Failure was imminent. There were 4 of us on the call as ‘advisors’, experienced IT and business professionals.
We all felt empathy. The staff at the large nonprofit organization we were trying to help were clearly overwhelmed and uncertain on how to proceed.
The organization has a great mission. One that the four of us and the staff all believe in and support. Their work impacts the people who go through their programs, their families, and their communities.
The organization’s goal is to double the number of people they serve in the next three years.
Here’s the problem. They can’t do it.
Not because there aren’t enough people who need their help. Or because they don’t have the skills to help them.
It’s because the organization’s IT infrastructure is so dated it’s holding them back.
As the nonprofit grew, there was never any strategic vision as to how technology would evolve with their growth. Like many companies that have been around for more than the last 5 years, their IT strategy didn’t develop, and they haven’t thought about how to strategically use technology as an accelerator in helping them to scale.
As a result, they have a fragmented IT infrastructure. New software was bought by department heads, even though similar software licenses had already been purchased by other departments within the organization.
None of these systems are connected. So there isn’t a single source of truth. And that makes having accurate data, and reporting, incredibly laborious. That frustrating work doesn’t do much for team morale either.
And not having accurate, real time dashboards and reporting makes data-driven decisions challenging and slow. It leads to missed opportunities in terms of ways to accelerate growth as well as identifying inefficiencies and optimizing them sooner.
Sound familiar?
We haven’t even yet touched on the biggest risk they face with outdated systems. Security. Have you ever heard of a security issue NOT being costly?
Interestingly, a recent RevOps Champions podcast guest, David Pflum, shared his story, which was the exact opposite.
David is the President of DriSteem, a manufacturing company that makes humidifiers for commercial HVAC systems.
He shared that when he arrived at the company, he realized that they had an ERP system with a lot of data in it. So he thought, “What can we glean from it? And it starts easy. Who are our customers? Why are they ordering? How often are they ordering? Do they reorder? Where are they from?”
Asking those questions led him to wanting to see reports. But not physical reports. Digital versions that he could access from cloud-based software anywhere he happened to be. They give him real-time data that enables him and others to make decisions.
As an engineer, David has an advantage with innovation. Engineers generally believe in testing new ideas, and then iterating on those ideas to improve them. They know that new ideas aren’t going to be perfect out of the gate.
By fostering a culture of experimentation and allowing his IT team to test and develop new tools, DriSteem has an environment where employees saw what was possible and contributed to its momentum. They’ve empowered their employees to drive change.
At DriSteem, IT still approves all technology purchases as they’re accountable for the company's strategic roadmap. But their IT department is led by someone with a marketing and sales background rather than a traditional tech expert. This unique perspective ensures IT is aligned with revenue growth, not just backend support.
Their IT team actively develops sales and marketing tools, including pricing and configuration applications that drive business efficiency.
It sounds amazing, but we all know the DriSteem example is not a simple one to replicate in reality. David suggests using tools like Visio to map out processes manually first. That helps identify inefficiencies and opportunities to streamline workflows.
In reflecting on the nonprofit versus the DriSteem situation, the one thing that really stands out to me is what’s possible when an organization’s leadership views technology as a competitive advantage, rather than being just a support function.
IT and technology are enablers of growth (or disablers if they’re ignored). They can help create valuable sales tools, help configure products, manage customer relationships, and optimize operations.
David stressed the importance of empowering the right people. Not everyone would bet on a former sales & marketing person to lead IT, but in his case it worked out well.
He also believes in making bold but well-thought-out decisions, and maintaining a long-term focus on both employee well-being and company success. As David says, “We've got so many wonderful people in this business doing great things that we’ve got to find ways to keep them engaged and active and growing their careers because the last thing we want to do is lose them.”
Isn’t that the truth for all of us leading a business? As with technology, we’re also enablers of growth - our people’s growth. It’s not a small task, but it’s certainly a rewarding one.
Cheers!
Kristin
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Kristin Dennewill
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