Nonprofit organizations using IT shared services?

I am very interested in gaining more information on nonprofit organizations that use IT shared services....  I would like to know which nonprofit organizations use shared services for their Information Technology needs. 

Also, how does IT shared services compare to outsourcing, in regards to costs and benefits?

The subject of shared services was mentioned in a thread about a month ago.  It seems like a good idea, to me anyway,  but I suspect that finding the right person and gaining the necessary degree of cooperation from multiple agencies might be tricky.

As for outsourcing, I seem to remember reading a document that claimed about one third of non-profits in the Los Angeles area (or was it San Francisco?) outsourced their IT support. 

The practicality of outsourcing depends on several factors, especially the organization's size and the network's complexity:

The smallest of organizations simply can't afford skilled IT support.  However their needs are usually minimal and their few computers might not be networked or even mission-critical.  Semi-skilled, volunteer support is hopefully adequate.

The largest organizations have enough IT needs to support the cost of a full-time professional, or even an entire department.

In my experience, it's the "in-between" organizations with maybe 10-40 workstations and 2-3 servers, requiring 6-12 hrs of work per week, that benefit most from outsourcing their IT support.

Hope that helps.

-ENO

I like this model but it seems it is not well established. What I found from the research I did is that outsourcing is the norm. My feeling is that a shared services model could significantly reduce cost but the logistics and management would not be trivial......we use outsourcing and the cost / benefit is acceptable. We have 55 workstations and 6 servers.

I would like to hear more about this subject.  I'm a 1-man IT shop for a small conservation non-profit, and we need to cut costs (who doesn't these days).  I saw that thread a month ago and it stuck with me.  Now I have a chance to pitch it to the staff and Director.  There are 3-5 other small, one-site, conservation non-profits in the area who are all struggling with their IT - they need it but can't afford a dedicated person.  I'd propose centralizing everything here and charging them a fee that would be less than a  typical outsource.  That way we can lessen our costs while still being able to provide services, plus replace H/W and S/W as required.

Mike,

Judging by the lack of responses, I'm guesing that the shared-labor model isn't very common.

It might be that doing it as an employe of one of the organizations rather than as an independent contractor (like me) might subject the project to far more bureaucratic issues from insurance to vacation accrual to legal risk to whatever else. 

But I still think it's a good idea and worth pursuing since it would appear to benefit all concerned.

-ENO

I've been wanting to post a response but haven't had the time to think this one through for a response.

I am a one man IT department for a mid size non profit, we sell 25% of my time to another non profit 9 miles away from me.  In total I am the sole support for about 120 PCs, network, servers, and WAN infrastructure for both organizations.  We've been doing this for a little over 5 years now.  My first thoughts for considering this option.

1.  Be a full time employee for one organization, now you have one executive over you to mitigate issues and be available for a final decision.  This also provides you the opportunity for health benefits and vacation benefits, (as an employee you won't necessarily be concerned about AR, billing, payroll and other office expense.

2.  Be sure expectations are set and understood, If another org gets 3 hours a week support from you, not all projects will be completed in one week, minor troubles may have to wait a week or two.

3.  If you are the IT person for this position or if you are hiring for this position, consider applicants with a broad field service back ground that supported multiple customers in their former life.  Each org will have a different personality, management, politics, and work flow.  If you are not adaptable in supporting multiple environments, this could become very frustrating.

4.  Don't over extend how much will be shared, such as commingling servers, data, purchasing, until you know the relationship is working smoothly.

4a.  Do explore common things when possible, one style of smart phone from one vendor would be easier to support than 5 different smart phone models from 4 different carriers.

5.  Do create a shared services agreement between the primary and secondary organizations. 

Dave

Thanks, I appreciate the input.

Great points.  I'd thought of some of them, but not others.  Thanks!