Managed Solution Excited to Work with Microsoft’s Tech for Social Impact Team

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Managed Solution is excited to be working directly with Microsoft’s Tech for Social Impact team, to accelerate the digital transformation of nonprofits globally.

The Microsoft Tech for Social Impact team

The Tech for Social Impact team within Microsoft Philanthropies is dedicated to making world-class cloud technology accessible and affordable, so that nonprofit organizations can better connect people, processes and technology to help solve the world’s most challenging issues.

Since 2002, Managed Solution has been working with small and large Non-Profits to help them leverage all that technology has to offer at a reasonable cost.

What this means for Non-Profits working with Managed Solution

Thanks to updates from Microsoft, Non-Profits now have access to predictable pricing with standardized discounts across cloud and on-premises products that provides the transparency required for effective IT planning. The discounts are from 60 to 75 percent off commercial pricing. In addition, we also offer InstantOffice for Non-Profits. Your InstantOffice pay as you go licensing could now be bundled with a complete end-to-end support offering,  a true business in a box solution. We offer services that alert users to potential threats and disturbances with our monitoring offering, or U.S. based help desk services for end users.

Here’s what this means for you:

  1. Microsoft 365 E3 is available through web direct to help Non-Profits address their productivity and security needs.
  2. Microsoft Threat Intelligence, Cloud PBX and Phone System are available as stand-alone offers to provide customers with simpler purchase, deployment, and adoption options.
  3. Office 365 solutions are now available specifically to empower Non-Profit volunteers to stay better connected and collaborate more efficiently.

And here’s how you can purchase:

  1. Enterprise Agreement (EA). Non-Profit pricing available through Microsoft’s Enterprise Agreement structure. The EA structure allows for easier administration through integrated purchasing and billing for cloud and software needs.
  2. Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Program. CSP for Office 365, Microsoft 365, and Dynamics Non- Profit offers are be available wherever these offers are sold commercially. CSP is a licensing model that provides more flexibility to access Microsoft’s cloud solutions while bringing value added partner services and support to Non -Profits.

Managed Solution is excited about taking their Non-Profit involvement and support capabilities to the next level by being one of of Microsoft TSI’s preferred partners.

About Managed Solution

As a relationship-driven organization, Managed Solution collaborates with Non-Profits to customize the perfect mix of software, hardware, and IT services. We deliver a flexible technology solution that evolves and adapts to meet our customers’ needs and exceed their expectations at every stage of the business cycle.

Susan Kurvuilla, CEO at Managed Solution: “As a local provider of technology services and solutions, we feel strongly about being involved in the community and we are excited to be able to serve Non-Profits with the latest technology in order to maximize their impact.”

Non-Profits play an incredibly important role in addressing the world’s toughest challenges — whether providing education opportunities to young people in underserved communities, offering shelter and food to the displaced or homeless, or delivering healthcare and medicine to remote populations. And we’re proud to support them any way we can.

Additionally, Managed Solution employees love to support the community with giving back in a variety of ways through the year.

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Managed Solution Celebrates Holiday Season by Supporting Local Non-Profits

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]San Diego, CA, December 11, 2018, – The holiday season is here, and the Managed Solution team is excited to give back to the community during the holidays. We work with a number of local Non-Profits and love supporting their cause as we see them making a difference in our community.

This holiday season we supported several Non-Profit organizations with our donations. Jacobs & Cushman San Diego Food Bank provides nutritious food to people in need, advocates for the hungry, and educates the public about hunger-related issues. For several years now we have been donating to them and this year our employees and company donations summed up to more than fifteen thousand meals for those in need. We are extremely proud of our team and their generosity.

Susan Kuruvilla, CEO of Managed Solution, was a host at this year’s Teddy Ball, a black tie charity celebration organized by Cruise 4 Kids, a Non-Profit organization that collects new stuffed teddy bears to donate to sick and needy children at several children's hospitals, youth organizations, and special needs service centers.

Computers 2 Kids San Diego is another organization we have been collaborating with for years and this December we prepared a pile of used computers and other IT equipment for them. We also donated over 100 of our retro coffee mugs to several Non-Profits in San Diego that we work with on a regular basis, so they can share them with their community.

Managed Solution hopes that these small acts of giving back to the community brought an extra smile or two on the faces of people we share our community with, and we wish everyone warm and happy holidays.

  

About Managed Solution

As a relationship-driven organization, Managed Solution collaborates with you to customize the perfect mix of software, hardware, and IT services. We deliver a flexible technology solution that evolves and adapts to meet your needs and exceed your expectations at every stage of your business cycle.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

#GivingTuesday: A Global Day of Giving

#GivingTuesday was founded by Henry Timms, Executive Director of the 92nd Street Y, a cultural and community center in New York City, back in 2012. His goal was to rally people to donate to their favorite cause on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.
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“The idea around #GivingTuesday was that after all of the consumption of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, what if we could think about giving back?” Timms explains. It's a bit ironic that during a month that's centered around be grateful and thankful, we end it with these consumer holidays focused on buying things we don't need. Giving Tuesday brings back that gratefulness mentality and allows us to reflect on what we're thankful for that we have that others may not.
Giving Tuesday also fit nicely with the mission of the 92nd Street Y, “where we’re reimagining community for a new generation,” he adds. “In a world that’s increasingly so divided, that’s one thing we share, our capacity to give to one another.”
How is the technology community getting involved? Microsoft is leading by example and was one of the first to sign on, Timms says. “Microsoft got involved when we had no idea what this could be. It was experimental, and Microsoft’s commitment sent a message to the corporate world about what it could be.”
Ken Ryals, Senior Director for Microsoft Citizenship, says, "the idea, and the way it celebrates generosity, seemed a natural extension of the company’s ethos and Microsoft’s Employee Giving Campaign. It’s turned into a partnership that’s grown and grown. Together, we have made a real impact.”
Timms says one of the most exciting things about the movement he founded is watching it grow around the world. #GivingTuesday has grown massively and has now raised money in over 150 countries.  That's a whole lot of giving, and a whole lot to be thankful for.
His favorite #GivingTuesday story is a simple one, about a guy from a contracting firm who volunteered by working at a local homeless shelter. He told his supervisor it was the best day he’d ever had because it was the first time he’d been a part of giving back. (Something typically reserved for other people.)
“Prior to #GivingTuesday, he’d had no entry point into becoming a philanthropist,” Timms explains. “We are inspiring a new generation of philanthropy.”
Learn more and donate, here.

Non-Profit Partners In Health: Saving time, saving money and saving lives with the cloud

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Powered by Microsoft Azure, Partners In Health saves money and fine-tunes its programming—creating additional resources to improve people’s health worldwide.
The international nonprofit Partners In Health (PIH) modernizes healthcare in the world’s most in-need populations. By deploying Microsoft cloud solutions across sites globally, PIH is streamlining operations, optimizing capacity and communication, and most importantly, saving lives.
Marc Julmisse, chief nursing officer at University Hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti says “we’re saving time and money, and every dollar we save is making it to the field to help those that need it.”
A nonprofit’s mission is focused on serving its people and can be even more empowered by the right IT. Non-Profits can now qualify for large discounts which accelerates their mission to do good.

How can the Microsoft cloud empower Non-Profits to achieve more?

Non-Profits are constantly pinching pennies and trying to make the most of their existing resources. To help them leverage their existing resources, including data, Partners In Health created a centralized, cloud-based clearinghouse for its offices, clinics and field employees to store, access and analyze data.
It's up to the staff to input patient details but because the files are hosted in the cloud, team members can upload information from any device, anywhere in the world. This optimizes their communication and collaboration and expedites decision-making.
Partners In Health also utilizes data stored safely in the cloud to better understand quality of care in its clinics, hospitals and home visits.  The insights gleaned from data uploaded in real time empowers the Non-Profit to share best practices from locations that are exceeding benchmarks, direct resources where they are most needed and demonstrate success to donors.

How can the Microsoft cloud leverage communication to connect multiple employees worldwide?

Non-Profit leaders know that communication is the key to innovation and problem-solving.  Because of that, Partners In Health standardized its communication systems with Microsoft and these improvements led the way for  non-profit’s directive to help people that need it most.
Take, for example, the recent Ebola outbreak. With Office 365, PIH sent an all-hands email to mobilize people—and start saving lives as quickly as possible. Such an efficient response to a health emergency would have been impossible in the nonprofit’s previous IT solution and employee’s reliance on personal email accounts.
And because Outlook is just one part of an entire cloud ecosystem, employees who are integrated into the email exchange can also collaborate on documents in SharePoint, access performance metrics in OneDrive and brainstorm solutions with colleagues half a world away on Skype for Business. What’s more, the Azure cloud identity solution provides a database of employees, their location and their work, which local technical leads can manage without relying on headquarters oversight. This solution ensures staff get the access and resources to do their jobs—quickly.

How does the Microsoft cloud protect Non-Profit’s sensitive data?

Partners In Health collects patients’ most sensitive information about their health status so PIH knew they had to show how safe and secure they were, and the cloud allows them to do just that.
Microsoft’s cloud encrypts email, allows custom security settings and protects data from threats with industry-leading firewalls and antimalware.

How does the Microsoft cloud help non-profits work in remote and challenging conditions?

Serving the world’s most at-risk populations where they work and live means that Non-Profits operate in unforgiving locations.
Thanks to cloud access, employees plow through what used to be daily IT headaches and even bigger IT disasters. By backing up the data to OneDrive, non-profits no longer worry about losing valuable or sensitive data.
Mobile access to documents, programs and storage allows employees to stay productive. The Microsoft cloud helps people stay connected and collaborate in real time, even to the most remote areas.
The Microsoft cloud empowers Partners In Health to do more with less. As a more efficient, collaborative and flexible nonprofit, PIH can respond to any health crisis—and ensure people across the globe get the life-saving care they need.

Managed Solution announces Title Sponsorship of AITP's 2nd Annual Golf Tournament

San Diego, CA – Managed Solution announces Title Sponsorship of Association of Technology Professional's San Diego Chapter, 2nd Annual Golf Tournament held on October 20th, 2017 at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad. This year's tournament benefits Computers 2 SD Kids; helping to make a difference in the life of a school child living without access to technology.

Managed Solution supports Non-Profits to bring together partners in the community as well as raise funds to promote and support educational and charitable programs. In 2015, they raised over $6K for Just in Time Foster Youth and in 2016, they raised $10K for Computers 2 San Diego Kids.

The tournament will conclude with raffle prizes and a Buffet to congratulate the tournament winners. First, second, and third place winners will receive invitations to play in the Randy Jones Invitational in January 2018.

About Managed Solution:

Managed Solution is a Technology as a Service (TaaS) company, offering hardware, software and premium service tiers and specializes in forecasting technology infrastructure for small to enterprise sized businesses. Managed Solution provides a full spectrum of managed and professional services with an award-winning US-based 24/7 Help Desk headquartered in Southern California. Managed Solution was founded in 2002 and was quickly recognized as one of San Diego’s 40 fastest growing companies and the 27th fastest growing IT company in Southern California. Managed Solution provides IT services nationwide and is recognized as one of the top 10 National Cloud Service Providers.

About AITP San Diego:

A volunteer driven, Non-Profit organization dedicated to serving the San Diego professional community by providing a forum to present issues and trends relating to the management of information.

Office 365 Case Study: PATH

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Office 365 Case Study: PATH

As written on Microsoft.com

Saving lives through innovation and IT 

PATH, a Seattle-based global health nonprofit that innovates better solutions to help the world’s most at-risk groups, also tackled an equally daunting logistical problem: “With a piecemeal infrastructure struggling to keep pace with 38 offices and nearly 1,300 employees, most of whom work in the field in hard-to-reach locations, the organization needed to improve its own technological vitals. In short: “Our global footprint had expanded beyond our investment in IT,” explains chief information officer Erik Arnold.
A global rollout of Office 365 not only standardized its infrastructure; the cloud-based tools helped staff work faster and smarter to pursue projects in the most remote corners of the world—where its life-saving work is most needed. They now
“This solution ensures we maximize the amount of our funding that goes directly to the activities that advance our program missions.”  - Chief Information Officer Erik Arnold

Technology overcomes global barriers

Adapting to on-the-ground realities
PATH works in what Arnold generously calls “challenging places”—where internet connection, electricity and even roads aren’t reliable. Office 365 enables staff in remote areas to communicate with other locations, make deadlines and most importantly meet health needs. Mobile access to SharePoint, for example, allowed field staff in Kenya to send invoices and time cards to the Nairobi office, replacing their old system—delivering paper documents via motorcycle and airplane.
Employees can also check out documents to their laptop or mobile device from SharePoint, make edits then check the file back in—all so changes aren’t lost if the internet connection fails. “That feature means our teams in Tanzania and Zambia can use it more easily, helping them buy in to the system,” says Laurie Werner, deputy director of PATH’s Better Immunization Data Initiative.
Building partnerships
“The cloud is the only way our teams can efficiently collaborate not only within the organization but also when we partner with corporations, universities, governments and other nonprofits to build coalitions and partnerships,” Arnold says. “Office 365 is the obvious solution.” He has seen how adding Zambian health officials’ edits in real time to a diagram of health supplies distribution using Visio, flow chart software available at a steep discount to Office 365 Nonprofit recipients, strengthens relationships and streamlines workflow.
Another example: The Better Immunization Data Initiative, which uses data to improve countries’ delivery of vital vaccines, used SharePoint to collaborate on literature reviews, initial assessments and other documents at its onset; now that the project is underway, it provides updates to its external evaluator via the same platform. And because PATH depends on outside alliances—to develop lifesaving medicine and track children’s immunization schedules, for example—these tools are literally saving lives.
Staying flexible
PATH’s footprint is continually changing—it opens and closes offices as needed, moving personnel as they meet milestones and tackle new health crises. “We are cloud first—we have to be,” Arnold explains.
Instead of relying on on-site servers and other hardware, PATH safely stores all data in the cloud for immediate access anywhere, anytime and from any device. “We can move more quickly, scale up teams and spin up new solutions in sites in different countries,” Arnold says. “It’s so much easier when we’re not managing physical boxes and configurations.”
Scaling up
PATH is always evolving to meet the world’s health needs: It has seen double-digit growth for more than a decade. Modernizing its IT system provides scalability without a huge expense. “As a nonprofit, it would be irresponsible to build a large, complex, and expensive IT organization,” Arnold says.
“This solution ensures we maximize the amount of our funding that goes directly to the activities that advance our program missions.”
Collapsing distance and time zones 
“SharePoint reduces my workload but increases our ability to communicate,” says Werner, who manages an international team from Seattle. She has set up alerts when staff from other offices update documents or complete tasks, so she always knows the status of any given deliverable. With all important documentation uploaded into SharePoint, she no longer has to hunt for information buried in her email or rely heavily on conference calls spanning multiple time zones.
“Office 365 gave us an efficiency we didn’t have,” she adds. “We have been able to develop interventions and ramp up our projects more quickly even though our teams are dispersed.” From the Peruvian rainforest to far-flung villages in Myanmar, that means PATH can build healthier communities—and save lives.

 

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Case Study: CONIN

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CONIN: Finding, reaching and helping at-risk children through the cloud

As written on Microsoft.com
Mendoza, Argentina-based CONIN works to not only eradicate child malnutrition in Argentina but also to serve disadvantaged families at risk of falling through gaps in social services. With Microsoft Azure and other Microsoft cloud services, the nonprofit helps more children and families receive the resources they need to thrive.
Its previous, analog-based systems helped the nonprofit impact the lives of thousands of youth. But with an Azure—powered IT system, CONIN is now poised to improve family health across Argentina-and beyond, as they begin to expand their services in Latin America.

Smarter Data

As nonprofit leaders know, effectively tackling a problem begins with understanding it. So when CONIN set out to map malnutrition in Salta, a northern and remote province of Argentina, the family-focused organization turned to the flexible and comprehensive solutions of Azure.
By identifying the most pressing needs of different pockets of Salta—from lack of clean water to insufficient healthy food—CONIN input data into an application developed and hosted in Azure, which they then displayed and shared in Power BI. The result: an accurate and up-to-date visualization of on-the-ground realities. They could then partner with the regional government to pinpoint priorities and direct limited resources at the most urgent issues first. What’s more, this detailed map provided the data to develop a long-term solution: CONIN and the Salta government drafted public policy to prevent malnutrition in the future—and ensure the area’s children have a healthy start to life.
The impact of the Azure mapping solution does not end in Salta. CONIN is rolling out the system in other communities in Argentina as well as in parts of Latin America and Africa. And other nonprofits will save time and resources by transferring an already developed solution to their own Azure environment.

Connecting Communities

Like many nonprofits, CONIN relies on a combination of staff, volunteers and partners to carry out its mission. And although CONIN's dedicated team has already served 20,000 youth over several decades, leaders within the organization knew they could reach even more people in need by leveraging cloud-based tools.
CONIN, then, developed an app in Azure that triggers an alert whenever the nonprofit-and government-run community census identifies a child in need. Take, for example, an alarm CONIN staff received about Bryan, a cheerful and playful boy who was born with Down syndrome and severe kidney problems. His mother, who didn’t even know she was eligible for services, was invited to the nonprofit to begin the process for getting care for Bryan. CONIN paid for Bryan’s surgeries, arranged for transportation to and from medical visits and now enrolls Bryan in a special CONIN school. The system also allows CONIN staff to track the boy’s health with digital updates on his progress.
Without this alert app that automatically analyzes data to identify families in need, Bryan may never have gotten a fair shot at a happy, healthy future.

Field-to-office solutions

Proactive nonprofits not only help the at-risk families that seek them out but also bring in others who may never have known about their services. CONIN teams used to do this community outreach and information-gathering with inefficient paper surveys. Since receiving an Azure grant, they canvas Argentina's poorest neighborhoods with a digital, cloud-based polling solution.
“Today, the technology makes it much faster: It enables us to have every child in the system,” says Teresa Cornejo, president of a CONIN network member that addresses nutrition in Salta. By inputting information designed to identify families in danger of malnutrition, lack of education or unmet medical needs, the data is automatically synched to folders accessible anywhere—from CONIN's offices to employees traveling the dirt roads of Salta.
Canvassers go door-to-door with mobile phones or tablets, making the highly detailed data they collect immediately available on an Azure cloud platform. CONIN, other partner nonprofits and the government of Salta province use this up-to-the-minute information to work toward their goal: making malnutrition a problem of the past.

MIKE Program: Serving youth with a grown-up IT system

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Office 365 Case Study

MIKE Program: Serving youth with a grown-up IT system

As seen on microsoft.com
MIKE Program, a small nonprofit based in Portland, Oregon, uses mentorships to empower youth to make better health choices, but its makeshift IT system took up scarce staff time and bogged down workflow.Office 365 has revolutionized the nonprofit’s day-to-day work. The free, cloud-based suite now enables them to
  • write more competitive grant applications,
  • streamline board relations,
  • work with more volunteers,
  • increase their productivity, and
  • communicate with stakeholders from anywhere.
“It would not be possible to operate as we do now without it,” says Sherry Harbert, MIKE Program’s communications director and de-facto IT help desk. The cloud's easy-to-use features help the health nonprofit MIKE Program better communicate with the board, volunteers and staff.

 

"Office 365 allowed a central collaboration point for documents and tasks assigned to committee meetings, and it allowed everyone to see the calendar and updates in real time"-Dave Chapman, MIKE Program Board Member
Making a difference with better technology:
  • Grant writing in the cloud
    Like most nonprofits, MIKE Program’s budget relies heavily on winning private grants. Collaborating on applications saved in the cloud helps them write stronger submissions, Harbert says.
    With Office 365’s secure file sharing, edits made to documents are saved in real time, eliminating the confusion of emailing different versions back and forth—and the frustration of bounced attachment-heavy messages.
  • Communicating 24/7
    “Like most nonprofits, we operate 24 hours a day because people expect communication in the evenings, mornings and weekends,” Harbert says. Office 365’s tools allow staff and volunteers to seamlessly stay in touch from a computer, tablet or mobile phone.
    “If we’re out of the office or something is wrong with the IT host, we still have access to everything. We’re never shut down.”
  • Managing volunteers
    Volunteers aren’t based at the nonprofit’s central office; more than 20 MIKE Program mentors travel city-wide as they lead health education programs and shepherd students to job shadow opportunities across Portland.
    Office 365 emailing and cloud document sharing connects on-the-go volunteers to staff, regardless of what mobile device they use: They can view updates of schedules, participant rosters and curricula that can change at the drop of a hat—anywhere.
  • Bringing on the board
    The board’s ability to work efficiently, make quick decisions and communicate is central to running a nonprofit, and MIKE Program streamlined its board work with Office 365. Instead of sending email after email of agendas, meeting notes, tasks and updates, board members use SharePoint, one of the suite’s most popular features, to sync projects.
    “Office 365 allowed a central collaboration point for documents and tasks assigned to committee meetings, and it allowed everyone to see the calendar and updates as we go,” explains board member Dave Chapman. “It’s real time collaboration.”
  • Maximizing resources
    Volunteer, time and financial resources are always tight at nonprofits, and the tools within Office 365 allowed MIKE Program to do more with less. “Switching to Office 365 freed up my time so I’m not struggling to do basic operations,” Harbert says. “I can now focus more on deliverables, the program itself, our mission, communications and getting the word out on our program.”
    Becoming more efficient helped the staff nearly double its pool of volunteers, who logged 760 more hours per year after the transition to Office 365.
  • Building organizational capacity
    “This technology’s help is both immediate for what we need day to day but also in the long term,” Harbert says. Because it allows staff to direct their energy to helping more students lead healthy lives—instead of wrestling with makeshift IT systems—the cloud-based suite sets up MIKE Program for a robust future.
    “Office 365 is instrumental for our survival.”