SoftwareOne case study

Nonprofit IOCC strengthens collaboration and workplace security to better serve people in need

International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC) is a US-based humanitarian nonprofit that provides emergency relief and development programmes to people in need around the world. With a growing presence and global reach, Executive Director and CEO Constantine Triantafilou knew the time was right to responsibly embrace digital transformation. But how?

IOCC partners with the Orthodox Church and other organisations to deliver humanitarian aid and development programmes to people in need, and to respond to humanitarian crises.

IOOC's goal was to use technology and innovation to enhance the nonprofit organisation's ability to fulfil its mission of serving people in need. Triantafilou explained, “With a lean staff, we were faced with the question of how to turn the corner with technology, both from a security perspective and in the way we communicate, collaborate and share files on a daily basis. How do we best bring IOCC into the modern age?”

Discover how IOCC leveraged SoftwareOne Impact and Digital Workplace services to provide its staff with enhanced workplace security, modern collaboration tools and adoption services to work better together across multiple offices and crisis locations globally.

Client: International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC)
Industry: Nonprofit
Services: Digital Workplace Services: M365 tools implementation, Digital Workplace Adoption, Workplace Security services
Country: United States

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Entering the digital age to serve people in need

IOCC’s goals were three-fold:

Security: Protecting the institution from a cybersecurity perspective, especially in a hostile global environment – from protecting donor data to securely deploying devices in the field.
Internal communication: Shared learning across the institution – facilitating collaboration, rapid replication of successful programmes across markets, knowledge sharing between HQ and field sites.
Programmatic impact: Facilitating field data collection – number of beneficiaries, impact of programmes, telling the story and measuring impact.

As IOCC is heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem, the leadership team approached Microsoft Tech for Social Impact (Microsoft TSI) and asked for a partner to help them with their digital transformation. Microsoft TSI recommended SoftwareOne, one of the first global partners to achieve Microsoft Adoption and Change Management Advanced Specialisation status, with a dedicated SoftwareOne Impact team.

I think a lot of this can be intimidating for people, but it shouldn't be. If you have the right combination of people working together, you can get things done. SoftwareOne brought energy, commitment and excitement to the change management process. They get it – where we're coming from and why we do what we do. It's a partnership where SoftwareOne works with us, not for us.

– Constantine Triantafilou, Executive Director and CEO, IOCC

A woman is helping a boy with his homework.

Opening up new ways of working together across the globe

The depth of the SoftwareOne Impact team and the level of detail in the proposal process gave IOCC confidence that they would achieve their goals quickly.

SoftwareOne worked closely with administrative leaders and boots on the ground to comprehensively analyse IOCC's needs and priorities. The SoftwareOne Impact team then executed this multi-phased design by deploying Microsoft Digital Workplace tools and workloads to achieve the identified objectives. SoftwareOne provided professional implementation services for the Microsoft 365 productivity suite:

Microsoft Teams was used to unify all communications, conferencing, and collaboration between office and field staff.
SharePoint on-premises was migrated to Microsoft SharePoint online and optimised to meet IOCC’s specific file sharing and collaboration needs.
Microsoft Intune was deployed to manage all of IOCC’s corporate devices, users, and Microsoft applications, adding a layer of security and management to IOCC's extensive device and application infrastructure.

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SoftwareOne provided adoption and change management services to ensure that technology updates did not disrupt the business, but empowered employees to do more. And with SoftwareOne's help, IOCC leveraged Microsoft's donated Microsoft Office 365 Business Premium licences and discounted nonprofit licenses to provide financial assistance.

The change management part was a huge benefit, because it addressed our question of how to change institutionally in a way that would bring everyone along. This whole process has taken us to a different level institutionally, so that we can compete on multiple levels.

– Katrina Straker, Director of Development and Communications, IOCC

In the midst of the full roll-out of the newly implemented technology, war broke out in Ukraine, causing massive displacement as refugees fled the country. IOCC stepped in, working with partners on the ground in Romania and Moldova to help refugees arriving from Ukraine. Thanks to the implementation of Microsoft solutions and Digital Workplace Adoption services from SoftwareOne, IOCC staff were able to:

Collaborate and coordinate across countries and time zones far more efficiently than before.
Improve device security, allowing the team to work in the field with less risk of cyber‑attack.
Begin to capture and communicate the full impact of IOCC programmes in terms of beneficiaries, as IOCC works towards a fundraising goal of $1 million to fund these activities.

With SoftwareOne, our data is more secure than ever, and my team can talk and work together across countries and time zones. With our new collaboration tools, we have been able to mobilise more quickly around the world, especially in crisis areas. Right now, this means that our new digital collaboration tools are supporting our work in and around Ukraine. We are so grateful for the vision, support and guidance of the SoftwareOne team.

– Constantine Triantafilou, Executive Director and CEO, IOCC

Nonprofit IOCC strengthens collaboration and workplace security to better serve people in need

Entering the digital age to serve people in need

Opening up new ways of working together across the globe

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Could you benefit from a similar service?

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