OVIS Case Study
Enhancing NFP Cyber Security and Supporting Digital Transformation: OVIS Case Study
The Client:
OVIS is the Peel region’s primary provider of family and domestic violence services, supporting the community and people impacted by violence for 35 years. The Not for Profit (NFP) organisation initially began as a crisis refuge and has since grown to a team of 50, offering services including crisis and transitional accommodation, the state’s first therapeutic refuge, and an education program. The footprint of their education program extends beyond the Peel region, covering topics including primary prevention, early intervention, and community response training
The Challenges:
The OVIS team had been working with their Perth-based IT provider for the past four years, and were experiencing issues spanning response time, issue resolution, and service quality. This included substantially higher charges for on-site support, poor responsiveness leading to downtime spanning multiple days, and a lack of proactive guidance when it came to optimising workflows and processes. “It was a real thorn in the side of the organisation because it was holding us back” says Megan McKrill, OVIS’ CEO.
The Impact ICT Difference
Megan first met Lucas (Impact’s Co-Founder and Director) during a Peel Chamber of Commerce and Industry Business After Dark event, where he approached Megan to discuss how Impact’s services could help the NFP. During this time, the team were searching for a new IT provider and had looked at six other options ranging in size and location, including local and Perth-based businesses. Making the right choice was critical as this service uses a substantial portion of the NFP’s funding, and there was a thorough process in place before a recommendation would be made to the board.
Megan passed on Lucas’ business card to OVIS’ Operations Manager, and Lucas and Tom (Impact’s other Co-Founder and Director) had an initial meeting with them before presenting to Megan and OVIS’ Business Manager. They stood out as the front runners with a friendly and clear presentation that prioritised plain English and actively ensured the OVIS team understood what the process was going to look like. Megan says, “It didn’t feel like they were trying to trick us … I confidently went to the board and said look, these are the people that we need. I feel that we’re in safe hands working with them.”
An Effortless Onboarding Experience
When it came to the onboarding stage, Impact supported the OVIS team by taking care of liaising with their previous IT provider. “There was a situation where we had the Internet go down across all our refuge sites, and we couldn’t get the current provider to respond to us. It was really impacting our ability to deliver services, so our Operations Manager rang Impact and said “look, we don’t know what to do.” While they hadn’t signed the contract with Impact yet, Tom came out, called the previous provider, and solved the issue. This minimised downtime, and ensured a more seamless experience.
Enhanced Cyber Security, Proactive Solutions, and Streamlined Processes
The Impact team understood the importance of building the NFP’s cyber security defences to safeguard daily operations and data, and have worked to build OVIS’ online resilience. This included implementing two-factor authentication to provide an additional layer of security.
Another priority was supporting the business’ digital transformation and identifying solutions to match their unique needs, which was an area that had been neglected by the previous IT provider. This has included optimising and automating workflows, facilitating cloud migration, and designing and developing an intranet. Megan reflects, “Impact have really helped guide us in terms of what will support our business.”
Impact has also streamlined processes by becoming the single point of contact for the NFP’s providers in areas including security, printers, phones, and Internet. Megan says, “If the Internet goes down, the phone goes down, or the printer stops working, we just ring Impact and they deal with those third-party providers for us. This has made a world of difference, because there was previously a lot of confusion at frontline staffing levels from “who do we contact?” to “how do we get it resolved?” Now they’ve got the Impact number and email address, and that’s the only details they need.”
Tom reflects, “Our approach has always been to offboard anything technology related to our team, allowing our clients to do what they do best. OVIS is no different, and we’ve been able to alleviate a lot of back and forth by using this approach. It’s really just about putting service back into Customer Service.”
A Commitment to Customer Service and Responsive Support
When it comes to customer service Impact has fit in really well with the team and their office environment. Megan says, “We work in a high stress environment and an IT crisis throws another thing into the mix. They come in and can just work amongst all of that so seamlessly. That has been really important for us.”
Alongside this, the team values the Impact crew’s understanding nature. “Even when things get broken, they’re really understanding and educate staff around why they shouldn’t try to fix things themselves. Coupled with their responsiveness, there really is no need for people to do this.” Consistently responsive support has also provided peace of mind. “A couple of weeks ago we introduced two-factor authentication, and my emails locked me out on my phone. I’m out and about a lot, so that was difficult. I rang Impact, and Jarod (Impact’s Technology Specialist) was here within ten minutes fixing it. In my whole career working with different companies and providers, I’ve never experienced an IT provider that’s so responsive.”
Impact’s commitment to top-tier customer service has ensured a positive experience organisation wide. “Honestly, they should probably attend our work Christmas party because they’re here just about as much as some of our employees. I’ve never had great experiences with IT providers, but they’ve completely exceeded expectations. I didn’t think working with an IT provider could be this easy,” Megan reflects.
Lucas says, “Changing IT providers can be tricky, and it can be a long road to bring things up to date and into line. However, we’ve had a really smooth transition working with Megan and the team at OVIS and they’ve been a wonderful organisation to deal with. They take our feedback on board, and provide us with their own feedback in a very pointed and quick way. We love working with OVIS, and it’s been great to see that our approach to customer service has been a big win for them. We couldn’t be happier being a part of their team!”
