YMCA Cardiff Group is a community based registered charity and social landlord operating across South Wales. They manage multiple homeless hostels, operate a community centre and run several youth projects. We spoke with Catrin Anthony-Evans, Communications Officer at YMCA Cardiff about the IT support they’ve received from Sharp since partnering in 2021.
“One key benefit of the CITM service is having that one really knowledgeable contact (Technical Consultant) to rely on.”
Catrin Anthony-Evans, Communications Officer, YMCA Cardif
The Challenge
• Lack of relationship with previous supplier.
• In need of proactive support vs reactive.
• Full IT support required.
Negative impact from supplier relationship
Catrin and her team felt they hadn’t built a relationship with their previous IT support provider and there was also a lack of proactive support. This is what led them to search for a new IT provider that would match their company culture and meet their needs.
They needed someone who would be able to look after their entire IT infrastructure, manage their systems, and provide consultative IT support to help ensure they were using the best technology for the organisation.
After a couple of meetings with the team at Sharp’s Bristol office, the YMCA decided that “Sharp are the right fit, they are person-centric, not cold and corporate” .
“One key benefit of the CITM service is having that one really knowledgeable contact (Technical Consultant) to rely on.”
Catrin Anthony-Evans, Communications Officer, YMCA Cardif
The Solution
• Full IT systems review to understand current set up.
• Complete IT Manager for maintenance on monitoring.
• Dedicated team become an extension of their own.
• Fully managed Microsoft 365 migration.
• IT Roadmap to plan for the year ahead.
Proactive IT support and a personable relationship
Our Complete IT Manager (CITM) solution was the right fit for the YMCA. As part of this service we take full control of your IT and offer proactive support to ensure you are always working efficiently and securely.
You will benefit from a dedicated Account Manager and Helpdesk Team as well as a Technical Consultant (TC) who will visit your site as per your contracted onsite days.
Your TC will get to know your organisation and systems inside out. They will also work with you to plan your IT roadmap for the next year to ensure your goals are met and any necessary improvements are made or challenges are overcome.
Building a personable relationship and ensuring that they were using the most appropriate, efficient and up-to-date technology was essential for the YMCA, which is why theSharp Team and our Complete IT Manager service is the perfect solution.
As part of any new partnership, we will conduct an initial IT systems review, here it was recognised that the YMCA would benefit from migrating to Microsoft 365 to help improve their day-to-day activity, communication and collaboration, to which the YMCA agreed.
“Our Technical Consultant really knows how our organisation operates, understands the infrastructure, and can do the road mapping – it’s invaluable.”
Catrin Anthony-Evans, Communications Officer, YMCA Cardif
The Result
• Microsoft 365 improves hybrid working and collaboration.
• A single, friendly point of contact.
• Peace of mind with a clear and structured IT roadmap.
• Freed up time to focus on other responsibilities.
Confidence in technology for the future
As a result of the transition to Microsoft 365 Catrin and her team saw instant improvements. “Microsoft 365 has helped us become more collaborative. We can work on documents together and conduct meetings easily on Teams. Before, if the servers went down nobody could work, but now that everything is cloud-based all you need is an internet connection.”
“The agile nature of using cloud-based solutions is great because you can work easily from home, easily from the office and you can have everything on your phone – which supports our hybrid working style” said Catrin.
She goes on to say, “Our Technical Consultant was really helpful and organised throughout the Microsoft 365 migration. It’s great having him as our point of contact for these large projects and to help guide us through planning improvements for the year ahead.”
The YMCA saw great value in their technical onsite days, so much so that they increased their number of onsite days with their Technical Consultant for 2022.
Planning an IT roadmap is part and parcel of Sharp’s process and helps to visualise the big picture. Catrin loves being able to see her IT roadmap as it helps her to understand what work is being carried out and enables her to budget accordingly.
The YMCA also benefit from our IT helpdesk service, who are only a phone call away to deal with any queries or issues they may encounter. Catrin explains, “It’s great having a helpdesk team to rely on, they’re easy to get hold of and it’s taken the pressure off of me so I can focus on my other responsibilities, previously team members had been coming to me to raise IT issues.”
Our 24/7 IT helpdesk service enables the YMCA team to make contact with Sharp no matter what time of day it is, which is essential to their organisation as their homeless hostels operate all hours.
In Catrin’s role, she has to manage relationships with various suppliers and having a strong relationship with the person on the other side is important to her. She says: “Sharp is personable, I get on really well with our TC and feel comfortable just picking up the phone to talk to him about any issue or idea I may have.”
Lastly, the Microsoft 365 migration has been greatly received by the team at YMCA and Catrin is eager to make all of their systems cloud-based to help with future-proofing.
