SFX has recently been asked to migrate a number of small charities, in the Cardiff area, to Microsoft Office365 (not for profit). The inspiration to move to Office365 is the first class email package and generous cloud storage.
Microsoft offers a number of donated or subsidised packages to not for profit organisations. A list of the available plans is found at this helpful site:
https://products.office.com/en-gb/nonprofit/office-365-nonprofit-plans-and-pricing
The heavily subsidised plan includes the MS Office licences for the organisation’s computers . If these licences are already up to date then the free plan will be sufficient.
There is a criteria for eligibility. This can be found here:
https://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/en-us/nonprofits/whos-eligible
The offer starts with a 30 day free trial, during which Microsoft will assess the not of profit application and decide if to donate the Office365 service. We understand the eligibility criteria and can give you a preliminary assessment before you decide to take the trial.
Actual migration from your existing service to the 365 platform depends on the type of service you are currently using but is probably best done by experienced professionals. Having done quite a few migrations we have become aware of a number of issues that almost always come up and have planned methods to prevent a number of problems that can occur.
As you are a not for profit organisation SFX will always endeavour to keep migration costs to a minimum so you can concentrate on doing the great work your organisation delivers.
In summary the Office365 not for profit donation is a really generous offer from Microsoft and offers a huge number of advantages from scalability, security, backup, availability and cost. Taking advantage of the offer should really be a no-brainer for any not-for-profit organisation or charities.
If you’d like to find out more why not give me a call on 02920 236759 or drop an email to enquiries@sfxtech.co.uk
Many thanks
