Do you have a technology tool that just isn’t working? How do you get at the root of the issue and find solutions?
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Matching Business Processes and Nonprofit IT
Sometimes IT staff and directors and executives get really into the cool details of their technology tools without considering the whole organization needs and tolerances. And sometimes executives and leaders want to change IT tools on a whim, where that IT tool is deeply embedded in the functions of the nonprofit organization, and the change impacts all the stakeholders greatly, but none of them were consulted.
How can you reconcile those two aspects and do a better job of matching business processes and nonprofit IT? What are best practices in assessing your organization needs and matching them to the available technology tools, thoughtfully making the selection (usually in a hurry and under budget and staff constraints), and then implementing your tool with lots of communication and staff training?
Unfortunately there is no magic bean to fix this tension – but CEO Johan Hammerstrom shares some of his insights and experience gained in over 20 years of serving nonprofits with well-managed IT.
Don’t ever look at a technology problem as just a technology problem..
Johan Hammerstrom, CEO Community IT
If you zoom out enough, technology problems are always part of a larger business problem. It’s really hard to make progress on fixing technology problems if you just have that very narrow focus on the technology itself.
The more you can zoom out and understand the broader context for the technology problem, the more you can frame it as a business problem for the organization, the more effective you are going to be at addressing it.
At the end of the day, it may seem to you to be a really big technology problem, but it may actually be a relatively small business problem. So trying to look at what constitutes the business problem around the technology solution will help you to get better perspective on how much of a problem this really is to the organization. You may be right that it is a huge technology problem, but if you look at the larger context and it turns out it’s not a huge business problem, just let it go – because you’re not going to get anywhere trying to change that.
Listen to CEO Johan Hammerstrom in conversation with Carolyn Woodard on when a technology issue is a big business problem or a little business problem, and how to tell the difference.
Some Key Takeaways:
- Business problem aspects of nonprofit IT
- What’s the price? What are the cost investments? What are the costs to inaction?
- Who are the people who are impacted by this technology solution?
- What was the decision process when the technology was chosen?
- What is the decision process to choose a new technology now?
- Sometimes staying with sub-optimum technology solution is the decision that best matches the business needs of the organization.
- Every “untouchable” ancient IT solution that only one person knows how to keep running actually CAN be replaced. Many vendors for server-based solutions – if they are still in business – will help you move that tool to their cloud-based subscription. If the vendor is no longer in business, that function can definitely be replaced – and should be replaced – with a modern, secure, solution.
- Your people are the most important component of your technology. Plan for redundancy. When the one person who does something – a single point of failure – leaves your organization, the small business problem can become a huge business problem when the system they ran comes to a halt. Prepare ahead if you can. If you can’t, that is your opportunity to modernize your technology – and rest assured there are technologists out there who can help you make that upgrade/rescue your process.
Presenters
Johan Hammerstrom’s focus and expertise are in nonprofit IT leadership, governance practices, and nonprofit IT strategy. In addition to deep experience supporting hundreds of nonprofit clients for over 20 years, Johan has a technical background as a computer engineer and a strong servant-leadership style as the head of an employee-owned small service business. After advising and strategizing with nonprofit clients over the years, he has gained a wealth of insight into the budget and decision-making culture at nonprofits – a culture that enables creative IT management but can place constraints on strategies and implementation.
As CEO, Johan provides high-level direction and leadership in client partnerships. He also guides Community IT’s relationship to its Board and ESOP employee-owners. Johan is also instrumental in building a Community IT value of giving back to the sector by sharing resources and knowledge through free website materials, monthly webinars, and external speaking engagements.
Carolyn Woodard is currently head of Marketing and Outreach at Community IT Innovators. She has served many roles at Community IT, from client to project manager to marketing. With over twenty years of experience in the nonprofit world, including as a nonprofit technology project manager and Director of IT at both large and small organizations, Carolyn knows the frustrations and delights of working with technology professionals, accidental techies, executives, and staff to deliver your organization’s mission and keep your IT infrastructure operating. She has a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management from Johns Hopkins University and received her undergraduate degree in English Literature from Williams College.
She was happy to have this podcast conversation with Johan Hammerstrom on matching business processes and nonprofit IT. Find more resources on Nonprofit IT Leadership here.
Ready to get strategic about your IT?
Community IT has been serving nonprofits exclusively for twenty years. We offer Managed IT support services for nonprofits that want to outsource all or part of their IT support and hosted services. For a fixed monthly fee, we provide unlimited remote and on-site help desk support, proactive network management, and ongoing IT planning from a dedicated team of experts in nonprofit-focused IT. And our clients benefit from our IT Business Managers team who will work with you to plan your IT investments and technology roadmap if you don’t have an in-house IT Director.
We constantly research and evaluate new technology to ensure that you get cutting-edge solutions that are tailored to your organization, using standard industry tech tools that don’t lock you into a single vendor or consultant. And we don’t treat any aspect of nonprofit IT as if it is too complicated for you to understand. When you are worried about productivity, change management, and implementation of new technology, you shouldn’t also have to worry about understanding your provider. When matching business processes and nonprofit IT, you want a partner who understands nonprofits.
We think your IT vendor should be able to explain everything without jargon or lingo. If you can’t understand your IT management strategy to your own satisfaction, keep asking your questions until you find an outsourced IT provider who will partner with you for well-managed IT.
If you’re ready to gain peace of mind about your IT support, let’s talk.
Transcript coming soon!
Photo by Nick Seagrave on Unsplash