Case Study - Money Advice and Community Support
This financial advice charity needed help auditing their IT systems prior to a building move. Once volunteer Martin O'Donnell completed the audit he provided on-going advice and hands-on assistance during the move.
Project Summary
To produce a technical audit of the organisation. The aim was to identify, record and test existing equipment, software and systems to ensure our current ITC was adequate for our needs and to help identify and plan for future ITC needs. Recommendations for policies, purchases and reconfiguration were made to ensure the organisation became more systematic in its approach to ITC.
Project Delivery
Martin was given a brief to audit the current set-up. When he finished this he offered to stay on to help with planning, purchasing and installation.
Some time later the organisation had to move premises which meant our ITC needs changed drastically. Martin made considerable adaptations to his work to accommodate our new situation. In addition to making recommendations for our new needs, he helped us carry them through by sourcing, advising and coordinating suppliers. He also helped to move and install equipment.
He carried out the bulk of the project with assistance from some of our technically minded workers. This included working evenings and throughout a weekend to ensure we were "up and running" shortly after the move.
Lessons learnt
Without Martin helping us at a critical time, we would have struggled to afford to change our ITC systems to what we actually needed for the short and medium term and would have relied on the advice of suppliers. We do not have this level of expertise in house and would have needed to employ a consultant.
I cannot think of what we could have done differently because Martin was absolutely key to our successful move. No doubt Martin could think of things he would have done differently if he were asked but from the organisation's point of view, the project was a great success.
Outcomes
- A planned move
- An audit that can be reviewed and updated periodically which assists with ITC planning
- A vast amount of free consultancy and access to impartial expertise
- A vast amount of practical help
- Huge reduction in the cost of moving
- Huge reduction in the disruption of moving. We were able to offer an almost seamless service to our clients
- Increased knowledge of ITC within the organisation
- Continuing expert advice and support. Martin has also helped us upgrade our server and is currently helping us identify a suitable management system and/or database
