Technology planning starts with the work your organization needs to do. Which systems do employees depend on? Who helps when something stops working? Which decisions need attention now, and which can be planned for later?

Foresight IT offers Managed IT Services and Co-Managed IT Support. Explore a support relationship built around defined responsibilities and your organization’s priorities, whether you have internal IT staff or need a fully outsourced model.

Talk about your organization’s IT

Turn technology concerns into a practical priority list

If your organization is weighing competing technology needs, separate immediate obstacles from longer-term decisions. A device problem affecting daily work, an upcoming software renewal and a future program expansion may call for different timelines and different decision owners.

For each item, describe the work it affects, who is responsible and when a decision is needed. Bring that list into budget planning. It gives leadership a clearer basis for discussion than a collection of disconnected purchase requests.

Foresight’s Technology Lifecycle Management service covers planning, procurement, deployment and software management. Connect replacement needs to the work they support and the budget available.

Decide who owns day-to-day IT

If technology questions currently land with an operations or finance leader, make those responsibilities visible. Which tasks need ongoing support? Which decisions need leadership approval? Is there an internal IT employee whose responsibilities should be complemented rather than replaced?

Managed IT Services is the fully outsourced model for organizations without internal IT staff. Co-Managed IT Support augments an existing internal team. The distinction is about who owns the work, not just how many employees your organization has.

Foresight organizes service delivery into small teams, an approach intended to keep the people and context behind a request familiar.

Keep access connected to people’s roles

Where employees, volunteers or outside partners need access to organizational information, identify what each role needs and who approves it. Revisit those decisions when responsibilities change or a person leaves.

If you use donor, membership or program-management software, include those systems in the discussion. Identify which access decisions belong to your organization, which technical issues go to IT and which tasks need the application vendor.

Foresight offers Managed IT Security. Bring those access decisions and information-handling requirements into the security conversation.

Plan for interruptions in terms of the work affected

Start with a practical question: if an important system were unavailable, what work would need to resume first? Identify the information required, the decision owner and the people who would need an update.

Use those priorities to discuss technical dependencies, backups and recovery. Agree on who owns recovery and testing, and what timing the plan needs to support.

Frequently asked questions

Does a nonprofit need an internal IT department to work with Foresight?

Foresight offers both Managed IT Services, the fully outsourced model for organizations without internal IT staff, and Co-Managed IT Support to augment an existing team. Describe who owns IT today and where additional support is needed.

How should we prioritize a limited technology budget?

Start with the work affected, the urgency and the dependencies. Separate immediate operating needs from planned replacements and optional improvements, then compare the scope and cost of each.

Is donor or program-management software included in IT support?

Application-specific support needs to be scoped. List the systems, the tasks requiring assistance and the vendor arrangements already in place. Distinguish device and access needs from application configuration, integrations and training.

What should continuity planning cover?

Identify essential work, the systems and information it depends on, decision owners and communication needs. Confirm who owns backups, recovery and testing, and the recovery commitments in the relevant agreements.

What do we need for an initial conversation?

Bring a short description of your organization, locations, current IT responsibilities, essential systems and upcoming changes. No donor lists, financial statements, beneficiary records or credentials are needed for an initial inquiry.

Make the next technology decision a clearer one

Tell us what your employees need to accomplish, where support is unclear and what is changing in your organization. Start with those priorities and explore the appropriate IT service model.

Talk about your organization’s IT