Worksheet3 Reviewing your ICT
Reviewing your ICT | 3.2
As well as the diagnostic analyses, most of the Collaborate pilot clusters had their ICT systems reviewed by a specialist consultant provided by HACT.
the importance of ict
The reason we included this review as part of the project was that previous resource-sharing initiatives (in particular, SWiM) had found that ICT was a key area of concern for many small/medium voluntary organisations. It was no surprise to find that the same applied to the Collaborate pilot groups, and that it formed part of the programme for three of the four clusters, and a major focus for two of them.
This is an area where it is much more difficult for groups to carry out a diagnostic approach on a self-help basis, and it is worth casting around to see if there are any sources of free or cheap expert help that could be enlisted.
ict assistance
As a result of the ChangeUp initiative, all parts of the country are now covered by a regional ICT Champion. This person would be a good initial port of call.
Other possible sources of help vary from area to area, but include Business Link, Business Action on Homelessness, REACH and local further education establishments.
basic it standards
This microsite contains a downloadable checklist of basic benchmarks against which members of clusters can compare their ICT systems: Basic IT Standards For Small & Medium VCOs. The benchmarks are based on standards which most small firms in the commercial sector would regard as the minimum required for running an effective business.
It would be worth checking how your ICT systems compare against these standards. While this is no substitute for having an in-depth review carried out by a technical expert, it might at least flag up whether there is a big issue here for members of your cluster. Try not to be too disheartened by the results – out of twelve organisations in the Collaborate 2 project that had an ICT review, only one had systems which met this basic standard.