Cloud: What Every Charity Leader Should Know 2013

Terry Stokes Lasa CEO ForewordWithin the next 2 years, there will be no more conversations about whether or not to choose a cloud service as a solution. The fact that your organisation’s data is hosted remotely and not sitting on a server in your building will be irrelevant. It will just be the norm. The work we have been doing over the last 12 months includes a report released in January looking at Charities’ use of ICT, and our Charity Digital Leaders Report in November - both these and other recent research back up the idea that the majority of services will be delivered via the internet very soon. A recent survey by Lasa and Partners highlighted that 67% of respondents employed no staff to maintain technology. Cloud solutions could offer these organisations a life line to more stable, secure and up to date technology infrastructure, together with saving money.

Lasa’s Cloud Toolbox, a new resource, can help charities decide which tools could work best for their organisation Lasa Cloud Toolbox In the same way that Google apps or Dropbox has widespread acceptance, the next step is managing the move of our data and finance systems to the cloud. The key to success here is asking the right questions of suppliers, can you access your data when you like?; is it regularly backed up?; clarity before commitment equals good due diligence. Our knowledgebase can help with the right questions.

Thank you to all the contributors to our Cloud: What Every Charity Leader Should Know 2013 Report, this innovative way of pulling together individual’s knowledge enables us share wide expertise with our Sector.

Contributors

• Sylwia Presley - nfpvoice.com - barcampnonprofits.comsylwiapresley.com

• Morgan Killick - MD of ESP Projects Ltd• Graciano Soares – Jisc RSC London• Lewis Atkinson - CEO, Community IT Academy• Matt Collins - Digital marketing consultant @charitychap• Damien Austin-Walker - Head of Digital- vInspired• John Easton – Distinguished Engineer at IBM• Philip Anthony – Co-op Systems • Allen Gunner – Aspiration• Josh Hoole – Partner Manager – Communities 2.0• Kate White – Superhighways• Annalise Hoehling Publications Director - NTEN

• Chad Calimpong – Marketing Director- Global Online Search at Dell

• Sarah Parker – MD Lamplight Database Systems• Stony Grunow – CEO Third Sector IT• Paulette Elliot – MD Huduma Ltd.• Polly Gowers OBE – CEO and Founder Every Click• Miles Maier – ICT Development Consultant – Lasa• Lucy Gower - @lucyinnovation• James Leigh – International Marketing Co-ordinator –

Salesforce Foundation• Richard Butcher – Workplace Live• Sian Basker – Technology and Strategy Research

Consultant • Richard Cooper – CTT

Think outside of the cloud……

Experiment. Sylwia Presley

Sylwia Presleynfpvoice.com

barcampnonprofits.comsylwiapresley.com

@nfpvoice/@barcampnfp/@presleysylwia

1. Use free tools to save money – do not spend money on the cloud if you do not have to! Start with free software, free trial versions of cloud tools. Investigate sponsorship options and get in touch with the software providers for discounts or free version of their tool.

2. Invest in smart training - use video tutorials available on-line, create a data base of useful links and smart training plans to save time on training,

3. Find the agent of change, choose initial tools wisely – start small, use tools that are crucial for your team and help their current work, only then you will be able to gradually introduce other, more complex tools; find an agent of change internally before you invest in 3rd party providers,

4. Think outside of the cloud - experiment with the cloud for all departments, simplify processes and access to your data, open up silos and reward collaboration

5. Do not trust technology… – always back up all the data you store in the cloud, choose tools providing you with the data backup/download option,

6. …Trust your team and your cause – do not promote the use of the cloud tools for the sake of it; ensure the new tools and processes make sense and help you reach your goals faster. Avoid slang - explain the benefits of the cloud to your team in simple terms and let them drive this shift.

Keep Your Feet on the Ground!• DON’T LET THE TECHNOLOGY LEAD YOU!

Work out what your needs actually are before looking at solutions.

• GET ADVICE! From those who know about Cloud AND Non-Cloud systems, to avoid ‘one-eyed’ recommendations.

• INFRASTRUCTURE IS KEY! Any cloud solution still requires reliable computer hardware, networks and internet connections.

• FEW CAN PROSPER WITHOUT IT SUPPORT! Cloud does not change this maxim.

• DON’T BELIEVE THE HYPE! There’s a lot of it about.. buy technology because it works for you, not because it is attractively marketed.

• UNDERSTAND & COMPARE COSTS! Seemingly low monthly charges often stack up over time, or with increased usage. Account for ‘transition’ costs too.

Morgan Killick, MD of ESP Projects Ltd, IT Consultants to over 100 Charities. Web: www.espprojects.co.uk Twitter: @espprojects

A definition I like: “Cloud computing is a model for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources […] that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction” (in JISC infoNet extracted from the US National Institute of Standards and Technology)

Embracing cloud as part of your organisational strategy: Any charity (of any size) starting today should think cloud first as a key part of their strategy. Any document, presentation, database or spreadsheet that you would normally create and keep in a computer can now be done purely online. And what is more, it can be immediately and securely available to everyone in your organisation to read, edit, and improve.

Incorporating cloud into your leadership: My work at the Jisc RSC is advisory, but in my role as Chairman of Breacc (www.breacc.com) I have first-hand experience of leading change through cloud computing. Google Apps feature highly in the management of our charity. Jisc Inform Issue 35 gives an idea of how the question of whether to cloud or not to cloud is approached: http://www.jisc.ac.uk/inform/inform35/Stairway.html

What have you always wanted charity leaders to know about cloud that is relevant and important to them? Taking staff with you is essential. Investing in cloud requires the relevant investment in people to ensure your cloud solution delivers.

Graciano SoaresRegional Managerwww.jiscrsc.ac.ukJISC RSC London

But like anything: Never under estimate set-up costs and the importance of risk assessment; know your service level agreements; fully understand the risks (e.g., where is the data stored? Is the company selling you the contract the same delivering the service? Sometimes, these are done by services based in different countries with their own legal frameworks.

Trust – putting data in the cloud can be seen in the same way as putting your money into a bank. It is their job to take better care of it than you can (backing up). It is true to say that other people may be able to see it (for administrative purposes) but what is the likely risk of someone hacking into to your information?

Collaborations – the cloud can help you share and collaborate on documents (sometimes in real time). Funding bids can be quickly circulated and the current version easily maintained after any changes.

Costs – The cloud can be “free” for small scale use but in IT you get what you pay for. A functional, supported and integrated system will cost in terms of money, staff resource and training to make the best use of it.

Can reduce costs – especially when shrinking (replace server and/or specialist IT support costs).

Pros, cons and risks – Changes to working practice and policy need to be made in tandem with any changes to systems (IT included). Proper planning and a phased migration is as essential in this respect as with any other business decision. An exit strategy should also be considered.

It can require a leap of faith

Lewis AtkinsonCEO, Community IT Academy

What you should know about the cloud17,000 memory sticks are left in dry cleaning every year. Your organisation's data is safer in the cloud than on hardware, which will eventually get stolen or lost. Leave security to the experts, and focus on your vital work.

Your team is everyone. Platforms like Google Drive and Evernote allow multiple people to edit documents simultaneously. Collaboration is now the default. Open up your planning, strategy and implementation plans to anyone with an interest. Let them comment and contribute. You'll be amazed at the results.

Infrastructure is a millstone round your neck. Those noisy servers are expensive to buy, maintain and fix. Rent file space online instead, using Dropbox or Drive, and leave the maintenance to the experts while you get on with saving the world.

The cloud can help you deliver your service to millions. Young people have two states - online, and asleep. There are millions of people, young and old, looking for your help online. Use Google Grants to draw their attention, buy cheap online chat, message board and other functionality, and give them that help.

Work from the sofa in Switzerland. Storing your CRM on Salesforce and your email, calendar and documents in Google Apps means everything is accessible on your smartphone, iPad or laptop, anywhere in the world. The world is your office.

Matt CollinsDigital marketing consultant@charitychapwww.charitychap.com

The Cloud

damien@vinspired.com @b33god

Agility: Avoid upfront costs of traditional licenses and software - quick to setup, easy to maintain. Monthly subscriptions mean you only need to pay for current needs and can scale up and down accordingly.

Innovation: Many clients on a cloud platform means software updates and upgrades can share feedback and innovations from peers

Mobility: Many cloud software services have free apps so employees can work easily from anywhere on their tablets or mobile

Collaboration: The trend for collaboration between organisations and locations can better be taken advantage of with tools hosted on the Internet

Fault Tolerance: Cloud services are built on a distributed architecture of servers; fault tolerance and redundancy are high

Data Protection: Data hosted in the EU is protected and regulated by the 2003 EU Electronic Communications Directive, and the EU directive on Privacy. No different from the UK. If sensitive data is involved check your compliance requirements - but assess risk relevant to your use

Security: Hosting should meet and have been accredited ISO9001 and ISO27001 security framework standards. The industry accepted benchmark and also the security levels required for UK Government use of Cloud services

this slide was produced in the cloud

11

Cloud is just another way of delivering and consuming IT; nothing more. There is no 'magic' happening here!

Cloud service providers deliver standardised services. If you want it in "green" and the provider offers it in "blue", either choose another provider or accept you can't get what you want from a cloud.

Understand where the data is going to be stored and what legislative frameworks you are subject to

First and foremost, clouds deliver agility. However that agility is only realised if the business processes change to reflect that increased agility.

Turn it off! If you are not using a service, turn it off or you will continue to be paying for it!

Don't just think of cloud in terms of IT - the cloud approach (rapid provisioned, standard service, pay-as-you-go) is extending into many other areas too

John EastonDistinguished Engineer

UK Cloud Technical Leader leader JKJ@uk.ibm.com

•Bandwidth – Without good internet connections, cloud services can be miserable. Broadband providers make a lot of phoney claims about performance, so get anecdotal evidence not only on speed but, equally critically, reliability

•Office365 familiarise yourself - Its hard to avoid Microsoft and their cloud based version of Office will be widely used.

•Windows 8 – This version of windows is now targeted firmly at tablet and smart phone users as well as PC to provide a consistent platform to access cloud services. You will use it in some form, the only question is when.

•Cloud based backup – Not quite the seamless solution that was promised. Make sure data is backed up legally , properly and can be restored!

•Cost per user per day – Many cloud based models are charged on a subscription basis. Charities usually run on-site kit over seven years. Compare the costs in fine detail.

•You need to be “in it to win it” – Its important to try stuff out, or risk being left behind.

Philip Anthony

Co-Operative Systems www.coopsys.net

020 7793 0395

Good Connectivity : Better Cloud

Follow the “Hollywood Marriage” rule

Nothing lasts forever; assure you can get your data out and find new tech love

Allen Gunn, Aspiration

The Cloud from Both Sides, Now► Calling it “The Cloud” is misleading

The reality is a densely fragmented patchwork of services, models, credentials

► “The Cloud” offers real benefits, but much remains unresolved Benefits: New collaboration, Open-ness, availability, efficiency, mobility Unresolved: Unified online identity for orgs, open standards, control of data

► Most cloud solutions are uniquely unleveraged relationships Cloud providers hold too many cards; better checks and balances are needed

► Your DATA is your digital power Putting data in the cloud raises rather than lowers the stakes on protecting it, If it really matters, keep up-to-date versions locally, along with a Plan B

► Aspiration's cloud fatalism: Follow the “Hollywood Marriage” rule Nothing lasts forever; assure you can get your data out and find new tech love Follow “pre-nup” thinking and get in writing the terms of future separation

► “The Cloud” is in diapers Don't trailblaze – model on others' successes Don't make big bets yet; time will tell & teach

Allen Gunn, Aspirationgunner@aspirationtech.org

Twitter: @aspirationtechaspirationtech.org/publications/manifesto

This material licensed Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5+

•Get Strategic with Your Social MediaDon’t just leave your social media engagement to the youngest person in the office, align it to your business; communications and fundraising strategy and engage with your online community intelligently, creatively and professionally

•Measure, Measure, MeasureMake use of the free tools to measure and analyse your social media success. Adapt you Social Media strategy and activity based on measured facts & data instead of guess work.

•Every Cloud...There are plenty of lovely no-cost or low-cost cloud tools available that do just one thing REALLY well. Eventbrite for event management & ticketing, DropBox for file sharing and storage, Evernote for collaborative note taking, sharing and storage. Do your research and it will pay off.

•Permission to Play Trust your staff and give them permission to explore technology tools in order to experiment, innovate and create solutions that lead to reduced costs and increased productivity

•Preparation and Planning for PerformanceCarry out a full ICT audit of your organisation and use this to help inform where you need to be heading in terms of future technology. Once you know what you’ve got and where you want to go you can carry out an ICT Review to help plan how technology can support your business aims in the future. Josh Hoole

Partner Manager Communities 2.0

josh.hoole@pavs.org.uk

Cloud for smaller groups• Don't be afraid of it or put up unfounded barriers • Find support to help you understand and identify the benefits

for your organisation• Plan and build it into all you do - whether it's a full migration

or implementing a few online tools, it will:– open up new & exciting ways of working & delivering

services– allow greater efficiencies & potentially cost savings– support better communications & collaboration– help you extend your reach & demonstrate your impact

• It is already here and is your future!

Kate White - Superhighways - 020 8255 8040 - Katewhite@superhighways.org.uk

http://www.nten.org/research/cloudreport/downloadhttp://www.nten.org/research/cloudreport/download

Annaliese Hoehling, Publications Director, NTENwww.nten.org@NTENOrg

• Investigate – Before you adopt anything or sign up with a cloud computing provider, you need to make sure that you have taken the time necessary to thoroughly explore your options. Educate yourself and your staff on what the cloud has to offer and what you hope to accomplish with it. Will the cloud help you accomplish specific business outcomes? Are these objectives reasonable? As a part of this process, you should lay out a tentative timeline for when you hope to move into each cloud stage.

Experiment – The idea behind this step is that you probably shouldn’t move all your resources to the cloud at once. Test the cloud in limited ways—see how the technology works for you in the context of your business processes and make plans to adjust if necessary. Stay in this step for as long as it takes for you to feel confident enough to move forward to full implementation.

Adopt – Now that you are sure that the cloud will work for your business, you are ready to widen your use of this technology. Begin shifting resources to the cloud in an organized manner. Be sure to assess after each transition to make sure you are still on track. You may want to consider other ways that the cloud can help your business grow and create new opportunities.

Chad Calimpong is Marketing Director -

Global Online Search at Dell

The cloud can change the way your organisation uses its data to understand itself and collaborate with other organisations

• Easy - Keeping your data in the cloud means you can share reports and crucial information with your partners in real time.

• Efficient - The cloud means that there doesn't need to be the "data entry person". Everyone you need to can enter and access data in the system making it faster, more accurate and more useful.

• Secure - Instead of sending important or sensitive information by email, post or using USB keys you can selectively share data securely with your partners.

• Open - The cloud makes it easier to open your data up, not only to partners but to funders, donors, researchers and data analysts who can use it to tell you more about how your organisation is working and where you are placed within the sector.

• Insightful - Data in the cloud means you can make use of the Open Data already out there, pulling in insights and information others have compiled directly and building on what you do.

• Profitable - The improvements in efficiency, insight and transparency that the cloud enables will strengthen your funding proposals and reports to stakeholders.

 

Sarah Parker, Managing Director Lamplight Database Systems Limited www.lamplightdb.co.uk @lamplightdb

Data in the cloud: collaboration and exploration

Top-Down Approach. Successful implementations are led or sponsored by senior members of the organisation and it helps when management explain why and how new systems will be introduced.

Culture Change. Preparation via Change Management Processes are crucial as technological changes can impact any aspect of an organisation; from strategy and operations to staff morale and constituent engagement.

Training! Training! Training! Consider on-going allocation of time and resources for staff at all levels (the top-level training a manager may receive will vary significantlyfrom that of an IT analyst or a marketing executive). Factors like IT skills (strengths andweaknesses), whether any generational gaps or accessibility issues exist should be includedin the implementation plan. In-house user groups and developing specialist knowledge centres amongst staff goes a long way to maximising adoption at low cost.

Keep it Simple & Phase IT. Complicated designs are often unnecessary when first implementing your CRM and can hinder user adoption. Don’t try to do it all at once; prioritise the organisation’s greatest pain point. Promote successes across the organisation to increase buy-in.

Stony Grunow, CEO Stony@thirdsectorit.org

Relationship Management (CRM) in the Cloud The Costly Issue of User Adoption

Relationship Management (CRM) in the Cloud The Costly Issue of User Adoption

Cloud: What Every Charity Leader Should Know Highlights of significant trends• Reducing costs for IT infrastructure (hardware & software) by adopting cloud services• Using virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) for safer and secure access to files and sharing company data with mobile/remote workers

Important facts to know about Cloud Services• Research your cloud options, ensure they meet your business requirements (i.e., software as a service (SaaS), platform as a service (PaaS), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), private clouds, public clouds, hybrid clouds, community clouds)• Know what type of cloud services and applications are right for your organisation (i.e., business productivity, data storage and backup, security, email, CRM, helpdesk, consultancy, managed services)• Source or have the right skills and expertise to manage your cloud service providers relationship and cloud migration projects• Know what is the best service model for your organisation and ensure service providers has service level agreements to meet your organisations needs (i.e., staff training and support, compliance level agreements, security, privacy and backup policies)

Paulette Elliott, Managing DirectorHuduma Limited : www.huduma.co.uk

Its reducing our costs and our IT headaches…….

Polly Gowers OBE, CEO and FounderEvery Click

•Why we are moving Give as you Live, which is growing @ 15% a month, to the cloud:•The cloud will scale with us•Its reducing our costs and our IT headaches•Its increasing collaboration amongst our team leading to greater productivity •Our growing team can “be in the office” from any location•Its enabling us to dramatically increase our BI capabilities•Its safe, secure and provides full disaster recovery facilities •AND there is no capital expenditure

Polly Gowers OBECEO and Founderpolly@everyclick.com Direct Line: +44 (0) 1386 764930Mobile: +44 (0) 7778 956 734Fax: +44 (0) 870 005 5055

What charity leaders need to know about Cloud services - but didn’t dare ask

• Be clear about business outcomes – is your driver cost reduction or the ability to be more agile and responsive?

• Total cost of your cloud solution may not be cheaper in the long run- actually its moving from capital to operational expenditure.

• Identify key business processes suitable for outsourcing to the Cloud – email/calendar, databases, accounts, shared files and documents.

• Due diligence – who’s doing the hosting, how big is the company, what disaster recovery do they have? And what’s their liability if it goes wrong?

• Data Protection – not necessarily a deal-breaker, but try to look for UK/EU hosts - privacy rules are more stringent than in the USA.

• Sort the “kids from the adults” – even well known cloud services like Microsoft 365 are in their relative infancy.

• The Cloud is not a Panacea, you will still need product support and maintenance.

Miles Maier – Lasa – mmaier@lasa.org.uk @lasaict

Leave your assumptions at the door • Cloud technology is relatively new jargon in the charity sector. Don’t be afraid to research, ask

experts, question and challenge so that you really understand the term and can make recommendations and decisions from an informed perspective.

• Put all your assumptions aside about ‘how things are usually done around here’. The way we work is changing, we can work from anywhere across a range of devices. We don’t have to work from the office any more. Communication and project management tools, for example Google docs, Skype and Basecamp allow your staff the flexibility to work from anywhere.

• The world is constantly changing your solution for today may not be fit for tomorrow. Cloud technology is often free, quick and flexible. You can try something to see if it works, and if it doesn’t you can try something different. It is often open source so many developers are working to make constant improvements. They do the upgrade so you don’t have to.

• Fundraising is about building relationships. Using cloud technology can connect supporter networks to your cause and show them the difference they are making. Networks between different communities can develop via social media sites that share information, conversations, images and videos, which strengthen relationships and brings networks together.

• Innovation is about working in collaboration, and is often described as ‘connections put together in a new way’. Cloud technology facilitates many people working on projects together. I’ve developed and presented a Prezi presentation with someone on the other side of the world. Without cloud technology that wouldn’t have been possible.

Lucy Gower - @lucyinnovation - E: lucy@lucyinnovation.co.uk - T: 07919 173 042 - Skype: lucy.gower3

Why Cloud apps for nonprofits

Cloud Computing is

the Future

Richard Butcher WorkPlaceLive

www.WorkPlaceLive.com

• 70% of organisations have some form of cloud computing - a trend set to continue

• Cloud computing and in particular hosted virtual desktops supports remote and flexible workers, improves IT performance, reduces operating costs and provides a platform for growth and innovation

• Opting for a privately managed cloud computing service can be more secure than the previous local server set-up.

• Charities including London WorkBased Learning Alliance, Oakleaf, Catch 22 and others have shown it’s possible to cut costs by 30% by moving to the cloud.

Cloud Gazing for Leaders...

Sian Basker, Technology Strategy and Research Consultant sian.basker@virgin.net

CTT: What every charity leader should know about cloud

• Forget the word ‘cloud’, every supplier has one. Look at the service provided and evaluate it against what you need as an organisation.

• Cloud technologies can increase your organisation’s reach, effectiveness and flexibility very rapidly. CTT can operate without having an office so we are still effective in the snow, during the Olympics or when there are riots outside our front door.

• Cloud services can give you access to some of the most powerful technology available. But you still need the right skills to make it deliver effectively for your organisation.

• Evaluate security carefully. But remember, the big suppliers probably have more people working on this than you have in your whole organisation.

Richard Cooper is CTT’s Director of Programmes and has worked in IT for over 25 years. He is currently focused on helping not-for-profit organisations access and exploit technology to further their missions.

We’d love to hear what you think.

•We’re inviting anyone in the sector who’d like to get involved in this issue to contribute.

•What have you always wanted charity CEOs to know about cloud? How can charity trustees, directors and funders embrace cloud in their thinking around organisational strategies? And how should charity leaders incorporate cloud into their leadership?

•Tweet @lasaict with your thoughts using the hashtag #lasacloud

•This report was compiled by Sarah Lord Soares.

•For specific information on the knowledgebase

•www.ictknowledgebase.org.uk/internetbasedsoftware

•To find out more about the ways in which Lasa could help you and your organisation please see www.lasa.org.uk.

• For Lasa’s technology services see http://www.lasa.org.uk/ict/

•All images have been credited where possible. If a photo to which you own the rights has been used and not credited, please contact us.

•Thank you to Charity Comms and Zoe Amar who inspired this report with their previous initiatives.

Thank you to all of our brilliant contributors.