Welcome to the Smartdesc January newsletter. We are NCVO-approved IT experts specialising in the charity sector, enabling nonprofits to achieve more with technology and modern ways of working. This month we focus on how charities can be more cyber secure and offer the following resources: A framework on how to prepare should you ever experience…
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Picture this: Your charity has just been hit by a ransomware attack. Your files are all encrypted, staff are locked out of their computers, and hackers are demanding a substantial ransom to restore everything, otherwise they will release your beneficiary data onto the internet. As scary and unlikely as this may sound, charities are increasingly…
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Welcome to the Smartdesc December newsletter. We are NCVO-approved IT experts specialising in the charity sector, enabling nonprofits to achieve more with technology and modern ways of working. This month we focus on how charities can simplify and consolidate their IT infrastructure, reduce costs and use technology to enable better hybrid working. We recently migrated the national…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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 …
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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…
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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…
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