Challenge The 2022 Charity Digital Skills Report underlined the significant increase in adoption of cloud services that the nonprofit sector has seen in the last 2 years. As a result of the pandemic, 82% of charities see digital as a much greater priority, and 83% have begun offering new online services during this period. This…
It’s been a pleasure working with all our customers, partners and colleagues this year, and we wish everyone a well-earned festive break. Smartdesc will be open as usual 8am – 6pm Monday to Friday apart from the following Public Holidays: Monday 26th December Tuesday 27th December Monday 2nd January Next years’ public holidays can be…
According to our partners at the NCVO, charities are at the front line of the cost of living crisis. Supporters are reducing their giving as they control their personal finances, whilst demand for charitable services goes up and inflation increases the costs of running those services. The NCVO are offering support and resources to their…
Microsoft Azure is an incredibly powerful Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform, but costs can quickly escalate if not carefully managed. “Out of the box” default configurations are often over-specified, storage over-provisioned, and backups are missing Surprisingly few organisations optimise their Azure configuration, make use of discounts, or regularly review their setup – meaning…
Welcome to the Smartdesc October newsletter! Smartdesc are NCVO-approved charity sector experts, supporting charities and Not for Profits to achieve more with their technology and modern ways of working. This month we focus on hybrid working, how to win the hearts and minds of your hybrid workforce, and the evolution of the IT department. Resources …
Co-founder of Smartdesc, Adam Monks, discusses how charities can use the momentum of 2020 and 2021 to fully embed a high-performance hybrid workforce with our friends at Hart Square. Challenge The hybrid workforce is here to stay. Truly establishing a high-performing hybrid workforce, through digital enablement, is a prerequisite to digital transformation ambitions. Staff need…
Many charities struggle with laborious processes, pulling data between systems, and manipulating in Excel; it’s time consuming and prone to human error. Process Automation is simple and cost-effective and Microsoft 365 tools are low cost or free. In this case study we talk through how low-cost automation tools that are included in Microsoft 365 benefited…
According to the UK government’s Cyber Security Breaches Survey 2021, a quarter of charities (26%) reported having cyber security breaches or attacks in the last 12 months. The risk is high for all organisations; email (phishing) remains the most successful method. Preparing for what to do should the worst happen is almost as important as preventative…
Many charities and non-profits struggle with ageing servers running old, legacy applications that are too complex to move to the cloud quickly. Microsoft Azure is a great alternative to running your own physical servers or paying for space in expensive Data Centres. The best part is that Microsoft give non-profits $3,500 per year towards the…
Creating an IT Strategy at a charity or non-profit can feel very daunting for some organisations, especially those who don’t have IT expertise in-house. At Smartdesc we help bridge the gap between the business and the technical, and in this video we share some tips and advice on how you can create a IT Strategy…
