During an assessment by an outside consultant, IT leadership at a large regional nonprofit was found lacking. The leadership deficit caused excessive costs, delays in delivering hardware, software, and data access to new and reassigned employees, and absent or partial documentation of key IT processes and architecture. This negatively impacted application management, infrastructure management, and operations management.
Small but Mighty IT
The consultant suggested a “small but mighty IT” model as a go-forward approach. His strategy included the following critical recommendations:
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- Focus on “basics” to bring policies, procedures, project management, and infrastructure current
- Outsource heavy lifting and operational areas of IT
- Improve uptime and redundancy
- Implement controls and reporting on costs
- Develop a target architecture for enterprise applications
- Improve governance to assist with prioritizing IT resources
- Improve IT help desk and quality of experience for end-users to increase confidence in IT
IT Done Right Always Costs Less than IT Done Wrong
Enter Adam Carreno of ARG to facilitate vendor procurement and the execution of the strategic plan. ARG’s agency model provides access to almost every provider and their experience supporting over 4,000 clients delivers unmatched knowledge of the market.
Once the client confirmed their priorities, ARG began implementing the strategic plan as the consultant worked on the transition to a permanent CIO. The ARG team further flushed out requirements and created RFPs for options. This included rebuilding & replacing existing infrastructure, management of existing environment & migration off-premises, full migration to a clouded environment, data center relocation, MSP evaluation, and air-gapped 3rd party data backup. ARG then managed the RFP and delivered detailed financials, critical data points, and technical specifications on each option to the client.
Making the Right Choice
The decision was made to fully outsource IT functions to an MSP partner. After multiple revisions of the solution requirements and timelines, ARG quickly narrowed the field to identify the best provider solutions to fully support critical business applications and infrastructure. These solutions offer robust server support, network management and support, asset tracking, backup management, vulnerability management, and security testing and training. The solutions also include 24 x 7 x 365 end-user support as well as assistance closing out a backlog of hundreds of support tickets.
The chosen solution provides infrastructure technology advancement and will move the client to a robust enterprise architecture that will allow them to achieve maximum performance, security, scalability, redundancy, and flexibility.
Adam Carreno adds, “ARG is laser-focused on helping organizations make the right technology choices for over 4,000 clients globally. Our proprietary market information allowed us to negotiate over $400k in additional savings for the client, which covers beyond their transition costs.” ARG also delivers a powerhouse support organization to ensure a smooth implementation and that business values are obtained. ARG delivers ongoing support, saving clients time and money while earning a market-leading Net Promoter Score (NPS) of over 70.
Continuity Through Leadership Changes
ARG played a critical role in supplying continuity during the permanent CIO search. ARG’s decision-making framework thoroughly documented the business drivers and expected project outcomes to provide IT Clarity. Working in a documented and thoughtful process allowed the client to meet all critical timelines, despite handoffs at the leadership level.
The new solution, combined with the highly qualified full-time CIO, provides better alignment between line-of-business stakeholders and IT, stability and resiliency, improved helpdesk, and a modernized infrastructure to allow the “small-but-mighty” IT team to focus on business line disciplines, maximizing organizational impact.
Get started finding the right solution for your organization by contacting info@myarg.com.