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
- Our Chief Executive, Adam Monks, discusses ways in which charities can optimise IT to establish a High Performing Hybrid Workforce in this article; click here to read the guide.
- See how National Mind have recently undergone a large and successful IT Transformation Project to implement hybrid working, retire all physical servers and move 100% to cloud infrastructure – read the Case Study here.
- Smartdesc work in partnership with Microsoft’s Tech For Social Impact team, to help charities gain the value from Microsoft’s modern workplace applications. They’ve created a helpful Guide for Business Leaders to navigate the questions and challenges posed by hybrid work and include a practical approach to working through them. A recommended read for all colleagues that are helping embed the tools, processes and most importantly the culture of successful hybrid working. The 5 trends they discuss are:
1. Employees have a new “worth it” equation
2. Managers feel wedged between leadership and employee expectations
3. Leaders need to make the office worth the commute
4. Flexible work doesn’t have to mean “always on”
5. Rebuilding social capital looks different in a hybrid world - Does your organisation maximise the use of the Microsoft 365 Business Premium license? If you’re under 300 staff, it is by far the best value (£4.10 per user per month) offering all the device management and security features most charities need. Even for larger orgs, you can still allocate 300 seats, then blend with E3 and E5 to keep your license spend as lean as possible. This eBook from Microsoft sets out the core feature and benefits of this all-in-one subscription.
Smartdesc are Microsoft Cloud Partners and fully qualified in Microsoft Azure & 365. We will ensure your infrastructure is reviewed and adjusted to ensure it is in an optimal state, from Best Practice, Cost, and Risk perspectives, and make sure it stays that way going forward. Speak to us to find out how we can greatly improve the end user experience when staff work in a hybrid model.
