At the heart of every non-profit is a mission: to serve, uplift, and be a lifeline in vulnerable times. But for a Boston-area homeless shelter, fulfilling that mission was often slowed by the realities of stagnant technology, antiquated on-premise equipment, manual processes, and high staff turnover. For years, the non-profit carried on their vital work with tentative fixes and little IT strategy. Our partnership with this shelter is a story of transformation, told through the lens of technology and the lives it quietly helps elevate.
The Challenge
In addition to operating the emergency and transitional shelter, staff and volunteers served meals, provided access to on-site counseling and medical care, and managed post-shelter casework—using IT that was patched together. Important client intake forms lived on paper; collaboration meant emailing documents back and forth; and a single server tucked into a storage closet was the fragile backbone of it all.
Making the Case for Change
The shelter had always found themselves at the bottom of the priority list with IT companies, carrying on their vital work for years with tentative fixes and little IT strategy. When they reached out to Nessit almost a decade ago, we agreed to work with them on a break-fix basis. With virtually no IT budget, we made upgrades only when absolutely necessary–and put out fires (like the time their server went down because someone accidentally knocked the cable out). We made a steady case for the benefits of fully Managed IT each year, but finding the funding was difficult so the status quo remained.
It was a change in leadership that finally put a spotlight on the problem. The new team recognized how outdated and inefficient the IT systems were and asked for Nessit’s help making a case to the board. The big question: how to upgrade the infrastructure end-to-end without overwhelming the nonprofit’s budget?
After an in-depth conversation about their workflow, we helped quantify the hidden costs of inefficiency and risk, from data security vulnerabilities to the cost of hours lost in device setups and manual onboarding. We also understood that the shelter couldn’t flip a switch and transform overnight, so we proposed a five-phase, multi-year approach that spread the costs out over time. The board gave the green light.
Nessit’s IT Solution
With an 8–12 month timeline from the initial approval, we accomplished the following, with additional phases planned to continually strengthen their IT environment.
- Improved Security: migrated intake and case-management forms to accessible, digital documents stored securely in the cloud. Sensitive client data is protected from privacy breaches.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Full SharePoint adoption so multiple caseworkers could collaborate on the same files remotely in real time, reducing version confusion and duplicate work. Client files are updated using a shared system, so information doesn’t get lost in email threads.
- From Closet to Cloud: On-premise servers eliminated with migration to the cloud. Provisioning and deploying workstations is now cloud based, and accounting has shifted from desktop software to QuickBooks Online.
Result: No more urgent calls when cables are knocked loose.
- Efficient Onboarding & Offboarding: Streamlined and templated recommissioning so new devices, existing devices for new users, and new user accounts are set up consistently and quickly. Nessit now manages all turnover for the shelter’s 50+ employees (including full time, part time, and volunteers). We reduced the process time from 6-8 hours to 1 hour, while offboarding 25 users and onboarding 29 to date.
Tangible savings: staff turnover averages 15-20 employees a year and by streamlining the onboarding/offboarding process Nessit was able to cut their user change expenses by a tenth.
Looking Forward: Building on Progress
Beyond the immediate time and cost savings, the work ripples through the organization and the broader community. Our managed IT services make employees’ jobs easier, so they can focus on their clients–and not on the technology. Staff who are not IT experts no longer have to troubleshoot issues; volunteers can access secure resources without complicated workarounds; and managers can hand off device setup and decommissioning.
When the board said, “You’ve solved the last five years of problems. How do we solve the next five?” our answer wasn’t a single fix. It’s a roadmap with strategic, continuous improvements centered on security, accessibility, and operational simplicity so the shelter can focus on what it does best—helping the people who need it most.
Technology alone won’t end homelessness. But when it’s done right, it becomes a force multiplier. This shelter serves thousands of people every year, and their modernized IT infrastructure means staff can devote more time to every individual who walks through the door. For a nonprofit that measures success by people housed, meals served, and lives transformed, that’s a big win.
Talk to us about how we can help make your organization more efficient with managed IT services.
