In the rapidly evolving landscape of telecommunications, there is a crucial date that charities should be aware of: the switch-off of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) in December 2025. This transition will mark a significant milestone in the journey towards fully digital communication infrastructures. After this date, all traditional copper phone lines will cease…
In 2023, the UK government published two reports that were important for the nonprofit sector – the NCSC’s Cyber Threat Report: UK Charity Sector, and the Cyber Security Breaches Survey. These reports share common themes around the importance of authentication, security updates, updating firewalls, and crucially, Cyber Essentials as a useful framework to help protect your…
Welcome to the Smartdesc February newsletter. This month, we share guidance around Microsoft 365 Copilot and how to prepare at your organisation, including a blog, webinar and more. We also share our upcoming LinkedIn Live on how to reduce IT team workload with good ITSM. Free charity IT resources Microsoft have made Copilot for 365…
*Registration now closed* Would you like to get to know your charity tech peers in a friendly, relaxed setting at Microsoft’s London office? Join us on Thursday 13 June 2024 for drinks, nibbles and networking for charity leaders, in partnership with Microsoft Tech for Social Impact. We are thrilled to have Vicki Thornton – CFO…
As part of our commitment to the local and global environment, Smartdesc have been working in partnership with World Land Trust (WLT) to offset our unavoidable carbon emissions. We are proud to announce that we have been awarded their Carbon Balanced Certificate. So, what does this mean? Using the Carbon Calculator created by WLT, we…
Join us on Thursday 18 April 2024 at Microsoft London for our next quarterly Charity Technology Roundtable, alongside Microsoft Tech for Social Impact. The topic of this roundtable will be Microsoft Copilot and how you can get ‘AI ready’ at your organisation. We will run through a demo of Copilot and discuss key areas such as:…
Welcome to the Smartdesc January newsletter. This month we share our annual Charity Leaders survey, advice on how you can use ITSM to improve your IT function, a guide on preventing data breaches, and more. Free charity IT resources Our annual Charity Technology Leaders survey is now live! Complete our survey to have your say on…
The charity sector has undergone significant transformation in recent years, with digital acceleration, shifts in working models, and increasing pressure on internal IT resource acquisition and retention. This has necessitated a rethinking of IT Service Management (ITSM) within the sector. In this article, charity IT specialists, Smartdesc, and ServiceNow’s nonprofit team ServiceNow.org share their advice…
Data breaches are a serious threat in today’s digital age, especially for nonprofit organisations. While much attention is given to high-profile cyber attacks, internal staff members sometimes mishandle personal data in their care, creating a digital nightmare. One of the more common data breaches involves unauthorised access to databases containing sensitive service user information. These…
We are excited to announce that as of today, Microsoft have made Copilot for 365 available to all organisations, removing the minimum order requirement. What does this announcement mean for organisations like yours? Until now, Copilot for 365 was only available with a minimum order of 300 seats, a 3 year commitment and a waiting…
