Case StudyNon-profit Organization Discovers Value of Managing IT Systems Wirelessly

Company: Atlanta Union Mission runs six facilities that offer shelter, meals and recovery programs to people in need throughout Atlanta, Georgia, as well as several thrift stores that raise funds for the mission’s programs.

Industry: Non-profit

Region: Americas

Company Size: Small Enterprise

Email Environment: Microsoft® Exchange

Type of Solution: Network and Systems Management

BlackBerry Partner Solution: Mobile Admin from Idokorro

Business Challenge: One lead person keeps the IT systems functioning smoothly for this busy Atlanta mission. Finding a way to maximize efficiency was a priority and led the Mission to consider the wireless management of their networks.

Solution: The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution™ was deployed with Idokorro’s Mobile Admin software. Mobile Admin on BlackBerry® devices helps with the management, maintenance and monitoring of key network systems – from any location.

Results:• Maximum use of limited resources • Faster response times• Cost-effective communication • Peace of mind

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The Challenge: Stretch IT Resources and Improve Communications

A non-profit organization faces the same IT challenges experienced by any corporation – but they face them on a limited budget. Atlanta Union Mission relies on one very busy IT director and a support person to manage its key systems.

These mission critical systems include 150 email accounts and 12 IBM® servers. Key aspects of the Mission’s business are handled on servers that manage clients, process donations and control accounting. If one of them has a problem, clients wait for a response or the IT team must work in off hours to find a remedy.

Stephen Vancza, the Mission’s IT Director, saw a way to improve things. He discovered the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution and the ability to manage his network systems from virtually anywhere over a wireless network. If he could troubleshoot system issues on-the-fly, he felt he could enable a small team to handle the workload of many.

Vancza also knew his executive team would benefit from BlackBerry devices. The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution is an all-in-one approach that allows users to easily manage their phone calls, email, contacts and calendars on-the-move.

“A lot of our executives were using cell phones to communicate, which isn’t very effective,” says Vancza. “The ability to manage email and run applications on the BlackBerry device makes it multi-purpose and cost-effective, which is important to us as a non-profit organization.”

Why BlackBerry?

The ability to securely run a network management application on the BlackBerry device was a key factor in choosing the solution. The BlackBerry Mobile Data System™ is the feature of the BlackBerry Enterprise Server™ that enables applications to securely establish network connections behind the firewall. By using the existing secure connection, applications for BlackBerry devices can easily communicate with application servers.

All this was good news to Vancza who had been struggling with a remote system he had developed on his own. Using an interface kit for his cell phone, he connected his cell phone to his laptop and used it as a modem. When he needed to fix something, he would boot up his laptop and use his cell phone-modem to tunnel into the company’s systems.

“It was a really time-consuming approach,” says Vancza. “I used up my battery life very quickly and my cell phone bills were horrendous.”

Once he looked into it, Vancza found there was no comparison to the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution. “BlackBerry has the best push technology on the market for email,” he says. “I liked the way the platform worked and particularly the way you could use the BlackBerry Enterprise Server to push out policy and service books. I knew that the ability to provision devices over-the-air would save me time – because I could manage everyone’s devices from the server without having to sit with them.”

Case Study: Non-profit Organization Discovers Value of Managing IT Systems Wirelessly2

“When the Help Desk alerted me to a problem, I sometimes had to drive the 30 minutes back to the office. Now, I can have a system up and running in less than 10 minutes using my BlackBerry device and Mobile Admin.”

~STEvEn vanCza, Atlanta Union Mission

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Partner Profile:

Company: Idokorro• Serves a global customer base of more than 1,000 corporations with mobile IT management solutions • Products such as Mobile Admin for Novell Administration and Mobile SSH allow IT administrators to monitor, maintain and manage their networks with their BlackBerry devices • The results for their customers include: streamlined operations, decreases in costly network downtime and accelerated response times

Featured Product: Mobile Admin

application Type: Network and Systems Management

Business value: “I chose Mobile Admin because it had all the features

I was looking for and I knew it would run smoothly on the BlackBerry device. Idokorro also gave great service. They were very responsive to me during the trial period and followed up with me after I had installed the system to offer me support.”

~ STEvEn vanCza, Atlanta Union Mission

For more information, www.idokorro.com

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Discovering the Advantages of Remote Systems Management

Vancza researched the marketplace before choosing Mobile Admin and was convinced by its features and fit with his infrastructure. “The nice part about Mobile Admin is I didn’t have to open up specific ports in my firewall,” he says. “The authentication is also really good.”

When you’re the sole IT resource, it’s challenging to try and be in all places at all times. The ability to troubleshoot technical issues from any location has helped Vancza increase his effectiveness. “Now I’m able to respond a lot quicker and keep things running smoother,” he says.

Vancza now manages many typical IT procedures while mobile, rather than having to be at a computer. Some of these tasks include:

• Administering four servers, including the finance server, domain controller, terminal server and mail server• Rebooting systems and servers• Reviewing event logs• Adding or deleting new email accounts

Mobile Admin proved itself while Vancza was on vacation. He was alerted that the mission’s primary domain controller had shut down and was not authenticating user names. No one could access their applications. Vancza was able to direct everyone to log off their PCs while he rebooted the server from his BlackBerry device. Within minutes, the problem was fixed. People went back to work and there was no need to call in extra IT help.

“This solution basically keeps me calmer,” says Vancza. “I would worry about taking time off if I didn’t have it. Or I would worry about who was acting on my behalf while I was gone. Everyone has their own way of doing things – and I like to know that my servers will stay the same way I left them.”

“Mobile Admin on my BlackBerry device means I can manage my systems when I’m away without having to depend on someone else. I can now fix 98% of the problems that come up without having to be at a computer.”

~STEvEn vanCza, Atlanta Union Mission

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BlackBerry Makes a Strong Business Case

Justifying the investment was one of the major considerations when Atlanta Union Mission chose the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution. As a non-profit organization, it must show the utmost care in spending publicly donated dollars.

Vancza says the ability to equip the Mission’s key teams with wireless communications was an essential part of their business case. The Mission’s CEO, COO, thrift store manager and facilities manager were all given BlackBerry devices to use for phone, email, contacts and calendar.

The result was a more effective team that could communicate quickly and handle the Mission’s business. “When we replaced our cell phones with BlackBerry devices, we started quantifying the ROI in terms of how it affected our cumulative, personal productivity. It has made us all more responsive and productive to the needs of the mission – and that’s a cost-effective argument.”

Vancza can even point to times when sending a quick email has helped use the Mission’s resources better. He and the facilities manager often have overlapping roles if something goes wrong with a system at one of their buildings. The problem could be IT related; it could be electrical. In the past, they received calls from the Help Desk that didn’t affect them and delayed the response time.

“The Help Desk now sends an email to our devices about a trouble ticket,” says Vancza. “It used to take up to 24 hours to work out which department was responsible. Now we can exchange a few emails, and we can decide who’s responsible in a matter of minutes.”

Maximum Use of Limited Resources: The BlackBerry Enterprise Solution extended with Idokorro’s Mobile Admin helps a small IT team to juggle many responsibilities, without hiring more people or working long hours.

Faster Response Times: Problems identified by the Help Desk are identified and fixed faster, leading to fewer interruptions in service and better IT service to the Mission’s clients.

Cost-effective Communications: Replacing cell phones with BlackBerry devices gave the Mission’s executive and management team a better way to communicate. Their increased productivity benefits the mission’s guests and makes the BlackBerry Enterprise Solution a cost-effective choice.

Peace of Mind: While away from a desk, or on vacation, there is less need to worry about the ability to solve problems. Mobile Admin can be used to fix most typical network and systems issues – easily and from virtually anywhere.

Results:

For more information on solutions for BlackBerry, visit www.blackberry.com/go/success

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