2012 state of the cloud report

7/31/2019 2012 State of the Cloud Report

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Te State o te Nonproit Coud:Te Resuts o a Stud oNonproit Use o Coud Sotware

An NTEN ReportPrepared b Ideaware

March

www.nten.or | 1020 SW Taor Street | Suite 800 | Portand, Oreon 97205 | p: 415.397.9000 | : 415.814.405


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Tble of contents

EXECUTIVE SUmmARy...................................................................................2

INTRODUCTION...............................................................................................3

hOW ARE NONPROfITS USINg ThE ClOUD?...........................................5

Sta Eai.............................................................................................6

Broadcast Eai ...................................................................................7

Oice Sotware ....................................................................................7

Data Backup..........................................................................................7

Constituent Databases .......................................................................8

Pone/Voiceai.................................................................................8

Accountin ...........................................................................................9Docuent storae...............................................................................9

Poto Sarin ......................................................................................9

Coaboration Sotware.....................................................................10

ADOPTION Of ClOUD SOlUTIONS............................................................11

Why ARE NONPROfITS ChOOSINg ClOUD SOlUTIONS?...................13

Reote Access ...................................................................................13

Reduced maintenance......................................................................14

modern features and Interace ......................................................15

Te Cost o Coud Sotware .............................................................15

But Its Just Sotware.........................................................................16

Wos Doin te Coosin?.............................................................17

SECURITy IN ThE ClOUD ............................................................................18

CONSIDERINg RETURN ON INVESTmENT ...............................................21

CONClUSION: WhAT DOES ThIS mEAN fOR yOUR ORg? ..................22

ABOUT ThE AUThORS................................................................................24

ABOUT IDEAlWARE.....................................................................................

ABOUT NTEN .................................................................................................

APPENDIX A: RESEARCh mEThODOlOgy..............................................26

APPENDIX B: DEmOgRAPhICS ..................................................................27

APPENDIX C: SURVEy TEXT ........................................................................28

NTEN: A COmmUNITy TRANSfORmINg TEChNOlOgy INTO SOCIAl ChANgEThE STATE Of ThE NONPROfIT ClOUD mARCh



3/35

Exeutive SummyWen we set out to ook at te Stateo te Nonproit Coud, we werentsure wat to expectand wat weound was tat its soewat o.

Te vast ajorit o nonproits we surveed wereusin osted sotware, but our interviews witsta ebers reveaed tat an didnt evenreaize tose sstes coud be considered osted,or coud, soutions. In addition, anrespondents said te were concerned aboutsecurit or soe osted sstesespeciaconstituent databasesbut were coortabusin oter osted sstes or equa sensitiveinoration, suc as business eai.

In te a o 2011, we surveed 780 nonproits. Anipressive 91 percent reported tat te wereusin soe kind o coud-based sotware soution.Te ost coon used coud-based ssteswere sta eai soutions, at 69 percent, oowedb broadcast eai (57 percent) and oicesotware (44 percent).

Once a nonproit starts usin one coud sotware

soution, its ike to use oreoranizationstended to be satisied wit coud soutions, andave a ore avorabe attitude toward oters. Inact, near 80 percent were usin ore tan onecoud soution, ore tan 37 percent were usintwo-to-our, and 42 percent were usin ive orore.

W are te usin coud soutions? more tan42 percent cited reote access as an advantae,and near 24 percent cited ease o

aintenance. But an oranizations sipcoose sotware tat wi work or te based onte eature-set, ease o use and cost over tie;te act tat it was coud-based eiter didntactor into teir decision, or it was secondar. Tisis ecoed b te indin tat an oranizationsdid not re on tecnoo proessionas to ep

ake teir coicesan o te sotwaredecisions ade b te oranizations invoved inour researc were ade b prora sta or

executive directors.

man o te peope wo participated in ourresearc said te were concerned about tesecurit o coud soutions. A woppin 59percent o surve participants wo vounteeredinoration about disadvantaes o te coudcited soe variation o data contro, securit,privac or access, and about 61 percent et tatunautorized access and reiabiit o accesswere ajor concerns wen coosin sotware.

Securit is a nuanced issue wit a nuber oacets, but an nonproit sta ebers in ourresearc didnt ave a ver nuancedunderstandin o it. Te experts we interviewedareed tat nonproits ears about unautorizedaccess were enera unwarranted, and coudsoutions are tpica no ess secure tan anoter coputer connected to te internet.

Wie ver ew oranizations said te wereeasurin te Return on Investent o coud-based soutions, te vast ajorit o respondentssaid te beieve te ave been epu. Surverespondents and interviewees entioned tat tecoud beneitted oranizations b reducin teburden on te IT inrastructure and sta. Sucsoutions provide nonproits wit te opportunitto outsource soetin, suc as te aintenanceo servers and sotware, tat a not be a corecopetenc o te oranization.



4/35

IntodutionAs a soution to everda tecnoo issues, microsot ads proposeou o To te Coud! IBm ads suest tat our Coud ispoweru, exibe and eas to use. Nonproit tecnoo experts

suest tat sotware in te Coud can ep oranizations spendess tie anain teir inrastructure. Everone sees to be takinabout te Coud.

But wat, exact, is it?

Consuers are indin tat te answer to tat question is oten esstan cear. In act, dierent peopeeven dierent tecnooproessionasave dierent deinitions. Te terinoo is newte cever nae akes or eas sortand, and its attractive toarketersbut te idea o coud-based coputin as been aroundor quite a wie. Te ter coud cae into coon use around2007, but te siiar concepts o osted sotware or AppicationService Provider (ASP) sotware ave been around uc oner.

Experts can ake tecnica distinctionsabout te terinoo, but or ourpurposes tere snonous: In enera,an sotware accessed over te Internetcan be considered coud sotware,incudin evertin ro facebook tobroadcast eai toos ike ConstantContact to onine accountin sstes andconstituent databases.

Wit so uc tak about te coud, we wanted to ind out weter,and ow, nonproits are akin use o it. In Septeber and Octobero 2011, we surveed 780 nonproit proessionasa o wo wereebers o one o seven state nonproit ebersip associationsto see wat Internet-based sotware te used, and wat teperceived to be te pros and cons o tese tpes o sstes. Toutese respondents tended to work at sa- to ediu-sizednonproits, te cae ro a around te countr and represented awide variet o issions. In Noveber and Deceber 2011, weoowed up wit seven nonproit sta ebers wo ad cosen touse coud sotware, and our consutants wo do enera tecnooconsutin to saer nonproit oranizations, to ask te about tesae topics. (for a detaied breakdown o our researc etodooand surve respondent deorapics, see Appendices A and B.)


In general, any

software accessed

over the Internet can

be considered cloud

software.

Oigin of tecloud

Te tem te cloud s

teie oots. a loud (like

in loud) is te ion

tditionlly used in

netwok digms to

denote te Intenetnd

befoe tt, te telepone

netwok. Essentilly, it

symbolized nebulous

loud of stuff tt existed

somewee else tt ITstff didnt ve to woy

bout.


5/35

Wat we ound were soe interestin contradictions. Te vast ajorito nonproits surveedover 91 percentwere usin osted sotware,but our interviews reveaed tat an didnt even reaize tose sstescoud be considered osted, or coud, soutions. In addition, anrespondents wo said te were concerned about securit or soe

osted sstesespecia constituent databaseswere coortabusin oter osted sstes or equasensitive inoration, suc as businesseai.

In sort, we set out to ook at te Stateo te Coud, and ound tat itssoewat o. Cear, nonproits areusin coud-based sotware, and inincreasin nubers, but an dontknow exact what osted sotware is

et aone ave te abiit to accurateaue te pros and te cons o usin it.

Tis report as out te resuts o botour surve and interviews.

We ope our researc and tis report wi ep cari wat te coud is,and te dierent was nonproits are akin use o wat it oers.

Note: Throughout this report are quotes from participants in our research,

which may have come from either open-ended responses from our survey or

statements made in our follow-up interviews. All such quotes are

anonymized, as are the mini case studies: any names of individuals or

organizations have been changed.


The vast majority of

nonprots surveyed

over 91 percentwere

using hosted software,

but our interviews

revealed that many

didnt even realize those

systems could be

considered hosted, or

cloud, solutions.

Case Stud:Te Invisible

cloudIn ou inteview, Jon, te

de fto te guy of

$1.2 million ledesip nd

ommunity-building

ogniztion, initilly sid

is ogniztion used no

loud-bsed softwe. a bit

lte, e ppened to

mention tt es using

constnt contt, web-

bsed bodst emil

system tt Jon didnteognize s loud

solution. Tis teme

eued epetedly mong

ou inteviewees. One

teoy is tt, beuse

bodst emil softwe

gubly begn s loud

solution nd emins

loud solutionunlike ote

softwe, like Miosoft

Wod nd Exel, wi until

eently ws lwys

instlled on lolminesmny uses

simply dont egiste it s

pt of te loud.

Speil tnks to Google fo suppoting

tis ese.


6/35

how ae Nonpofits Using Te cloud?

Setion Summy

among ll espondents, stff emil solutions wee te most widely used type of loud-bsed

systems, t 69 peent. Oter soutions incuded:

Broadcast eai, at 57 percent.

Oice sotware, at 44 percent.

Data backup, at about 41 percent.

Constituent databases, at about 40 percent.

Pone or voiceai services, at 36 percent.

Docuent storae, at 32 percent.

Poto-sarin sites, at just under 30 percent.

Coaboration sotware, at 23 percent.

In genel, offie softwe ws te fist loud-bsed softwe to be dopted by uses,

wit moe tn 71 peent epoting tt teyve been using it fo tee o moe yes.

Oter adoptions o tree or ore ears incuded:

Sta eai, at 70 percent.

Pone or voiceai services, at ore tan 66 percent.

Data backup, at 50 percent.

Docuent storae, at 48 percent.

Broadcast-eai, at 45 percent.

Te idea o te Coud is a nebuous one, but it transates into everda sotware aread in use b an

oranizations. We asked our surve respondents i te were usin versions o 10 dierent kinds o sotwaretat te accessed over te Internet. Trou teir responses, additiona coents, and detais ro ourinterviews, we ored a air cear picture o te ost coon used tpes o coud sotware.

Peentge Of respondents Using Te cloud By Solution


70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%Stffemil

Dtbkup

Bodstemil to

onstituents

constituentdtbse

Offiesoftwe

collbotionsoftwe

Potosing

Doumentstoge

aountingsystem

Ponesystem ovoiemil

respondents using tis solution in te loud

69.27%

41.36%

56.98%

44.05%

23.05%

29.83%32.27% 32.91%

36.88%40.20%

Tble 1 Peentge of ll espondents using loud solution fo e of tese softwe needs.


7/35

Stff Emil

Toos ike gooe Apps and te osted version o microsot Excanereat sipi te adinistration beind providin sta wit eaiand caendarin unctionait. Nonproits are adoptin tese tpes otoos wit usto: 69 percent o our surve respondents reported usinsta eai unctionait accessibe via te Internet. (Note tat or soe

o te saer oranizations, tis coud aso ean sta accountstrou ore individuaized services suc as gai, yaoo or AOl).

Te burden o runnin an in-ouse eai server can overwe a sanonproit. Eai server sotware and ardware can be bot expensiveand copicated. Keepin a sste backed up and aintained requireste services o IT sta wit skis in eai adinistration, and te cost otie and aterias to uprade te sotware or repace ardware can be

proibitive. Contrast tis wit te costand convenience o coud-based eaiand its eas to see w so an peope

avor te atter.Wats ore, nonproits ave beenusin tese eai appications or quitesoe tie. O te 541 oranizationsusin a osted sta eai soution, 70

percent adopted it tree or ore ears ao, and 21 percent ave used itor at east one ear, and as on as tree. Tree intervieweesspeciica entioned a sta eai cientsuc as gai or a ostedversion o microsot Excaneas teir irst coud soution. A ourtentioned a broadcast eai too.

Based on tis data, it sees tat nonproits are ore ike to startusin te coud trou eai, akin services ike gai and gooeApps a sort o atewa coud.

how Long hve Ogniztions Been Using Te cloud?


Case Stud:Moving to cloud-

Bsed Stff EmilNiit, n IT mnge t

lge lol ommunity

sevies geny, s been

unning n in-ouse

Exnge seve tts been

onstntly plgued by

viuses nd ote poblems.

Wen it me time to

upgde, Niit investigted

loud solutions nd found

tey would be epe tn

ontinuing wit n in-ouseemil seve, so e pesented

ost/benefits nlysis to

te ogniztions exeutive

ommittee.

Te ommittees initil

onens wee not tt te

solution ws in te loud,

but wete o not it would

meet stff needs fo emil

nd lending fetues.

afte omping osted

Exnge to Google apps,

Niit deided Exnge

would wok bette fo is

ptiul needs. Te

ogniztion mde te

swit in 2008.

Im tying to move s mu

s I n to te loud

weeve it mkes sense, e

told us fte tee yes wit

te system. Tis ye is

ogniztion plns to move

to Offie 365, Miosofts

osted vesion of Offie, ndOnge LEaP, loud-bsed

dono mngement solution.

100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%Stff emil

21.07%

70.06%

Bodst emilto onstituents

38.65%

45.17%

Offie softwe(e.g. wod poessing,

spedseets, et.)

17.73%

71.51%

1 to 3 yes Moe tn 3 yes

Nonprots are more likely

to start using the cloud

through email, makingservices like Gmail and

Google Apps a sort of

gateway cloud.

Tble 2 how long ogniztions ve been using te loud.


8/35

Bodst Emil

Broadcast eai sotware, or toos desined to send undreds or tousands o eais, ranked iediatebeind sta eai in usae aon respondents, wit 57 percent sain te use suc broadcast toos asConstant Contact, Vertica Response or mai Cip. Broadcast eai is unique, as it was born in te ae ocoud coputinbecause tere are no instaed sstes as we-rearded as te coud soutions in tiscateor, tese toos a not even reister to an users as bein in te coud. for instance, two peope

we interviewed used Constant Contact but didnt initia ention it as one o teir coud soutions; one saide used no coud sotware at a, but entioned Constant Contact as is broadcast eai soution.

Wie users were sti ost ike to adopt tis tecnoo ore tan treeears ao, tis was not as stron a trend as sta eai (on 45 percent), and16 percent o users adopted broadcast eai on in te past ear.

Offie Softwe

Productivit sotware, or oice sotware, is tpica a suite o soutions tatincudes word processin, spreadseet and presentation toos. microsotsOice suite o instaed sotware as doinated tis cateor or ore tana decade. however, a respectabe 44 percent o surve respondents saidte were usin osted oice sotware.

In enera, tese soutions avent et ained as uc traction as coud-based soutions in te eai cateoriesnor are te as ature. Wie succoud-based oice soutions as gooe Apps and microsots Oice 365 avebeen avaiabe or severa ears, traditiona instaed versions are oten oreeature-ric and better interated wit te network drives and oders aiiar to sta. (One surverespondent entioned tat se ad ooked into gooe Apps or er oranizations docuents, but ound itcunk.)

however, oranizations usin osted oice sotware were te eariest adopters o coud-based soutions in

an o te cateories we asked aboutore tan 71 percent ave been usin it or ore tan tree ears.Its ike tat an respondents adopted gooe Apps at te sae tie te bean usin gai.

Dt Bkup

Coud-based data backup soutions can be a convenient option, especia or saer oranizations. Tesepackaes wi autoatica snc wit our oca ies and network to create onine copies. About 41 percento our surve respondents reported usin an onine data backup soutionowever, we dont know i teoter 59 percent were usin an aternate backup etod or sip not backin up at a.

Interestin, wie a o te oranizations usin onine data backup started doin so ore tan treeears ao, adoption sees to ave dropped o since ten. One possibe teor is an increased interest in

data backup and business continuit in te wake o disasters ike hurricane Katrina, wic as since aded.


We moved from a data-

storage system onsite to

an online data-storage

system. The onsite

system was obviously

not reliable should the

building be lost in a re,

etc., so the greatestadvantage is that our

data is stored o site.


9/35

constituent Dtbses

Constituent databases provide eatures to track te peope a nonproit works wit, suc as donors, cientsand vounteers. About 40 percent o our surve respondents cose to use a coud option in tis area. Wenasked about te coud, interviewees oten tout irst o constituent databasesand, in act, te beneitsand issues associated wit coud-based constituent databases parae tose oten cited or te coud as awoe (as discussed ater in tis report).

An instaed constituent anaeent sste oten requires a sared database and serverand skied ITsta to ake sure its proper instaed, aintained and backed-upbut a coud soution requires on areative odern, ree web browser. On te oter and, constituent data oten requires stron securit,privac and reiabe access, wic were requent cited b respondents and interviewees as disadvantaeso coud soutions.

Oter researc as noted a trend toward te coud or sstes in tis area. Te vast ajorit o newconstituent database soutions are coud-based, and ost vendors wo oer instaed soutions aso eiteroer a osted option or pan to in te near uture.


Pone/Voiemil

Te idea o coud-based pone and voiceai is an interestin one. In a sense, sipe pone service asawas been in te coudaside ro te andset, teepone services ave awas required etered use oinrastructure owned b teecounication copanies.

however, te increasin use o Internet-based teepone services and osted voiceai and ine-anaeent vendors as brout new eeents to te tabe or consuers. Wit a i-speed Internet

connection, Internet-based teepones and PBX sstes to coordinate utipe ines and voiceai, vendorscan provide soid pone inrastructure witout te asse and copexit o extensive onsite ardware or asipe ont ee.

On about 36 percent o surve respondents indicated tat te used osted pone or voiceai services,but, on averae, teve been usin te or oner tan a but one oter tecnoo areaover two-tirdsave been usin te or ore tan tree ears.


100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%Dt bkup

34.98%

50.77%

constituentdtbse

26.43%

57.01%

Pone systemo voiemil

19.10%

71.18%

aountingsystem

22.96%

65.37%


Tble 3 Lengt of time in yes ogniztions ve been using loud-bsed solutions.

Our new online

membership-

management system

helps us keep better track

of our members.

Theres been signicant

savings in sta time

[and] its easier for

members to update their

own information, register

for events and pay fees.


10/35

aounting

Accountin sotware can be sipe, ike Quickbooks, or u-eaturedand copex, ike great Pains Dnaics or Sae mIPS. Tere are ostedoptions at a eves, and useu reasons or an oranization to cooseone over a ore traditiona instaed soution. Coud-based accountinsstes can be accessed reote, or ro dierent oices, and

sotware updatespotentia incudin canes in edera and state taxcodesare anded b te vendor, eiinatin oversits.

Just under a tird o surve respondents reported usin accountinsoutions osted in te coud. Te were uc ore ike to aveadopted one severa ears ao tan in te past ear.

Doument stoge

fro suc convenient paers as gooe Apps and Dropbox toenterprise-riend options ike Box and Ente.co, tere as been asure o docuent-storae soutions on te Internet. Tese toos areuseu or sarin particuar docuents wit peope or acines inoter ocations, or as ore enterprise-wide aternatives or storin ieson in-ouse network drives.

O our respondents, 32 percent use coud-based docuent storae.Wie 48 percent ave been usin it or tree or ore ears, near 20percent adopted it in te past ear, akin it one o te ounertecnooies.

Poto Sing

Poto-sarin sites ike Picasa and fickr ave been around or severaears. Just under 30 percent o respondents use tese services, and

oranizations were just as ike to bein in te past ear as te weretree ears ao. As wit onine docuent storae, it is uncear ro oursurve data weter or not coud poto sarin is bein usedenterprise-wide or on ore o a per-epoee basis or convenience,tou we suspect te atter.

Because we see an adoption spike o users wo started usin it abouttwo ears aoat a tie wen fickr, Picasa and even facebook wererapid rowin in popuaritits possibe tat oranizations picked uptis tecnoo ten but ave since stopped usin it enterprise-wide.


Case Stud:Moving Finne

to te cloudWen looking to upgde

bk offie softwe, one

smll umn sevies

ogniztion tuned to te

loud fo new ounting,

fundising nd pyoll

systems. Despite ving to

py fo e use, te

softwe s mde lives

esie ovell t te

nonpofit.

Pyoll espeilly s

woked well, n employee

told us, sine we ve

numbe of sites nd moe e

going to vitul offie so

employees n omplete

tei time seet wit ny

Intenet ess.

Beuse te ogniztion s

te equivlent of just one

qute-time IT stff peson,

te loud s been benefit

in elieving te demnd onseves nd mintenne

time. In ddition, ledesip

now feels tt, given te lk

of IT employees, te loud

systems e moe seue

tn te nonpofits own in-

ouse softwe.


11/35


collbotion Softwe

At just 23 percent, coud-based coaboration sotware usae ranked te

owest aon our respondents. Tis can be a conusin cateorwieosted versions o SarePoint and Basecap it sprin to ind ascoaboration products, oter products suc as gooe Docs andOice365 coud aso it te bi, as te aow utipe users tocoaborative edit te sae docuent. Tus, te reative ow rate ousae reported coud be due to uncertaint about tis ied o products.On te oter and, it a sip be tat deand or oninecoaboration is ow. None o te users or consutants we interviewedentioned use o coaboration sotware.

O respondents, 40 percent were ost ike to ave adoptedcoaboration sotware tree or ore ears aoon sit ore tante nuber wo adopted it ore recent. however, at 25 percent,coaboration sotware was aso te second-ost ike tecnoo intis surve to ave been adopted in te past ear, beind potosarin. Te stead, but sa, dierences in adoption periods and owovera usae suest tat, wie ew oranizations are usincoaboration sotware, te nuber o users continues to rowunikete oter tecnooies we asked about tat ad stron initia adoption,but drastica ower recent-adoption rates.


100%

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%Doument

stoge

32.54%

48.41%

Poto sing(e.g. Flik)

46.35%

26.18%

collbotionsoftwe

35%

40%


Tble 4 Lengt of time in yes ogniztions ve been using loud-bsed solutions.

Case Stud:Bod

collbotion inte cloud

Wit bod sped ll ove

te stte, tis smll

Pennsylvni elt

ogniztion needed bette

wy to ollbote nd se

douments. Te loud

seemed like te only option,

nd now te stff uses n

online bod potl to se

govenne douments,

sving time nd money ove

te pevious ppo of

miling douments. Wile

te uplod time fo te

douments n be slow, te

potl s lso poven useful

s off-site stoge fo

bking-up ogniztionl

dt.


12/35

adoption of cloud Solutions

Setion Summy

among ou espondents, n impessive 91 peent epoted tt tey wee using some kind of

softwe solution in te loud. Of tose:

Near 80 percent were usin ore tan one coud soution. Over 37 percent were usin two to our coud soutions.

42 percent were usin ive or ore coud soutions.

A in a, nonproit oranizations are adoptin coud soutions in enorous nubers. A woppin 91 percento a oranizations tat responded to te surve were usin soe kind o sotware soution in te coudtat eans ess tan 9 percent were not in te coud at a. Because we speciica sout nonproits wowere not especia tecnoo savv, we ee teres itte doubt tat a vast ajorit o ediu-sized andarer nonproits suc as tose represented in our surve are usin te coud in soe or.

Wat kinds o oranizations were ost ike to be usin osted sotware? most notab, oranizations witore IT state aso tended to adopt te coud earier. Wats te connection wit IT? Bein oretecnica-savv, it is reasonabe tat IT sta are ore ike to tr newer or cuttin-ede tecnooies.

cloud adoption and IT Stffing

Surprisin, owever, tere sees to be no connection between coud usae and an oranizations budet,peraps ipin tat te coud as eped break down cost barriers or an o tese tecnooies. We

aso coudnt ind an correation between an oranizations use o te coud and te nuber o workocations it aintains, incudin utipe oices, teecouters or reote epoees. Wie nonproits ettat te abiit to access sotware ro anwere was an iportant beneit o osted sotware (as discussedin ore detai in te next section), tis did not see to transate into oranizationa trends or oredistributed oranizations.


50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%No one is

esponsiblefo IT

bout 1/4time peson

Less tn full timepeson

1 full timepeson

2 o moeIT Stff

3 o moe solutions t lest 3 yes old

Tble 5 Peent of espondents wo ve used tee o moe loud solutions fo tlest tee yes e by numbe of IT stff.

Once they get in it and

see the advantages, it

can be a lot easier to sell

it to sta.


13/35

Te ae o oranizations seeed to actor into weter or not te were usin te coud. Oranizations ive-to-20 ears od were ore ike to use te coud tan bot oder and ouner oranizations. Peraps teseouner oranizations, ored durin or ater te rise o te Internet ae, ave a cuture tat ore eaerebraces Internet tecnoo tan oder oranizations, wie te ver oun arent et usin a ot otecnoo at a.

We did ind tat once a nonproit starts usin one coud sotware soution, itsike to use ore; oranizations tended to be satisied wit coud soutionsand ave a ore avorabe attitude to oters. four o te six oranizations weinterviewed ad no concerns wit teir coud soutions, wie te oter twoad sa probes tat were quick resoved. Tree were aread usinutipe coud soutions, and tree oters said te were open to, or activeseekin out, ore coud soutions.

for ost oranizations, tis sentient sees to coe as a resut o overasta satisaction, but one interviewee rearked tat sta ost justoowed er ead on te sotware as se oved as uc to te coud as se

coud. Te consutants we spoke wit areed tat an oranizations te worked wit started trin toove ore soutions to te coud ater ettin started wit teir irst.

Surve data supported tis snowba eect, as we. Near 80 percent o nonproits surveed were usinore tan one coud soution, wit over 37 percent usin two to our, and an ipressive 42 percent usinive or ore.

IT Stffing and Numbe Of cloud Solutions


Most people are prettyopen to cloud

computingyou can

work from home, you can

log on from anywhere.

We would be open to

trying other cloud-based

solutions.

100%

90%

80%

70%

60%

50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%

Tble 7 Peent of espondents, by IT stff size, using multiple loud solutions.

No one isesponsible

fo IT

bout 1/4time peson

Less tn full timepeson

1 full timepeson

2 o moeIT Stff

39.30%

37.24%

23.46%

43.02%

40.22%

16.76%

45.16%

39.78%

15.05%

46.99%

32.53%

20.48%

43.21%

34.57%

22.22%

Less tn two Two to fou Moe tn fou

Tble 6 Numbe of loud solutionsused by ogniztions.

Numbe of Peent of loud solutions respondents

0 8.71%

1 11.91%

2 12.42%

3 13.19%

4 11.78%

5 9.86%

6 9.22%

7 7.94%

8 5.76%

9 5.89%10 2.82%

11 0.51%

Gnd Totl 100%


14/35

Wy ae Nonpofits coosing cloud Solutions?

Setion Summy

Suvey espondents nd inteviewees bot mentioned tt te loud benefitted ogniztions

by eduing te buden on te IT infstutue nd stff. Respondents aso reported takin anuber o advantaes and disadvantaes into account wen considerin coud-based sstes or teiroranizations. Aon te:

more tan 42 percent cited reote access as an advantae.

Near 24 percent cited ease o aintenance.

more tan 50 percent cited cost as a actor in teir seection process.

39 percent tat decided aainst a coud soution cited tota cost over tie.

more tan 50 percent o tose wo decided aainst a coud option cited conversion costs.

W are nonproits takin up coud soutions in suc i nubers? Itappears to be due to a cobination o actors. hosted options oer soeparticuar advantaesor instance, te abiit to access te roanwere, and te opportunit to reduce IT inrastructure and sta. But oran oranizations, te decision to use a coud-based sotware packae is aatter o weiin eatures, cost and tie, just ike an oter kind osotware.

remote aess

Because ou can access coud sotware trou a browser, it as te distinct advantae o portabiitoucan use it anwere ou ave an Internet connection. As we entioned, tere was no correation betweenow an ocations an oranizations sta ebers worked ro and its use o te coud, but reoteaccess was sti a ajor concern or surve respondents. Tose wo ad recent ipeented a coudsoution were ore concerned about reote access tan oter respondents, but not as concerned abouttie and cost. Not surprisin, oranizations tat ad recent decided aainst a coud soution cared teeast about reote access.

remote aess as a Fto Fo Softwe Seletion


We have multiple sites,

so a hosted solution

would oer a single point

of access for our sta.

80%

60%

40%

20%

0%Ogniztionstt eently

seleed loudsolution

21.27%

48.87%

Ogniztionstt deided

ginst loudsolution

22.95%

19.67%

Ogniztionstt did not

eently seleet loud solution

28.46%

36.07%

We onsideed it, but it wsn't top pioity

Tis ws/would be deiding fto

Tble 8 Peentge of espondents wo felt emote ess ws impotntfo seleting softwe, bsed on wete o not tey seleted loud solution.


15/35

Wen asked to ist soe o te advantaes o coud sotware, over 42 percent o respondents cited teabiit to access te sotware reoteaost doube te nuber or te second ost-entionedadvantae, ease o aintenance. In addition, severa interviewees cited reote access as an advantae tatad a positive ipact on teir oranizations ission, and tree o te our experts we interviewed isted itas a beneit o coud coputin. Not on does te coud ake teecoutin or workin ro oe easier,but it enabes socia workers and case workers to access a database or oter sotware wie in te ied,

savin tie tat woud oterwise be spent on data entr back at te oice.

redued Mintenne

Anoter requent entioned beneit o te coud or nonproits is tat it sits te burden o aintenanceto te vendor. Traditiona instaed sotware can require a reat dea o aintenance, as can te ardware onwic it runs. Updates, securit patces and even data storae can be expensive and tie-consuinespecia or sa oranizations wit no IT sta.

Near 24 percent o respondents isted ease o aintenance as an advantae o coud sotware. Aost 45percent et tat it woud be a decidin actor. Not surprisin, tose wo ad recent decided aainst acoud soution were east concerned about aintenance. Surve respondents and interviewees botentioned tat te coud beneitted oranizations b reducin te burden on te IT inrastructure and sta.

Time It Tkes To Mintin te Softwe as a Fto Fo Softwe Seletion


Tble 9 repoted dvntges of loud solutions.

hve you found ny speifi dvntges fo Peent of

you ogniztion in using osted solutions respondents

ove instlled? If so, wt?

Reote access 42.75%

maintenance 23.91%

Cost 8.33%

Data Back-up 6.16%

Staff tie 1.81%

Survey respondents and

interviewees both

mentioned that the cloud

benetted organizations

by reducing the burden

on the IT infrastructure

and sta.

80%

60%

40%

20%


seleed loudsolution

23.98%

42.08%

Ogniztionstt deided

ginst loudsolution

18.03%

27.87%



20.24%

48.10%



Tble 10 - Time spent mintining softwe s fto fo seletion.


16/35

A o te experts we interviewed saw reduced inrastructure aintenanceas a ke beneit o te coud. As one expert put it, te coud enabesoranizations to spend ess tie wrestin wit sotware, ore deiverinission. Traditiona instaed sotware requires a skied proessiona toanae te required ardware and sotware, and ensure updates arecorrect and propt instaed and tat data is reiab backed up. In

contrast, coud soutions tpica require on a reasonab up-to-date webbrowser wit a stabe, i-speed Internet connectionte vendor takescare o te ardware and aintenance.

Moden Fetues nd Intefe

Wie ear web-based soutions tended to ack te pois o traditionainstaed options, te experts suest tat te situation sees to bereversin. Newer coud-based sstes everae iproveents in te abiit

o web browsers to dispa inoration, oten surpassin teir instaedcounterparts in ook-and-ee and exibiit. Te ease o eneratin webors eans browser-based sotware can provide dierent users wit

custoized interaces. Wie tis can be done wit traditiona sotware,it takes ore eort ro proraers, and appens ess requent.

Te coud oers advantaes or vendors, too. A renta-based deiver odecan ensure a constant revenue strea tats not sowed b te reuctanceo custoers to pa or sotware uprades. Tis eans tat new sotwarevendors in soe cateories o sotware are reeasin on coud options,decreasin te poo o instaed sotware tats avaiabe.

Te cost of cloud Softwe

In te coud, as wit an sotware, nonproits ook at te overa cost o te sotware wen akin aseection. Across a te surve respondents, cost was a top priorit or seectin sotware in te coud. Ooranizations wo decided aainst a coud soution, 39 percent cited tota cost over tie as an iportantdecision akin actor, and over a o oter oranizations aso ooked at cost as a priorit consideration.

Te Totl cost Ove Time as a Fto Fo Softwe Seletion


The cost of installation

and maintaining apps on

each computer is a

hassle, and dicult to

keep up to date. Having

cloud apps signicantlyreduces internal technical

time. [It] also reduces the

need for internal

hardware.

There tends to be more

innovation on cloud

solutions as its easier toroll out updates. Theres a

higher rate of innovation

to the things that matter

to nonprots, like mobile

and social media.

It seems like the

installed software is a

pay it once-and-done,

[but] often the cloud-

based software is a

subscription type of

service. It just does not

seem cost eective for

our size of operations.

80%

60%

40%

20%


seleed loudsolution

19%

56.56%

Ogniztionstt deided

ginst loudsolution

14.75%

39.34%



19.44%

52.71%



Tble 11 Peentge of espondents wo felt te totl ost ove time ws impotntfo seleting softwe, bsed on wete o not tey ose loud solution.


17/35

Tere is tpica a breakin point or te coud ee per user ode. Oneo te consutants we interviewed noted tat in te coud, te biest[cost] isnt equipent, but te nuber o usersat a certain nubero users, it tpica becoes ore cost eective to bu a soutiontan to rent it. One consutant put tis point soewere between 50to 100 users, but te true nuber wi var ro one vendors pricin

ode to te next. Soe vendors oer voue discounts, and otersit even neotiate at ees. Suc odes ake coud soutions orecost eective or arer nubers o custoers, but tota cost over tiewi reain a concern or an arer oranizations.

more tan a o oranizations wo ad not recent ad to ake adecision to use or not use a coud soution cited conversion costs as aniportant consideration. Tis is a eitiate concern. As one expertssaid, ou can ip [a coud soution] on wit a credit card, but tatdoesnt ean ou soudnt tink in advance to set it up rit.Weter a soution is instaed in-ouse or rented in te coud, settin

up te sste and ovin data between sstes is neiter eas norinexpensive.

Te cost Of convesion as a Fto Fo Softwe Seletion

But Its Just Softwe

Our interviews ade it cear tat an nonproit sta wo coosecoud soutions dont see to know or care tat te soution is in te

coud. for exape, two o te six users we interviewed were usinappications ike broadcast eai and onine surve toos witoutreaizin tat te were coud-based. Anoter interviewee cose acoud-based soution ater te insta CD or te instaed version aiedto work. In a tese cases, te decision was based on wat worked, andwat was avaiabe, rater tan weter or not te soution was coud-based.


80%

60%

40%

20%


seleed loudsolution

13.57%

36.65%

Ogniztionstt deided

ginst loudsolution

18.03%

36.07%



18.04%

50.90%



Tble 12 Te peent of espondents wo felt tt te ost of onvesion wsimpotnt fo seleting softwe, bsed on wete o not tey seleted loudsolution.

Case Stud:To te cloud, Focost Svings

Wen it outgew its

pevious emil seve, tis

multi-lotion umn

sevie ogniztion

deided to eple Outlook

emil wit Google apps.

Even fte pying fo elp

wit te tnsition, it still

sved money ove te

nnul fee ged by te

old povide. Some

ogniztion stff d

touble switing fom

Outlook, but ovell, te

ogniztion s been

stisfied wit te

tnsition, nd s tken

dvntge of su new

fetues s ommon

lend system, online

doument sing nd

stoge, nd te impoved

ollbotion between

offies.


18/35

Our experts areed wit tis pator-anostic approac to soution decision-akin. One said, Its notTe coud is rit and instaed is wronou need to ake an inored decision based on our needs andcosts.

man o te concerns entioned in te surve were basic sotware considerations tat woud be true oran sotware, osted or instaed. for ore tan a o a respondents, te tota cost over tie was adecidin actor in teir sotware seection, and over 45 percent aso cited te cost o convertin ro teirprevious sotware. Siiar, 38 percent were concerned wit ow te sotware woud ipact sta tie. Intota, two-tirds o oranizations were concerned wit weter te coud sotware woud work wit teirexistin appications.

conens Fo coosing Softwe

Wos Doing te coosing?

IT departents ave traditiona paed a are roe in sotware seection. however, our interviews reveaedtat tis is not necessari te case wen it coes to decidin to ove to coud sotware.

Tree o our our experts noted te absence o IT sta aon coud decision akers. Peraps becausecoud-based soutions enera require just a web browser, sste copatibiit and inrastructure are ar

ess iportant considerations, renderin IT sta input coparative unnecessar. Wit coud soutions,undraisers and prora sta are epowered to coose te sotware tat works or te. O te users weinterviewed, a said te drove te eort to coose teir oranizations coud soutions, and on one o tesix was in te IT departent.

Its ostedwe dont even need to te IT, one o our experts said, quotin a cient. however, anoter saidcoud soutions soudnt necessari cut IT out o te sotware ooprater, it soud enabe IT sta to takea broader, ore strateic roe. more sotware coices can be driven b IT, e said, because te coud canoten serve a broader swat o te oranization.


80%

70%

60%50%

40%

30%

20%

10%

0%Te time it

tkes to

tin oustff to use

tis

Tble 13 Peentge of espondents onened bout speifi ftos fo softwe seletion.



30.22%

33.16%

Te time ittkes to

mintinte

softwe

21.13%

44.81%

Te time ittkes fo

ou stff touse te

softwe

27.78%

38.16%

Te ost ofonveting

fom oupevioussoftwe

16.77%

45.71%

Te totlost ove

time

18.95%

52.75%

Te bilityto wok

emotely

25.99%

38.41%

Te bilityto wok wit

my oteexisting

pplitions

22.02%

44.17%


19/35

Seuity In Te cloud

Setion Summy

a numbe of espondents nd inteviewees mentioned seuity onens s weiging into

tei deision-mking poess bout loud-bsed solutions. We asked about tree speciic aspectso coud securit. O tose:

About 55 percent said ear o osin contro o teir data was a decidin actor wen weiincoud soutions.

Near 61 percent said te sae about unautorized access to teir data.

About 61 percent said reiabiit o access to teir data was a decidin actor.

Anoter 59 percent vounteered concerns about securit wen asked open-ended questions about tedisadvantaes o te coud.

Wen ou ention te coud, peope tend to express teir concernabout te saet and securit o data stored tere. A woppin 59percent o surve participants wo vounteered inoration aboutdisadvantaes o te coud cited soe variation o data contro, securit,privac, or access. In addition, our intervieweesincudin a teexpertsentioned securit issues as we, bot perceived and actua.given te strin o i-proie coputer securit breaces in 2011, sucsecurit concerns arent surprisin.

Securit is a nuanced issue wit a nuber o acets, but an nonproitsta ebers dont ave a ver nuanced understandin o it. Inresponse to a question about securit, or instance, one intervieweesaid, I ou watc an ovies or TV, ou know anone can access our

inoration onine. Te experts we interviewed said tis tpe ostateent is aost copete unounded, but its tpica o teeeins o a substantia nuber o te nonproits incuded in teresearc.

About 21 percent o tose wo vounteered inoration about tedisadvantaes o te coud entioned sip te i eve concept osecurit, oten verbati, wit no detais beind teir concerns. Tereis itte evidence, owever, tat coud-based soutions pose an orerisk tan an oter sste connected to te Internet.

Wen ou break securit down into its coponent parts, ou see a orecopex view. Te ost coon cited acet o securit is ensurintat unautorized peope cant access our data. Unautorized accessexposes a sste to riad treats. A acker it access our sste,treatenin te conidentiait and privac o our data, or soeonewit unautorized access it cane our data, wic can be ard todetect and can destro trust in te inoration ou own. Near 61percent o surve respondents rated unautorized access as a ke actorin sotware seection.


Case Stud:Te cloudDoesnt Mtte ifit Doesnt hvete Fetues

a vendo ssued tis Texs

umn sevie ogniztion

tt its ollbotion

softwe fo pojet

would edue te mount of

time stff needed. One te

osted softwe ws

implemented, oweve, te

opposite poved tueit

took moe stff time te

tn less. Wile te

ogniztion is not ppy

wit tis loud-bsed

solution, it ontinues to use

ote osted solutions,

inluding stff emil nd

onstituent dtbse. Temessge? Te loud is

gowing in populity, nd

is touted s tenologil

pne, but like instlled

softwe, it is still not

witout its fults.


20/35

conens about Speifi aspets Of Seuity

Aain, te experts we interviewed et tat nonproits ears about unautorized access were eneraunwarranted. In act, te beieve te coud oers increased securit options over an traditiona etods.

Despite te edia attention devoted to i-proie securit breaces, te nuber o suc breaces asone down in recent ears.1 In addition, coud-based soutions ace te sae risks as an oter internetconnected acines, incudin tose ocated on an oranizations preisesor ost sa-to-ediusized nonproits, teres no reason to suspect tat data stored in te coud wi be ess secure tan datastored onsite.

In act, one expert we interviewed suested tat oranizations coud even outsource securit actors, sucas hIPAA privac requireents or credit card PCI copiance, to vendors wo can prove tat teir ssteseet tese reuator standards. Te idea is tat wie ost sstes toda are exposed to te daners ote Internet, an coud vendors ave better capacit tan custoers to keep inoration sae. One userareed, and said se ad no ait in [er oranizations] abiit to keep peope ro ackin its coputers.Reputabe onine vendors tend to take ar ore securit precautions tan a nonproit coud reasonab take.

One exception to tis, as a consutant pointed out, is an oranization tat it need to protect its dataaainst overnent subpoenas. No vendor wi resist a subpoenai our oranization woud considerresistin, tats a reat reason not to put our data in te coud.

Anoter critica eeent o securit is te reiabiit o access to our onine dataor instance, ow ike isit tat ou ose Internet access and be unabe to reac te service? Or tat te vendors service wi odown or ours, or das? Or out o business atoeter, takin our data wit te? About 61 percent o tesurve respondentsa siiar nuber to tose tat were concerned about unautorized accesset tatreiabiit o access was a ajor consideration wen tinkin about osted sotware.

Our experts areed tat tis is a rea and substantia concern, especia wen it coes to Internet access.Stabe, i-speed Internet is taken or ranted in ajor etropoitan areas, but its oten spott ornonexistent in ess-dense popuated parts o te countr. To an oranizations on te rura side o tisdiita divide, Internet access beond dia-up connections a be a proibitive expensive uxur, i itsavaiabe at a. Coud soutions are not enera a reat option or nonproits witout a reiabe Internetconnection.


80%

60%

40%20%

0%cn we keepunutoizedpeople fom

essing ou dt?

13.06%

60.82%

Will we looseontol of ou

own dt?

16.01%

55.44%

Will ou stffve elibleess to ou

dt?

13.32%

61.08%



Tble 14 Peentge of espondents onened bout seuity wen seleting softwe.

Theres a trust

relationship with the

vendors who have your

datayou need to decide

who to trust. I use

Dropbox, and I trust it a

lot, but why? Why do I

trust them not to sell my

les? Im not sure,

exactly.

1 Coputer Securit Institute 15t Annua 2010/2011 Coputer Crie and Securit Surve, p. 2 Respondents reported arked ewerinancia raud incidents tan in previous ears, wit on 8.7 percent sain te'd seen tis tpe o incident in te covered period.


21/35

Its aso iportant to deterine a coud vendors track record in ters o uptie and reiabiit. Wie a arevendor wit a redundant inrastructure wi ike ake access to our data at east as buetproo as ourpower or Internet access, saer vendors coud ave ore siniicant issues in tis area. Nonproits in oursurve aso entioned concerns about teir data i te vendor oes out o business. Our experts areed tattis risk is eitiatenonproits soud backup teir data and vet te ikeiood tat teir vendor wi be

around or te on ter.

We aso asked peope weter te et tat contro over teir data was asiniicant concern. About 55 percent o peope wo responded to tisquestion said it was. As an aenc o te State o Texas, oranizationinsists on retainin contro o a sotware and data, said one respondent.her oranization probab as ver speciic poicies and procedures or dataprotection tat are ore easi cecked and veriied wen sstes are in-ouse. But ses not aone in er concern.

for soe respondents, contro it reer to an unspeciic ear steinro not bein abe to psica touc te coputers tat ouse teiroranizations data. for oters, it reers to a vendors autoatic updateswie not avin to peror sotware updates is oten perceived as a beneit

o coud soutions, it can be an issue wen te updates arent desirabe, or coe at te wron tie. forexape one interviewee entioned tat users at er oranization arent app wit soe o te recentcanes to er coud soution. Siiar, a surve respondent said er oranizations instaed database wasdeinite an advantae copared to a osted soution, because it oered contro over access, updates,tiin and trainin opportunities.

Interestin, concerns about coud securit didnt appear to broad deteradoption o osted soutions aon our surve respondents. Ater a, wie59 percent o surve participants entioned tat securit issues were adownside o coud soutions, over 91 percent o te were usin teanwa. Peraps nonproits ave dierent perceptions o te securit riskso dierent tpes o coud sotware packaes? Ater a, te risks o usin aosted soution or sensitive constituent or accountin data it beperceived ver dierent tan tose or an oranization usin it to storepotos or send broadcast eais.

Its certain wort considerin, tou, i securit concerns coud ave an ipact on adoption o sstes bsta ebers. Ater a, i sta wont use our sstes in te coud, it doesnt atter i tere actuasecure or not.


About 80 percent of oursta are eld sta, so

they are out and about in

very remote areas. Some

areas that we service still

have dial-up for Internet

access, and there is no

cellular phone service.

This is a big hurdle for

us.

What happens if the

company is suddenly no

longer in business or

discontinues service?

What happens to your

data?


22/35

consideing retun On Investment

Setion Summy

Return on Investent did not appear to be a siniicant actor aon respondents wen coosin coud-based soutions:

8 percent said te easured ROI substantia.

26 percent said ted ooked at ROI soewat.

Ver ew peope incuded in tis researc were evauatin te Return on Investent o a coud soution.On 8 percent o tose surveed said te were substantia easurin, wie anoter 26 percent said tead ooked at ROI soewat.

Te nubers o tose tru easurin ROI coud be even owerwe interviewed two surve respondentswosaid te were easurin ROI, but neiter ad actua done so. One ad not et started a pannedanasis, wie te oter said er coud soution was ree to use, and tat se was app wit it. Its possibese considered te vaue se derived ro er ree soution a positive Return on Investent, but se did no

ora easureent.

Te consutants we interviewed areed tat ROI is sedo easured. One suested tis it be becauseew nonproits ave easured te beore picture and tus ave notin to copare wen te ake teswitc to te coud. It a be tat easurin ROI takes sta tie tat oranizations, particuar sa andediu size nonproits, ind ard to justi wen weied aainst activities tat produce cear andiediate resuts.



23/35

conlusion: Wt Does Tis MenFo You Ogniztion?Coud-based sotware it see ike a new concept, but its notitste evoution o sotware accessed over te Internet, wic weve usedin one or or anoter or a decade or ore. for soe nonproits,

owever, te indset wit wic te approac te sotware ascaned. Coud soutions provide nonproits wit te opportunit tooutsource soetinike te aintenance o servers and sotwaretat a not be teir oranizations core copetenc.

As opposed to tinkin o IT inrastructure as a act o ie, soeoranizations are beinnin to tink about it ike eectricitsoetintat ou can rent rater tan create ourse. you coud put a eneratorin our baseent to produce our own eectricit, but ten oud aveto run and aintain it ourse. In ost cases, its ore cost eective tosip pa te power copan or eectricit. Siiar, it a be ore

cost eective to pa a vendor or te use o teir servers and sotwaretan to run and aintain our own.2

One consutant we interviewed said, Eventua, peope wi stop saincoud, because evertin wi be tere. he it be rit, but its tooear to predict te uture o coud coputinits not et ubiquitous,but aread its ore tan a ad. Traditiona sotware vendors ikemicrosot now oer onine versions o an o teir products, and innice areas, ike donor anaeent sotware, new entries to tearket ave been aost excusive coud-based.

Internet securit reains a eitiate concern. however, it soudnt bea reason to avoid te coud atoeter. Coud soutions are no esssecure tan an oter coputer connected to te Internet. Tisincudes our own servers and coputers, wic are oten ar essprotected ro onine and oter daners tan ou a beieve.Reaistica, a vendor wo speciaizes in keepin data secure can do aar better job o it tan te tpica sa- to ediu-sized oranization.Soe nonproits it even outsource securit b usin a coud vendorcopiant wit an reuations tere subject to, ike hIPAA or creditcard PCA requireents.


Case Stud:confidene fomte cloud

Jessi, te dieto of

smll niml selte, uses

PetPoint, n online,

loud-bsed system to elp

tk te ogniztions in

e e. as tees no one

esponsible fo IT t e

ogniztion, Jessi

disoveed te solution

eself t Ls Vegs tde

sow fte te vendo of

te instlled pkge se

d been using went out ofbusiness.

Sed d so mu touble

wit omputes sing

nd lost dt tt osted

option seemed to mke

moe sense tn instlled

softwe. Fo seuity,

toose sid se d no

fit in e ogniztions

bility to keep people fom

king into its omputes.

I feel dt is moe seue

wit PetPoint. Tey ve

moe pbility to keep

tings seue. a poblem

would sew wit tei

eputtion.

he selte uses te

tking system in

onjuntion wit blog to

post potos nd stoies of

pets tt need doption.

Jessi feels its elped e

ogniztion to e out to

te ommunity nd findomes fo nimls. Te

downside? Eveyone bings

us nimls, se sid.

Wee ovewelmed wit

ts igt now.

2 Tis etapor is courtes Nicoas Carr, Te Bi Switc: Rewirin te Word, ro Edison to gooe" 2008


24/35

Ver ew nonproits incuded in our researc ad easured te speciic ROI or ipact o usin coudsotware, but te vast ajorit said te beieve te soutions ave been epu. We asked surve recipientswo ad recent decided to ove to a coud soution about te ipact o tat product on teir ission80percent o tose wo responded said te ipact was enera positive, wie just 7 percent et it wasneative. Te our experts we interviewed a areed tat, wie it was diicut to tie coud coputindirect to ission ipact, usin coud soutions can ep nonproits decrease teir tecnoo

inrastructure and tus devote ore resources to teir core ission. Tis coud aow an oranizations toocus ore on te strateic and ission ipications o tecnoo rater tan te nuts and bots oeverda aintenance.

Wie coud coputin can be a boon to an oranizations, its not a panacea. As one consutant put it, itsa istake to tink tat te coud air dust as taken awa a te probes tat ever existed witsotware.

In te end, coud sotware is just sotware. Its critica to evauate te cost, eatures and vaue o eacindividua product rater tan ake decisions soe on te wa its deivered. your oranization a ind,or exape, tat a particuar instaed soution as exact te eatures ou need, wie te coud soutionsou ook at dont or vice versa. In tat case, its irreevant weter te product is in te coud or not, ason one soution eets our requireents.

like an oter tpe o sotware, a ou can do is copare our needs to wats avaiabe. Are te tpicabeneits o te coudike reote access, decreased aintenance and autoatic updatesactua o vaueto ou? To wat deree are ou concerned about tpica downsides, ike te inabiit to access te sotwarepackae wen our Internet connection is down, or ess contro over te tiin and content o updates?how do te costs copare across our dierent options? And undaenta iportant: Wat particuarsotware packae wi work best or our oranization?



25/35

about te autosJy Leslie, Idelwe. As Senior Researcer at Ideaware, Ja is responsibe or researcin sotwarecoices trou deos, interviews and surves, and usin tat inoration to create eas-to-use resources.he brins to is roe 15 ears o experience in inoration tecnoo anaeent in te nonproit andpiantropic sectors. Prior to Ideaware, Ja was an IT executive at te Atantic Piantropies, were e ed

severa ajor sotware seection and ipeentation projects.

Kyle andei, Idelwe. As a Researcer at Ideaware, Ke is responsibe or surve researc, data anasisand writin, and serves as a subject atter expert on utiedia production and advocac topics. Prior to

joinin Ideaware, Ke spit is tie between anain Indiana State Universits student radio station,researcin video ae counication and workin on oca eections.

Lu Quinn, Idelwe. laura as been workin in te sotware sector or ore tan 15 ears. AsIdeawares Executive Director, se directs Ideawares researc and writin to provide candid reports andartices about nonproit sotware. Prior to Ideaware, laura ounded Ader Consutin, were se epednonproits create Internet strateies, seect appropriate sotware, and ten buid sopisticated websites on aiited budet. Se as aso seected sotware, desined interaces and conducted user researc or uti-iion doar sotware and website ipeentations wit suc copanies as Accenture and iXl.

about IdelweIdeaware, a 501(c)(3) nonproit, provides torou researced,ipartia and accessibe resources about sotware to epnonproits ake sart sotware decisions. B sntesizin vastaounts o oriina researc into credibe and approacabeinoration, Ideaware eps nonproits ake te ost o teirtie and inancia resources.

Ideaware speciaizes in cobinin traditiona researc tecniques ike interviews and surves witsotware-seection etodooiesike detaied ratins o sotware toos aainst a rubricto enerateiportant new knowede on aordabe budets. We ten packae our indins into approacabe reports,artices, and trainins tat ep nonproits ake te on-te-round decisions iportant to te.



26/35


about NTENa communityTnsfoming

Tenology IntoSoil cngewww.nten.og

Wo We ae

A counit o nonproit proessionas, we aspireto a word were nonproit roups o a tpes andsizes use tecnoo strateica and conidentto ui teir issions. Toeter, te NTEN

counit eps ebers put tecnoo towork so te can brin about te cane tewant to see in te word.

Wt We Do

NTEN connects ebers wit one anoter andoers an opportunities or earnin andproessiona deveopenta so ou can ocus onacievin our oas and eetin our ission.

how We Do It

NTEN eps ebers, wit teir diverse jobunctions and eves o tec coort andexpertise, sare best practices, and ean insitsro one anoter bot onine and o: trainin,researc and industr anasis, reiona eet-ups,our sinature Nonproit Tecnoo Conerence.As a eber, ou ain instant access to asupportive counit tat sares our passionsand caenes, as we as to vauabe resourcesor proessiona deveopent.

connet

Online Netwoking / www.goups.nten.og

Weter oure a webaster, arketer, executivedirector, undraiser, boer, prora anaer, orpa anoter roe in te nonproit sector, connectwit our peers onine. Join our Ainit groupsand socia networks, browse te meberDirector, post in our onine orus.

Events / www.nten.og/events

NTENs Nonproit Tecnoo Conerence andoca eet-ups brin nonproit proessionastoeter to sare ideas and best practices. get toknow coeaues. Deveop a support network. Taksop. Vent. Conratuate. Coaborate. Tepossibiities are endess.

Len

NTEN Webins / www.nten.og/webins

Canin te word isnt eas. NTEN ebers areawas ookin to earn ore about ow to usetecnoo to urter teir issions. gain aweat o knowede witout ever eavin ourdesk trou NTENs extensive scedue o ivewebinars and arcived events.

NTEN rese / www.nten.og/ese

NTEN coaborates wit renowned industr,acadeic, and nonproit partners to conductresearc on ke subjects reated to nonproittecnoo ike IT stain and spendin, saaries,socia networkin, and data ecosstes. Ourreports and bencarks studies oer actionabedata and invauabe insider inoration.

cnge

NTEN: cnge / www.nten.og/ntennge

NTEN: Cane is a quarter journa or nonproiteaders. you ind uidance on te strateic andpractica considerations necessar to ake tesound investents and decisions tat wi epour oranization acieve its ission.

NTEN connet newslette /www.nten.og/signup

Read ow NTEN ebers are uiin teirissions and canin te wordand ow oucan too. Te ree ont NTEN Connectnewsetter brins ou soid advice, successstories, and best practices reated to tecnooand te nonproit sector.


27/35

appendix a: rese MetodologyIn Auust 2011, NTEN, wit Ideaware, conducted a surve o nonproits to earn ore about te use oosted, or coud, sotware soutions in te nonproit sector. Surve participants answered questions aboutow an coud soutions te were usin at te oranizationa eve, wat tpes (seected ro a ist o 10coon sotware tpes), and ow on te ad been usin eac soution. for te u text o te surve,

see Appendix C.

We distributed te surve nationa trou eit individua nonproit state associations (Arizona,Arkansas, Connecticut, montana, mician, Pennsvania, Nort Caroina and Texas). Wie soe states adreater representation tan oters, a reions were represented, and we ave no reason to beieve teresuts were biased toward an particuar reion in an wa tat woud aect te surve resuts.

Te invitation to participate speciied tat te surve was intended or eac oranizations tecnoodecision akeras a resut, tou participants in an dierent roes took te surve, te ajorit wereexecutive directors. In a, 780 peope out o te 23,787 we contacted responded, or a response rate o 3.2percent.

Surve recipients were invited to take a surve about teir tecnoo, and in return, be invited to a series oree onine trainins. We speciica desined te outreac strate to reac oranizations tat ad notprevious said te were interested in tecnoo. given te inora nature o te outreac, owever, andour ow response rate (b researc standards), its probabe tat peope wo were interested in tecnoowere ore ike to take te surve. Tis eans our sape soud be considered soewat indicative ononproit trends, but not a representative sape o nonproits nationwide.

Te surve concuded b invitin respondents to participate in additiona researc. O te 130 peope woconsented to bein contacted, we reaced out to rou 70, eac representin a dierent sub-section oovera respondents. Utiate, we narrowed tat poo o participants down to six nonproit sta ebersor interviews. Tese sta ebers cae ro oranizations o a sizesbot wit and witout dedicated

IT statat use utipe coud soutions, are ear coud adopters, tat easure te Return on Investento teir coud soutions, or tat speciica decided aainst usin coud-based soutions. In addition, weinterviewed our consutants wo work priari in coud tecnooies to deterine te ajor strentsand weaknesses o te coud ro an industr perspective.



28/35

appendix B: DemogpisA tota o 780 peope responded to te surve. O tose, 213 worked at uan service oranizations, wic,wit 28.2 percent o responses, was te arest ocus area represented. Te reainder o te responses werewide distributed between oter ocus areas. Neiter te resuts o te surve nor te use o coudsoutions reveaed no stron trends around an oranizations ocus area.

O a respondents, 341 worked at oranizations witout dedicated IT staover 43 percent o te survesape, te arest b a wide arin. O tose respondents wose oranizations did ave IT sta ebers,ver ew ad ore tan one person, and on 10 participants ad an IT sta o 10 or ore.

Oranizations were air even distributed accordin to ae, but were ost ike to be between 20 and 40ears od. Reative ew participants oranizations were recent start-ups, and just over 100 oranizationswere ouner tan ive ears.

Budets were air even distributed trou te sa and ediu rane, but tended toward te saerside. B a narrow arin, oranizations were ost ike to be operatin on an annua budet o $100,000or ess. Ver ew oranizations were in te iest tiers ($10 iion a ear or ore), and ver ew were

operatin at no annua budet or wit an a-vounteer sta.

Aost 32 percent o participatin oranizations epoees worked ro on one oice or ocation, andjust under 25 percent ad epoees workin ro tree or our ocations. Tere was no reationsipbetween te nuber o oices or ocations aintained b an oranization and its use o coud sotwaresoutions.



29/35

Pge 1

1. Wt best desibes you ogniztion'spimy issue e?

Arts/Cuture Civi Rits/Advocac Education Epoent Environenta heat housin huan Services Internationa lea Pubic/Socia Beneit fait-Based yout Oter (pease speci)

2. about ow mny IT stff membes does

you ogniztion ve? No one is responsibe or IT About 1/4 tie person ess tan a u tie person 1 u tie person 2 u-tie peope 3 to 5 u-tie peope 6 - 10 u tie peope 10 or ore

3. about ow long s you ogniztion

existed?

one ear or ess one to ive ears ive to 10 ears 11 to 20 ears 21 to 40 ears 41 to 75 ears ore tan 75 ears

4. Wt is te ppoximte nnul budget of

you ogniztion?

none - a vounteer beow $100,000 $100,000 - $250,000 $250,001 - $500,000 $500,001 - $1 miion $1 - $2 miion $2 - $5 miion $5 - $10 miion $10 - $25 miion $25 - $50 miion ore tan $50 miion

5. In wi stte is you ogniztion's

edqutes?

Aabaa Aaska Arizona

Arkansas Caiornia Coorado Connecticut Deaware District o Coubia forida georia hawaii Idao Iinois

Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentuck louisiana maine marand massacusetts mician


appendix c: Suvey TextTank ou or participatin in tis surve.

NTEN and Ideaware ave created tis surve to assess te extent o and use o coud coputin in tenonproit sector. for te purposes o tis surve, coud coputin reers to osted sotware and/ortecnoo inrastructure, wic is sared b an users and accessed onine or trou a browser.

Upon copetion o tis surve, ou wi aso ave te opportunit to participate in a series o ree webinars.


30/35

minnesota mississippi missouri montana Nebraska Nevada

New hapsire New Jerse New mexico New york Nort Caroina Nort Dakota Oio Okaoa Oreon Pennsvania Rode Isand

Sout Caroina Sout Dakota Tennessee

Texas Uta Veront Virinia Wasinton West Virinia

Wisconsin Woin Oter

6. Fom bout ow mny lotions does you

ogniztion wok? (offies, ome,

teleommuting)

1 2 3 to 4 5 to 8 9 to 15

ore tan 15 I don't knowAn oter soutions ou access

trou a browser?


Used fo Used fo Used fo consideing No pln Don't Know

moe tn 1 to 3 less tn to use

3 yes yes 1 ye

Poto sarin

(e.. fickr)Office sotware(e.. wordprocessin,spreadseets, etc.)

Pone ssteor voiceai

Broadcast eaito constituents

Accountin sste

Docuent storae

Coaborationsotware

Data backup

Constituentdatabase

Staff eai

7. ae you uently using osted sevie tt you ess ove te intenet fo ny of tese

tings?


31/35

8. Did you ogniztion mke deision to

use ptiul osted softwe pkge in te

pst ye?

es no don't know

Pge 2

Tis pae was on seen b respondents woanswered eiter no or dont know to Question 8

9. hve you speifilly deided ginst using

one o multiple osted softwe solutions fo

you ogniztion?

es no don't know

Pge 3

Tis pae was on seen b respondents tatanswered es to Question 8.

10. Wt type of osted softwe did you most

eently oose?

Data backup

Broadcast eai to constituents Constituent database Oice sotware (e.. word processin,

spreadseets, etc.) Coaboration sotware Poto sarin (e.. fickr) Docuent storae Accountin sste Pone sste or voiceai


Tis ws We onsideed Tee ws vey Tis wsn't

deiding it, but it wsn't little diffeene onsidetion

fto top pioity between ou

options

Te cost o convertin roour previous sotware

Te tie it takes to train

our staff to use tisTe tie it takes or ourstaff to use te sotware

Te tota cost over tie

Te abiit to work wit oter existin appications

Te abiit to work reote

Te tie it takes to aintainte sotware

11. Wen omping you softwe options fo tt oie, ow did te following onens ftointo you deision mking?


32/35

13. hs you ogniztion mesued te retun

on Investment of you osted softwe inompison to ote, instlled solutions?

We ave not easured tis We ave ooked at tis soewat We ave been substantia easurin tis

14. hve you found ny speifi dvntges fo

you ogniztion in using osted solutions

ove instlled? If so, wt?

15. hve you found ny speifi disdvntges

fo you ogniztion in using osted solutions

s opposed to instlled? If so, wt?16. Do you feel tt te osted solutions you

use elp you ogniztion meet its mission? If

so, ow?

17. as tnk-you fo ompleting tis suvey,

NTEN nd Idelwe would like to invite you to

seies of tee fee webins. Would you like

to be invited to ptiipte in tese webins?

yes, I woud ike to be invited No, tank ou

18. afte tis suvey, we e doing dditionl

ese into te use nd pevlene of loudsoftwe in te nonpofit seto. ae you

willing to be ontted to ptiipte in fous

goup?

yes, I a wiin to be contacted No, I do not wis to be contacted

19. Nme

20.Emil

21. Ogniztion

Pge 4Tis pae was seen on b tose tat answeredes to Question 8.





options

Can we keep unautorizedpeope ro accessinour data?

Wi we ose contro o ourown data?

Wi our staff ave reiabeaccess to our data?

12. Wen omping you softwe options, ow did te following seuity onens fto into

you deision mking?


33/35





options

Te tie it takes to train ourstaff to use tis

Te tie it takes to aintainte sotware

Te tie it takes or our staffto use te sotware


Te tota cost over tieTe abiit to work reote


22. Wen omping you softwe options, ow did te following onens fto into you

deision mking?



fto top pioity between ouoptions

Can we keep unautorizedpeope ro accessinour data?

Wi we ose contro o ourown data?

Wi our staff ave reiabeaccess to our data?

23. Wen omping you softwe options, ow did te following seuity onens fto into

you deision mking?


34/35

24.Wt ote onens do you ve egding

osted softwe?

25. as tnk-you fo ompleting tis suvey,

NTEN nd Idelwe would like to invite you to

seies of tee fee webins. Would you like



26. afte tis suvey, we e doing dditionl

ese into te use nd pevlene of loud

softwe in te nonpofit seto. ae you

willing to be ontted to ptiipte in fous

goup?

yes, I a wiin to be contacted No, I do not wis to be contacted

27. Nme

28.Emil

29.Ogniztion

Pge 5

Tis pae was seen b te participants wo

answered no or dont know to Question 8.


Tis would Tis would Tee's likely Tis would I don't

be ig be fto to be little not be know

pioity fto we would diffeene impotnt

fo us onside between

ou options

Te tie it takes to trainour staff to use tis

Te cost o convertin ro

our previous sotwareTe tie it takes or ourstaff to use te sotware




Te sotwares abiit towork wit oterexistin appications

30.Wen oosing between osted softwe pkge nd n instlled softwe pkge in

genel, wt e te mjo ftos you would onside?


35/35

32. Do you tink tee e ny speifi

dvntges fo you ogniztion in using

osted solutions ove instlled? If so, wt?

33. Do you tink tee e ny speifi

disdvntges? If so, wt?

34.as tnk-you fo ompleting tis suvey,

NTEN nd Idelwe would like to invite you to seies of tee fee webins. Would you like



35. Nme

36.Emil

37. Ogniztion

Tis is Tis is impotnt, Tis is te sme I ve not

mjo but not s mu s ote types tougt

onen s ote onens of softwe bout tis

Te tie it takes to train our

staff to use tisTe tie it takes to aintainte sotware

Te tie it takes or our staffto use te sotware





31. Wen tinking bout osted softwe, ow do you feel bout te following seuity onens?

2012 state of the cloud report

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