Budgets are often tight which creates challenges when it comes to achieving compliance with increasingly complex cybersecurity obligations. Many of these organisations rely on volunteers to support them but volunteering has declined significantly in Australia. Before the pandemic, about 36% of Australians volunteered. That figure is now around 25%.
NFPs and purpose driven organisations can use technology to amplify their impact. Steve Dawson, the CEO of managed service and security provider ONGC Systems, says the right technology can make a massive difference.
“These organisations are looking for ways to maximise and measure their impact. They need to show donors and other funding sources that the money they invest makes a difference. Platforms like Microsoft Azure and Microsoft Fabric help us to give NFP and purpose-driven organisations the systems they need.”
With security, AI and automation at the top of mind for organisational leaders, understanding where to start and where the best ROI can be achieved is critical. This is why partnering with experienced experts is so important.
Cybersecurity complexity
Cybersecurity compliance is complex as regulations become increasingly rigorous. This is often an area where the NFP/for purpose sector struggles as finding a place to start can be overwhelming. But choosing an integrated software, like Microsoft Azure, ensures that data and applications are working from a robust platform.
Dawson says, “There are many service providers out there selling solutions. But, for the NFP/for purpose sector, knowing which services are right and integrating them with existing systems and platforms leads to confusion. These organisations need a partner that understands their risks and business needs to create a right-sized solution.”
Children’s Hospital Foundation was unsure about whether its cybersecurity posture was fit for purpose. By working with ONGC, they developed a 12 month improvement plan that delivered measurable results in just 90 days. The program leveraged ONGC’s Reach Secure package which includes Managed Cyber Security and Managed IT services.
Creating an employee-centric workplace
With volunteer shortages prevalent across the sector, creating a technology stack that uses intelligent automation, supported by AI where appropriate, can reduce the need for voluntary and paid staff to carry out repetitive tasks. This frees them up to work on more engaging and higher value work.
Ecosure has a bold mission to improve the ecosystems of 100 million hectares and 1,000 island worldwide by 2030. Achieving this means being able to collect, share and use data by getting it into the right people’s hands.
“Prior to working with ONGC, we had a really disconnected environment,” says Phill Bracks, the CEO of Ecosure.
By using Microsoft 365 Business Premium with Microsoft Azure and PowerBI, Ecosure has been able to vastly improve operational efficiency and effectiveness. While it hasn’t changed the nature of the work, it has delivered significant benefits.
“The ability for us to get single point of entry for data capture, the workflows to point that data to the right people to make decisions is huge,” adds Bracks.
Unifying all IT under one banner
Many organisations labour through managing different relationships and partnerships for different IT needs. This leads to silos that don’t interoperate.
Working with a service provider, like ONGC, that offers a full suite of services including cloud services, cybersecurity, and AI and automation means the walls between those silos are broken down. With the robust and reliable infrastructure provided through Microsoft Azure, leveraging Microsoft Fabric as an underlying data management platform, NFPs can ensure they deliver reliable services.
ONGC is also able to offer better value as it can aggregate the needs of multiple customers so it can offer bulk licensing deals, through Crayon, one of its key distribution partners, to minimise costs for customers
“We pride ourselves on being to address the end-to-end technology needs of our customers. ONGC believes it is the partner of choice for the NFPs and purpose-driven organisations in Australia. We are driven to supporting these companies, not just through the services we offer but through the over $900,000 in donations and discounts we have supported our partners in obtaining,” says Dawson.
NFPs and purpose-driven organisations who are looking to start their AI and automation journey can start their engagement with ONGC with a free AI and Automation Readiness Assessment.
