James Field, Customer Strategy Director at Smartdesc – Charity IT Specialist, discusses how we helped the team at Orbis design an IT Training Programme to equip their staff with a consistent baseline of IT skills, including How to plan IT training for all – doing a gap analysis Building a video training library – a…
Chris Cranie, Director and Co-Founder of Smartdesc shares his knowledge and best practice for charities and non-profits on how to create an IT budget, even if you aren’t an IT professional, as is so often the case at many non-profits. View the video here; Here’s the text version of the interview if you prefer to…
There has been an increase in the number of phishing emails recently and, in particular, personalised spam emails that look extremely convincing. It is important to stay vigilant even with emails that appear to be from someone you know. Here are a few tips on how to identify phishing emails: You will normally be…
Adam Monks, Co-Founder and Director at Smartdesc – Charity IT specialists – discusses how charities and non-profit organisations are planning their communications technology to support a blend of office-based and home-based workers. View the full interview: Or read the following summary: What technologies have worked well during lockdown? Teams, Zoom and online project management…
There is no doubt that the year 2020 put many charities on a steep learning curve with a fast shift to remote working, cloud services and delivery of digital services. The way that organisations adapted was remarkable, and although the challenges are continuing in 2021, now is also a good time to reassess how IT…
Smartdesc remain open and fully operational despite the new national lockdown. If you would like any help, support or advice on how IT and Digital can better enable your day to day functions, please contact us. We can conduct site visits for urgent matters subject to the usual COVID secure guidelines and standards, and our…
IT outsourcing can help charities simplify their IT operations, cut costs and improve their service levels. As with all change projects, the execution is as important as the design. However, outsourcing IT comes with its own set of risks; choosing the right partner is not just about reputation, but also about whether they are the…
Smartdesc will continue to be open and operating as normal despite the second lockdown beginning this Thursday, 5th November. Where site visits are deemed absolutely critical (due to an issue, outage etc.) we can still fulfil these, as long as workplaces follow the COVID-19 secure guidelines. Smartdesc staff will conduct a short risk assessment before…
Optimising Microsoft 365 for nonprofits The last 6 months have been a time of fantastic innovation and lateral thinking around Digital; people have worked extremely hard to keep operations running in the face of adversity. Charities reacted very quickly in March and, as offices were abandoned in apocalyptic style, many ended up dumping data onto…
The Charity Digital Skills Report 2020 The Charity Digital Skills Report is an annual report on the charity sector’s use of digital technology. Produced by Skills Platform, Zoe Amar Digital and Catalyst, the report tracks the skills of those working and volunteering for the charity and non-profit sector. It is a good yardstick on the…
