Long time nonprofit technology consultant Deborah Elizabeth Finn has a good post on Technology trends in the nonprofit and philanthropic sector.
I particularly like the post because nowhere in it does she use the word "cloud." Cloud technology is just a way for organizations to run better - the parts real people care about are not the "cloud" but how the cloud supports what you want to actually do.
I also like it because she links to NetSuite's Hairball Institute for Business campaign, which seems to resonate with the charities I talk too that are trying to do things like get their time sheet data combined with their grants management data and into their financial system so they can correctly allocate expenses to the right programs and grants.
She identifies three trends that are key to evaluating cloud based solutions for nonprofits.
6. When you buy software, you’re paying for the privilege of being a beta tester. Whenever possible, you will be better off letting some other organization be the beta tester.
We're all adults, we can just accept that all software comes bugs. The key is making sure the utility of the software counterbalances it's challenges. In the case of donated NetSuite software, you might not be paying to be a beta tester, but there will be a bug experienced here and there. The difference is how a vendor can make this process as painless for the customer as possible:
Hot, Fast Fixes. Cloud solutions allow vendors to push out fixes to software overnight without customer intervention. This leads to quicker fixes and a far better experience for the customer. Ask your vendor how many fixes they pushed out to their live customers last week - big cloud vendors like NetSuite push out changes all the time.
Real Support. Can you talk to someone to get a clarification or identify a problem & get it fixed? That's why we include support with our grants.
7. The line between building and buying a technology solution will get more fuzzy.
This is a trend that I think nonprofits don't really understand. Most modern cloud solutions make available multiple layers of configuration and customization to customers and partners. Though most nonprofits may not code solutions to their problems (they should leave that to vendors & consultants), there are a wide range of "fixes" to your unique problems that can be done with "clicks not code." At NetSuite, we are a leader in this movement with our SuiteFlex platform & especially our new workflow tool.
8. The benefits of an integrated suite of applications will be significantly decreased if the suite isn’t interoperable with key applications provided by other developers.
There is truth here, but organizations have to be very careful. We often run into charities that MUST integrate with Blackbaud Raisers Edge. They just can't imagine a single system could handle their financials & fundraising. Dig a little deeper and they actually don't use 80-90% of Raisers Edge functionality - meaning the integrated suite can meet their needs. Why again is the integration a MUST?
At the same time, we've run into organizations with very valid reasons Raisers Edge is a MUST - they don't want to retrain staff, pay for data migration, they use Raisers Edge best of breed features. In those cases, most modern solutions can easily integrate with key applications - but there is always a price tag - the question is whether an organization can afford to build, maintain and/or manage integrations. Did you know NetSuite integrates with Salesforce, Raisers Edge and more?