Promise Made, Promise Kept with IT Management

Computers made Marnie’s job easier for a while, but as more technology was added, she spent more and more time troubleshooting issues and working with software and hardware vendors to find solutions to their problems. It became very apparent that their IT needs outstripped Marnie’s abilities and interfered with her main responsibilities as financial manager.

“We got to the point where it was like I was going to have to get a computer degree if I was going to get any farther with computers,” said Marnie. “That’s not my talent.”

Fully Managed IT Made Sense

In an effort to ease Marnie’s IT burden, West End started to bring in VC3 to help them with a few aspects of IT. They were hesitant, however, to outsource all their IT needs with all-inclusive services because they didn’t think they could afford it. Reality was that they couldn’t afford not to.

“We realized that not only do we need to keep upgrading, we needed some kind of plan and somebody to guide us because we really didn’t know what to buy or how to configure it,” said Jed.

Not only that. When Jed and Marnie went to a seminar held by VC3 on data backup and disaster recovery, they learned about the implications for not being able to continue operations in the event of a disaster like a data breach, a fire, or even an act of nature. It scared them and that’s when they decided that it made sense to go with VC3's all-inclusive IT services.

Many Benefits of IT Services Includes Cost Control

West End Family Counseling has received many benefits since partnering with VC3 for IT services and support for their non-profit, starting with the ability to better manage their risk with effective backup and recovery procedures and having a reliable network. They no longer have to try to be experts in IT because VC3 provides the guidance they need to keep their systems up-to-date and to make wise decisions about investments as technology evolves.

As a non-profit, West End is extra sensitive about the money it spends. Having fixed costs means that they can budget for IT and get all the help they need without being nickel-and-dimed by unexpected costs. Jed knows that he’s getting great value for their money, too.

“I visited an agency that’s similar to ours and they had an in-house IT person. First question I asked was, ’How much does that cost you?’” said Jed as he related a recent conversation. “The CEO calculated it in his head and came up with $100,000 if you include all the benefits. I didn’t say a word. I felt really smart.”

One-Person IT Isn’t Less Expensive

Jed knows that relying on one person for IT isn’t really less expensive and can lead to more vulnerabilities and dependencies that aren’t sustainable in the long run.

“We’re a non-profit community-based mental health center,” said Jed. “Every dollar that we save on information technology is another dollar that’s available for the services we provide to the community, and VC3 gives us full value. No doubt about it!”

Daily Life for Staff Improved

As Marnie manages the finances for West End, she certainly appreciates the value that they receive from VC3's services to keep operations running efficiently and enable staff with the technology they need to support their work helping the community. For Marnie, it’s also personal.

“I no longer have to do IT,” said Marnie. “That was my promise, that I would not have to do IT, and they take care of all of it for us now.”

Promise made. Promise kept.