staff do while you are bringing systems back online?
q How would you rate the stability of your infrastructure?
Technology Basics
q Cloud Computing
§ Network of remote servers hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data, rather than a local server or a personal computer
• Software as a Service, Backup as a Service, Platform as a Service, Infrastructure as a Service
§ Eliminate the need for a local server § Access from anywhere
• Work at home § Upgrades and backups are managed by the provider § Customization is limited § Servers in huge data centers around the world
• Search-Google and Bing • Google Apps and Office 365
§ Extensive security, backup and recovery
§ Do you have a Gmail or Yahoo email account?
Cloud Computing
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Business Systems
q Email § Mission critical § On premise or cloud solutions § Microsoft Office 365 or Google for Nonprofits
• Free to qualified nonprofits § Recovery challenges
q Constituent Relationship Management (CRM)
• Salesforce, Salsa, Charity Engine
q Financial System • QuickBooks and Dynamics • On-premise or in the cloud • Don’t have to upgrade software • Lose some customization options • Not likely to modify w/limited budget
q Software as a Service Option
Cloud Applications
q Document sharing and central repository § Google Doc, Dropbox, Skydrive, or SharePoint
• Pictures, videos, documents and file types § Work offline or in the cloud
q Shared calendar § Doodle
q Video chat and conferencing
§ Microsoft Lync or Google Hangouts
q Share presentations on-line § Webex
Google Cloud Connect
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Google Docs
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Doodle
Doodle
Doodle
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Business Process
q How efficient is your business process? § Do your business applications meet your needs?
q Streamline the Business Process
§ Productivity Improvement § Redundant data entry § Sharing data § Quality
Budget and Strategy
q Do you have a strategic plan?
q Does it map to your budget?
q Does your strategic plan assume growth?
q Does your technology budget support the growth?
q Who is helping you plan?
Internal-Technology Support
q Who is responsible for IT support? § Gatekeeper
• Director of IT or CIO/CTO • Technical staff • Help Desk • Outsourced support
§ Do you have a backup for that person?
• What is your risk if he/she walks? • Co-managed, monitoring, patches, etc. • Back up internal technical resource • No vacation
§ Can you afford to train internal resources?
Technology Partner
q Technology partnerships are important § Internal and external
q Do you have a trusted IT advisor/partner?
§ Internal resources or external partners § Extension of your team § Do they understand your mission? § Do they have deep technical skills? § Help find grants or funders to support your IT
projects? § Help you make technology decisions on a limited
budget
Technology Checklist
q Do you look for technology support in emergencies only?
q Do you have a line item in your budget for technology upgrades and maintenance?
q Are you using technology that doesn’t quite work right simply because you got used to it?
q Do you experience internet connectivity issues?
q Do you maintain your office files in a way that anyone could find what they were looking for—without specialized knowledge of your organization?
q Do you back-up your data? Do you test that back-up?
q Have you ever evaluated your technology and made strategic efforts to improve it?
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Action Items
q Create a short term and long term plan for IT • Strategic Plan or Roadmap
q Budget for IT q Internal or external IT support q Upgrade workstations and servers q Upgrade internet connection q Evaluate cloud solutions q Create or update policies and procedures
Nonprofit Resources
q Organizations § 501cTECH § NTEN § TechSoup § Idealware § Center for Nonprofit Advancement § Nonprofit Roundtable § Foundation Center § Network with nonprofit organizations
q Benefits § Share information § Nonprofit discounts for hardware and software § Free software to qualified organizations § Apply for technology grants with partner(s)
• Veterans programs • Small nonprofit initiative
Do you have a strategy?
Technology must be part of your strategy!
Manage your technology or it will be hard to achieve your mission!
Contact Information
Abigail Goliber Manager of Outreach and Development 202-234-9670 x115 [email protected] Leslie Bauer Chief Information Officer 202-234-9670 x108
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Thank You
Thank you for joining us today!
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