You can easily outgrow your IT without realizing it – how can you tell if it’s time to scale up? And if it is, then how should you go about it?
Is it time to grow your IT?
When it came time to scale up the scope and capabilities of their IT, the Church of the Annunciation relied on Phoenix IT to manage the entire process. Check out these 3 key benefits that the Church of the Annunciation gained by overhauling their IT infrastructure.
The Church of the Annunciation is a Catholic church, providing a place of worship for parishioners in their local community. Between their regular services and range of additional programming for parishioners, the Church is active on a daily basis.
Much of that activity is reliant on technology. Both as a way to stay in touch with parishioners, as well as to present programming in more modern, convenient ways, IT plays a big role in the operation of a modern church like the Church of the Annunciation.
Why did the Church of the Annunciation need to update their IT?
“Before [Phoenix IT], one of our deacons was managing our technology,” says Shirley Green, of the Church of the Annunciation. “It was basically what you would use in a home. When they hired me, I had technology experience. We had just reached our limits. We felt it was time to branch out and go with a business description of what technology we wanted. Something to expand on.”
The issue they encountered is a common one – they had simply outgrown the personal-style IT that they had been using. As many businesses and organizations like the Church of the Annunciation do, they started their IT by just using consumer-level technologies for professional purposes.
However, this kind of approach can only be useful for so long, before you encounter problems. This is precisely what happened with the Church of the Annunciation.
“We just didn’t have the ability to do other things,” says Shirley. “All I was really doing was emails. We just did not have the technology to do anything online. We had our one program that keeps track of our parishioners. When it was time to expand, we just didn’t have that capability.”
Why did the Church of the Annunciation choose to work with Phoenix IT?
Shirley and other members at the Church of the Annunciation recognized that it was time for them to expand and improve their IT infrastructure before it resulted in further problems or even avoidable consequences.
In order to find a suitable IT company in Phoenix to manage their technology, they asked around and soon connected with Phoenix IT.
“We found him through word of mouth. We asked some of our people who they use,” says Shirley.
What did Phoenix IT do for the Church of the Annunciation?
To start, Phoenix IT got to know the Church of the Annunciation staff and how they use technology. With that knowledge, they developed a high-level plan to oversee each and every aspect of the update process, taking into account the many ways that the Church relied on their IT, as well as accounting for the future of their business, and what they would need as they continued to grow.
As a part of this IT update, Phoenix IT addressed the following technical aspects of the Church of the Annunciation’s technology:
1. Infrastructure expansion: Phoenix IT increased the Church’s server size to ensure that their computers weren’t lagging unnecessarily.
2. Updated Security Solutions: Phoenix IT updated the Church’s firewall in order to better protect them from unwanted external access.
3. Hardware update: Phoenix IT replaced a number of the staff members’ computers, giving them the capability to do their work faster and more effectively.
“About that time, we added another full-time person to the staff,” says Shirley. “All of that prompted that we needed something more. My computer is faster and has more capability. Mine was the first that was replaced because it was an old computer.”
How has the Church of the Annunciation benefited from Phoenix IT’s services?
Beyond the key updates that took place as a part of the initial IT refresh, Phoenix IT has continued to deliver ongoing IT support, and helps the Church of the Annunciation add new technologies and hardware as need be.
In particular, Shirley notes the fact that Phoenix IT helps her and the staff at the Church grow as quickly as they need to.
“The ability to expand and scale technology as needed [was the final outcome],” says Shirley. “We have a path we want to take, things we want to do. We already have a place that we want to. TVs in the gathering stage, so I can take care of signs from my computer. We have installed Wi-Fi networks. He always has our backs. He’s always there. Being able to tell us the next steps keeps us confident.”
Is the Church of the Annunciation satisfied with Phoenix IT?
“Oh, [Jeff from Phoenix IT] always goes above and beyond for us,” says Shirley. “If you ask him for something, he can always come up with other solutions. Things that we don’t think about. Since he knows what is out there and everything, he knows how to solve anything that comes up and make our processes easier.”
In addition to this project, Phoenix IT has continued to deliver support, IT consulting, and more as need be to the Church of the Annunciation.
“Sometimes I will call him at home and if it can be done from remotely, he will,” says Shirley. “Something I appreciate so much is that he keeps me informed. He tells me how things are working and what I can do to take care of issues. I appreciate that because it means I can troubleshoot sometimes and it saves us money and his time.”
Should you work with Phoenix IT?
The Phoenix IT team is proud to offer unbeatable IT solutions combined with our extensive experience in the field to assist organizations like the Church of the Annunciation when their IT is in need of a refresh.
But don’t take it from us…
“Yes [I would recommend them], and I have!” says Shirley. “Whenever I go somewhere that has bad technology or their computers are down, I’m always like “I know a great guy. Let me give you his number!”