All businesses face pressure to make the most from tight budgets. It is charities and non-profits, however, who experience this pressure more than most.
Improving Efficiency and Productivity
With complex governance and shoestring budgets, the third sector needs to make every penny count. System audits offer an effective way of maximising an organisation’s efficiency. In fact, they could be one of the most profitable projects you undertake.
A system audit may not seem like the most effective use of time or resource, but they can be. System audits make every penny spent on IT and systems work far harder. Whilst they may not represent a direct return on investment, they improve efficiency and productivity of the entire organisation.
Preventing a System Crisis or Breakdown
Regular system maintenance is far more cost effective than an entire disaster recovery. If a system were to malfunction, the unexpected cost of repair can be crippling. When it comes to your IT and systems, prevention is far better than the cure.
Not only do system audits help keep your system network healthy, they identify problems before they become critical. Often, breakdowns arise from simple oversights that a system audit would catch.
Maximising the Return on Investment of a System
There are few better ways to improve organisational efficiency than a system audit. By assessing how stakeholders use systems, they often highlight knowledge and skills gaps that you may not be aware of. This ensures that systems meet their full potential, whilst also identifying new opportunities. If you need to improve or modernise a system, an audit will highlight it.
System audits also reveal new opportunities for innovation and integration. By better integrating disparate systems, you can streamline processes and avoid duplicating work. This helps free up resources for more beneficial tasks and improves efficiency.
The data that system audits provide about operations is invaluable when considering investment. It will help prioritise particular systems and identify what needs to be maintained, modernised or replaced. This helps build a clear picture of your system network and the true value of an update.
Supporting Digital Innovation for Charities
Organisations process more data than ever before, with data security becoming increasingly important. One of the more technical benefits of a system audit is that it provides more control of sensitive data. This is even more crucial for charities, who often need to optimise pathways through complex and regulated processes. If you’re thinking GDPR at this point you’re on the right track.
Charities and non-profits are already acknowledging the need to embrace new technology. This will have a drastic impact on how charities operate, internally and externally.
In this way, regular system audits have never been more valuable for charities. Each new innovation presents a new set of questions; ones that system audits can help answer. Only through regular health checks can an organisation be confident in the long-term viability of their systems.
Otherwise, you could find yourself throwing good money after bad – something that charities can ill afford to do.
If you are a charity or non-profit who need support with an external system audit, talk to us today or call us on 0203 281 7342.
