Customer Solution Case Study
/ / Knowledge-Sharing Solution Helps NGO Lower Costs, Improve Project Management
Overview
Country or Region:Ireland
Industry:International humanitarian NGO
Customer Profile
Concern Worldwide is a Non Government Organisation (NGO) based in Ireland. With 4000 employees worldwide, its organisational imperative is information collaboration both internally and externally.
Business Situation
With an increasing need for improved internal communications and better collaboration with outside agencies, Concern needed a solution that would facilitate the cost-effective exchange of information.
Solution
Working with Microsoft® Services, Concern developed a people-centric knowledge-sharing proof-of-concept system based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 and Office Groove® Server 2007. The solution is undergoing live tests in Asia and Africa.
Benefits
Improved knowledge management
Simplified software requirements
Reduced costs and inefficiencies
Improved tracking and workflows / “Concern’s mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives.Technologyis a key enabler in our drive to achieve a bigger and sustainable impact on poverty.”
Sylvester Murphy, Head of IT, Concern Worldwide
One of the world’s leading humanitarian organisations, Ireland-based Concern Worldwide employs 4000 and has an expanding base of local partners. To carry out its mission, Concern must quickly process information into knowledge that it can distribute to an increasingly diverse workforce and partner base, so that critical information and funding is available when needed. Working with Microsoft® Services, Concern developed a people-centric knowledge-sharing system based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 andOffice Groove® Server 2007. The new proof-of-concept solution has helped Concern improve knowledge management inside and outside of the organization. In turn, that has helped Concern become more responsive and efficient and better able to distribute funds where they are needed most.
Situation
Concern is one of the world’s leading humanitarian organizations, saving lives and helping to build capacity in thirtyof the poorest countries on the planet.The organisation has about 4,000 employees worldwide and a growing number oflocal partners through which it works.About half of the staff require access to computer-based administrativefacilities. Many of these employees are working in third-world countries, some of which lack the necessaryinfrastructure to support modern communications and utilities.
Concern can be called on to respond to emergencies in any part of the world and must have an emergency response team onthe ground within 48 hours. The first step for the response team is to gather facts, assess the needs and complete areport (Concept Note) that may go through a number of iterations outlining the scale of the disaster in terms offinancial, human resource, and program requirements. This is a complex process resulting in a document covering manyvariables that has to be transmitted and approved in various centres located at the disaster site and at otherlocations around the world.
Concern does not act in isolation; it must work with other aid agencies, government, and nongovernment agencies; this adds considerably to the complexities surrounding information dissemination.
The information requirements of Concern are unpredictable in terms of content and must enable people to respondprofessionally to situations. Users need to be able to draw on the organisation’s experiences and collaborate bothinternally and externally.
Solution
At the beginning of this century, Concern developed a new corporate strategy to encompass dynamic information flowscapable of supporting both internal and external rich information requirements. Knowledge management and informationflow was no longer just part of an internal domain but part of a larger inter-organisational structure. A fundamentalrequirement was the ability to ensure that organisational experiences would not be lost and could be reused to maximizeeffectiveness in future similar situations.The value of learning was to be maximized by ensuring that it could betransferred to others.
Greater levels of collaboration were required not just internally but also with outside organisations. Advocacy andpolicy changes drove the need for a closer working partnership with national and international organisations such as theU.N. and E.U.The mechanisms required to reduce poverty require a multi-organisational approach involving manystakeholders,both local and global.
Concern needed to tackle not just the management of a knowledge base and its dissemination across a user base ofthousands, but it also needed share its experiences and knowledge and learn from other organisations. Concern needed to influencepolicy changes at the highest levels in government and international organisations.
Concern required an informationstorage system, information access system, and information distribution system to meet these varied requirements. The tightlyintegrated 2007 Microsoft®Office system enables all of these objectives to be achieved while enabling many areas of costto be reduced.
Working with Microsoft Services, Concern developed a people-centric knowledge-sharing proof-of-concept system based on Microsoft Office SharePoint® Server 2007 and Office Groove® Server 2007. The solution is undergoing live tests in Asia and Africa.
Phillip Fitzpatrick, Solution Specialist at Microsoft Services, says, “Information is of critical importance to any organisation and Concern has enabled its most important business asset, its people, by leveraging information technology.Concern has recognised the strategic importance of information technology and is using it to connect people with the right information and empowering them to use this information to make decisions and take appropriate action.
“The solution developed by Concern, using the 2007 Microsoft Office system, is enabling their people to find, use, and share information, in a timely and secure manner across the globe.”
Benefits
Knowledge Availability
Concern is a knowledge-driven organisation both in terms of its internal communications and its external relations withpeople it helps and organisations with which it collaborates. Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 enables knowledge to be stored,managed, and made available in a controlled manner to meet a broad set of users’ requirements. This is achieved throughthe controlled publication of information to Concern’s intranet and extranet and to theInternet.
Corporate Memory Better Managed
In a situation where crises arise, solutions have to be produced and approved quickly.It is vital that the corporateknowledge accumulated from previous crises is brought to bear on the proposed solutions. The user interface of Office SharePoint Server 2007 enables simple, relevant, and fast access to accumulated knowledge, ensuring that time is not wasted “reinventing thewheel.” These activities are not just confined to internal knowledge as access is also enabled to relevant externalsystems.
Identifiable Cost Savings
The lack of requirements for additional software, such as PDF creation,helped substantially reduce licensing, installation, and support costs. In addition, Office SharePoint Server 2007 supports robust content management and workflow,thus enabling further savings to be achieved.
Compelling Presentation
Concern’s interface with many other organisations involves a high level of communication using rich media that must bepresented in an engaging manner. The tight integration of the Microsoft Office product set helps to ensure that informationcan be made easily digestible.
Better Knowledge Control in Less Time
The tightly integrated Microsoft Office suite of products enables information to be presented in a coherent and timely mannerwithout having to rely on outside specialists, thus saving time and money. The in-house preparation of information alsoenables lead times to be reduced.
Scalability and Flexibility
The deployment of Office SharePoint Server 2007 has enabled Concern to become more adaptable, enabling the organisation torespond more effectively to the changing funding and support environments. The emphasis on funding has moved from adhoc sourcing to a more planned and consistent approach. The emphasis on the relief and development work has shifted tooutcomes and the impact on the environment.
Productivity of Staff
Microsoft Office Groove Server 2007, the collaboration software that helps teams to work dynamically and effectively even if they workfor different organisations, allows remote staff that often do not have access to the servers running Office SharePoint Server 2007 to continueworking remotely and to synchronise information whenever the circumstances require.
Organisational Change
Concern continues to go through a metamorphosis that reflects the rapidly changing environment in which it operates.This is further compounded by the changing role of NGOs with the increased emphasis on outcomes and the need to be moreinvolved in advocacy. Supporting IT systems built around Office SharePoint Server 2007 enable these transitions to proceed withoutadversely impacting on the organisation.
Tracking and Workflow
At any point in time Concern is involved in many projects with very different requirements. These projects must betracked and often synchronized with activities outside the control of Concern. Office SharePoint Server 2007 incorporates manynew features that support the tracking of project steps and the appropriate controls for ensuring adherence to workflowprocedures.
“Concern’s mission is to help people living in extreme poverty achieve major improvements in their lives. Technology is a key enabler in our drive to achieve a bigger and sustainable impact on poverty,” says Sylvester Murphy, Head of IT, Concern Worldwide.
Microsoft Office System
The Microsoft Office system is the business world’s chosen environment for information work, providing the programs, servers, and services that help you succeed by transforming information into impact.
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