IT Solutions for Nonprofits – Why engage with a managed service provider?

A guest post by our partners at CloudScale 365.

When you work for or manage a nonprofit organization, you are usually limited in resources and need to do multiple activities internally or by yourself. Often you need to fight IT challenges, which are vital for your organization’s success and security. Some of them are data security, scalability, staying compliant and meeting certain regulations. And we all know that budgets are limited in this type of organization and recruiting an internal IT specialist can be an expensive task.

Managed service providers allow nonprofit organizations to leverage innovations, IT teams and cloud services without having to pay for the costs that internal IT teams or their own infrastructure will require. As a nonprofit organization, you need to focus on your key activities and focus on your mission, while an experienced IT service provider takes care of your IT processes and needs.

How Do Managed Services Providers Work?

According to Gartner, a managed service provider (MSP) delivers services, such as network, application, infrastructure and security, via ongoing and regular support and active administration on customers’ premises, in their MSP’s data center (hosting), or in a third-party data center.

Short and clear. But this is the core value a managed service provider can deliver to your NGOs. You can treat an MSP as an external partner or as an extension of your core team, which handles end-to-end your needs. Starting from the delivery of hosting or cloud environment for your website, or funding page, going through helping you for setting up emails, ensuring email security, configuring data backups and many more. All these activities can be handled by an MSP. And the most significant advantage is the pay-as-you-go method and the fact you get services on demand at the moment you need them with no delays.

CloudScale 365 and BackOffice Thinking have established a reliable partnership through the years, working on multiple projects together. Having proven to provide reliable IT solutions for nonprofits who use CiviCRM and to deliver innovative and reliable IT solutions. As a new-age MSP, CloudScale 365 deliver the full range of services a nonprofit may need.

The IT Needs of Modern Nonprofits

The nonprofit sector tends to operate on tight budgets, so the cost of up-to-date technology can seem prohibitive. But the use of modern technology can improve efficacy, and help nonprofits deliver better on their mission. All this justifies the investments in technology.

If we need to review the IT solutions for nonprofits we can divide them into two categories – infrastructure needs and technology tools needs.

Talking about infrastructure, we can list the following:

• Secure hosting or cloud environment
• Reliable email service
• Data backups and business continuity plan
• Compliance readiness

In terms of technology tools you need to have in place we can list the following:

• Content Management System
• CRM Software in the cloud
• Donation Software
• Email Marketing Solution
• Social Management Tool

Technology as a Force Multiplier

According to NetChange’s long-running survey of technology use by nonprofits, only 11% view their organizations’ approaches to digital as highly effective. Comprehensive technology assessments provide insight into where existing processes are inefficient. It is a fact that automation with technology and collaboration with an experienced MSP, who can help you to digitize manual processes can help you achieve more with the existing human power in place. This is especially valid when we talk about data entry and management, data processing, combining information from various sources into a single platform, etc.

Key Areas in Which an MSP Help Your Nonprofit

There are a few key areas in which a managed IT solutions provider can help your NGO. We list them below:

Data Security – Nonprofits are managing tons of information, huge part of which is sensitive. From donors’ financial information to personal details like social security numbers and more. You need to ensure that your CRM system is secured in the cloud. When it comes to online security, your IT service provider needs to be prepared to protect you from data breaches or cyberattacks. Something hard to achieve internally without skillful security experts. Secure IT solutions for nonprofits are a requirement.

Instant Scalability – In situations where you run online campaigns, you must ensure your website or donation page can handle the increased traffic and interest. MSPs provide valuable help in achieving this, by building the proper infrastructure behind your project and taking care of its scalability.

Specific Compliance Solutions for Your Unique Situation – Nonprofits need to cover specific compliance requirements and meet regulations. A provider with experience helping NPOs can offer valuable advice on how to respond to these regulations. This is particularly important if a nonprofit deals with any health information (typically protected by HIPAA) or wants to accept payment cards (governed by PCI compliance).

Immediate Access to Resources on Budget – You need to overcome an IT challenge or have an IT situation which requires immediate help. Your MSP provider is there to assist. No need to hire internal IT experts and spend on salaries. Get on-demand help, which fits into your budget.

Our Partnership with CloudScale 365

We partner with different companies we know and trust, who have valuable information for our readers. We get your technology set up, update it when needed, and provide ongoing support to the organization. This post was submitted by CloudScale 365 who provides secure hosting to keep our clients CiviCRM databases performing as they should. Together, BackOffice Thinking and CloudScale365 focus on the technology, while our clients focus on their mission.

More from Cloudscale 365

Why Choose Cloudscale 365 as your NGO’s Innovation Partner

We know that todays work is global, social, and mobile. And NGOs are not an exception. They all need a reliable partner to take care of their IT infrastructure and to enforce the latest technologies in their favor. As one of the pioneers in the IT & Cloud industry, CloudScale 365 has expertise in the digital transformation field for non-government organizations.

• You grow your NGO, and they protect it in the best possible way by being a Tier 1 Microsoft Cloud Solutions Provider.
• You reach more of your global stakeholders while they take care of online security, accessibility and protection of your data, operations, and resources.
• You can support more meaningful causes while they deliver solutions that help you optimize costs and become more productive.
• You work on your core mission, while they stand by you without interruption taking care of detecting problems, resolving issues, and ensuring operational continuity.
• You embrace innovation while they take care of replacing your legacy IT solutions.