Case Study: Think Ahead
Complete I.T. strengthen Think Ahead’s IT security and improve how they work remotely
Introduction to Think Ahead
Think Ahead is a not-for-profit organisation that want to see a society where everyone with mental health problems can flourish.
The Think Ahead programme is a new route into social work, for graduates and career-changers who want to make a real difference to people with mental health problems.
Complete I.T. (CIT) spoke with Liz Ambekar, who is the Finance and Operations Director. Liz oversees everything from Finance, Legal and their relationship with Complete I.T., their outsourced IT Support Provider, based in London.
Partnering with CIT
Complete I.T. were recommended to Think Ahead by another not-for-profit organisation that CIT support. Liz said that the “Charity’s Chief Executive highly recommended Complete I.T.” which is why she reached out to CIT to initially carry out an IT systems review.
Think Ahead then went forward with a competitive tender exercise to find a new IT Support Provider and Complete I.T. won due to “providing the best overall value for money” Liz said.
CIT Support
Before partnering with Complete I.T. in January 2021, Think Ahead were not satisfied with the level of security from their existing provider and didn’t feel they had the right IT setup for their business needs. Particularly since they moved from being office-based to their current set up of working from home.
Think Ahead’s team were using a remote desktop which everyone was complaining about as it was hard to manage, and they struggled with accessing their files.
Complete I.T. initially completed a full system IT review to identify Think Ahead’s overall IT landscape, look at their IT infrastructure, level of security and what improvements they needed to make.
After pinpointing “where are we now” and “recommendations for the future” Think Ahead saw a “pretty much instant change and benefit in the new IT support and services from Complete I.T.”, Liz said.
The first big change was removing their remote desktop and getting everyone set up to work from SharePoint. “Overnight this changed the way we worked – for the better” and “the fact that people no longer complain means that everything is working as it should and well” Liz said.
Being a charity, Think Ahead also benefit from Complete I.T.’s charity pricing which is very helpful as cost is usually a constraint.
Hosted Telephony
Think Ahead were also in need of a telephony solution where members of a remote team could share the same number and calls would distribute equally between them.
“Hosted Telephony from Complete I.T. enables us to manage a high volume of calls between a team who aren’t sat together. The simplicity and flexibility has been really beneficial” Liz said.
CIT Team
Liz said,“having a dedicated team to reach out to makes communicating much easier and problems are dealt with efficiently.”
“Complete I.T. are a cut above other IT support providers. The nuts and bolts just happen and the consultative approach and relationship delivered by our dedicated Account Manager and Technical Consultant is what makes the support perfect for us.”
Their experience with the helpdesk team is very good and “the team are always patient and get on with solving the problems.”
Think Ahead regularly ask their team to feedback on Complete I.T.’s support and there is “never anything, which is great because everybody loves to complain about IT” Liz said.
Data Protection
Think Ahead were also searching for a new IT provider who could strengthen their IT security. “Being a charity, we hold personal data which means we need to make sure our systems are robust and secure.”
Complete I.T. have helped Think Ahead further secure their data by “securing it all in one central location, with restrictive access on confidential folders – All things to help mitigate the risk of a data breach” Liz said.
Cyber Security
IT Support
Hosted Telephony