IT Strategy and Support for Charities
Smartdesc provides Strategy, Transformation and Data Protection services to charities, social enterprises and NGOs.
Our team brings IT leadership into organisations, running Digital Transformation programmes such as Process Automation, CRM implementations, and helps clients embrace agile, flexible working through Cloud & Microsoft 365 technologies.
We also offer a range of IT Support and Project Delivery services to provide non-profits of any size a tailored, proactive IT service that is holistic – not just reactive break/fix

headquarters
Focus
Recommended Providers
Portfolio
Mind, Terrence Higgins Trust, NCVO, ACEVO, Family Action, Depaul

Microsoft 365, Teams, SharePoint
We delivered a project to migrate Changing Faces to a 100% cloud based infrastructre, removing all physical servers and reducing their IT costs substantially thanks to Microsoft charity IT donations

Cloud migration
We delivered a project to migrate ACEVO to a 100% cloud based infrastructre, removing all physical servers and reducing their IT costs substantially thanks to Microsoft charity IT donations

NCVO Trusted Supplier
We have been awarded NCVO Trusted Supplier, one of only a small number of approved providers for IT services to charities and Not for Profits

IT & Digital Strategy
Smartdesc provides a fully managed IT Portfolio to National Mind.
- IT Director
- IT Manager
- Project Management Office
- Service Desk
- Information Governance
Reviews
the project
Cloud Migration & IT Services for Non-Profit Membership Org
"The most noteworthy thing about working with them is their ability to fix problems."
the reviewer
the review
A Clutch analyst personally interviewed this client over the phone. Below is an edited transcript.
Introduce your business and what you do there.
I’m the head of finance and operations at the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organizations (ACEVO), a nonprofit membership organization. We help the chief executives of charitable organizations.
What challenge were you trying to address with Smartdesc?
We needed help transitioning from an old tech environment to a cloud-based tech environment.
What was the scope of their involvement?
Before the project began, we had a tendering exercise so we were able to provide Smartdesc with a brief outlining our objectives when they came on board. The team guided us through the transition from our old environment to Office 365. Within that, they helped us purchase new technology kits, like laptops and other necessary items to run efficiently.
They’re currently engaged on an ongoing IT support contract.
What is the team composition?
We initially worked with two people: a customer strategy director and a project manager. As we moved on, we also worked with technical engineers and more project staff to help with implementation.
How did you come to work with Smartdesc?
We invited four companies from an approved supplier list for charities to put forward their proposals. Smartdesc won the bid given the quality of their solution and cost.
How much have you invested with them?
The migration project cost roughly £12,000 (approximately $15,000 USD).
What is the status of this engagement?
We put out the tender in July 2019, and by August, we’d selected Smartdesc. Then, we put the project on hold due to some underlying circumstances, but we still worked together in terms of project management and timeframes before beginning the actual implementation in January 2020.
What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?
After the implementation, our remote work has been 100% successful, which is what we truly needed from the project. There’s been a significant improvement compared to our previous supplier, not just in terms of the technology, but also in terms of customer service. Smartdesc is very responsive and professional, and the feedback throughout my team on their support and training has been positive.
How did Smartdesc perform from a project management standpoint?
They’ve performed very well. The team is professional and communicative. They implemented a really strong structure to the whole process of implementation. We’re very satisfied.
What did you find most impressive about them?
The most noteworthy thing about working with them is their ability to fix problems. Anytime we came across a slight barrier, it was never an issue to Smartdesc — they always managed to find a solution or a workaround. As a company without a dedicated IT staff, that’s been a huge, positive thing.
Are there any areas they could improve?
There’s a very minimal amount of things that could’ve been done differently in our eyes. They met all of our expectations.
Do you have any advice for potential customers?
One of the things we benefited from was having clarity of scope of the project. It made it really easy for Smartdesc to understand exactly what we wanted, so there was no confusion about what we wanted the outcome to be.
A resourceful, talented team, Smartdesc’s contributions have allowed the organization to adapt to remote work without incident. Throughout the project, they remained professional, communicative, and reliable.