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Helping an organization grow
SCC’s work with the Domestic Abuse Project
When Ann Moore began working with the Domestic Abuse Project in 1987, the organization had only one computer that the entire staff used for word processing. They have come a long way from those days and Success Computer Consulting has helped them along the way.
Founded in 1979, the Minneapolis-based organization was the first program of its kind in Minnesota. Through advocacy and therapy programs for women, children, adolescents and men at a number of Twin Cities locations, DAP is committed to creating environments that are free from domestic abuse.
These days the organization is based in four locations—its home office in Minneapolis and satellites at Pilot City Regional Center (north Minneapolis), Little Earth United Tribes Housing Neighborhood Early Learning Center (south Minneapolis) and Minneapolis City Hall. And, that means their technology needs have grown dramatically as well.
Ann Moore manages DAP’s operations and administration and has been working with SCC for more than a decade. “Prior to that we had been working with different firms on individual projects and it was really becoming a mish mash. We were starting over each time we began a project so there was no continuity with our technology, she says. “When we started working with SCC that all changed and we had expertise. What appealed to me was the opportunity to work with one firm on all our tech needs.”
What really impressed Ann about SCC was the company’s commitment to learning about what DAP did and how technology could better help them meet organizational objectives. SCC helped DAP build its first network.
Ann is the first person to admit IT is not her area of expertise and not one of the top priorities of her position. “The SCC staff is very attuned to us. They outline the various approaches and costs related to a tech issue so that I am able to weigh what is best for our organization—and, as a nonprofit organization with limited resources, that is essential.”
In the past year SCC worked with DAP on restructuring the network and selecting a new server which now provides a central place for all critical DAP information that had previously been kept on local work stations. “What is just phenomenal is this system was less expensive than our previous server and it allows us to do so much more,” Ann says. Not only has it put a consistency in place for the organization but it has saved Ann countless hours of staff time on troubleshooting and staff training at DAP’s work stations around the city.
The best part according to Ann: “We get the expertise we can’t afford to have on staff from folks who are fun and who can translate the tech into common sense language.”
And, that is pretty crucial for an organization with more important things to focus on than technology.
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