Microsoft Canada Impact Awards Finalist for Industry Innovation
RedBit Helps
War Child Canada
On Their Digital Journey
Empowering the nonprofit to stay focused on their mission of
supporting children in areas they serve across the globe using the right technology
supporting children in areas they serve across the globe using the right technology
RedBit Development digitally transforms War Child Canada, harnessing Microsoft Azure and Microsoft 365 to help empower thousands of children across the globe from the impact of war – despite the impact of the pandemic on charities at home and abroad.
Children in Remocratic
Rebublic of Kongo (DRC) in
a catch up learning classes.
Rebublic of Kongo (DRC) in
a catch up learning classes.
Every day, children around the world face starvation, murder and being abducted into slavery because they happen to be born in the wrong place and time. There are at least 500 million children living in war-torn areas. War has ravaged where they live, destroying infrastructure, families and hope. They have lost any chance at being children; lost out on education, nutrition and family.
But these children are our future, and they deserve so much more. War Child Canada takes action to empower these children, their families and their communities.
Refugee children drop out of school because of hunger, loss of their parents, violence, or being conscripted into war themselves. War Child Canada provides accelerated learning programs that give them a chance at a normal life. Many walk up to 10km a day to attend school because it is their ticket to building a better future.
Isaac is
one of many
Isaac lost both his parents in South Sudan’s brutal civil war and fled with his younger brother and sister to neighbouring Uganda.
He’d been out of school since 2016, raising his orphaned siblings as an orphan and refugee himself. Isaac calls his friends often to urge them to join him.
I phone my friends in South Sudan often. I tell them to come to Uganda, because in Uganda - there is hope.
Peter is
another
He also fled civil war in South Sudan and escaped to Uganda where he
is enrolled in school. He credits War Child Canada with saving his life.
is enrolled in school. He credits War Child Canada with saving his life.
If this programm had not been brought here, I think, I would not be here right now. I would be back in South Sudan. And in South Sudan I know that my age-mates, most of them, have been killed... If I were there I don’t think that I would be alive.
Dr. Samantha Nutt founded War Child Canada in 1999 after working as a young doctor with children facing the violence and despair of war. She saw how long it takes for communities to recover from conflict after the guns fall silent.
War Child Canada develops and manages community-based programs, run by local employees, to help save the next generation, their families and their communities. It all starts with safety
and education, and they provide programs that foster protection, catch-up learning, skills development, food security, justice and economic livelihood, all delivered in very remote and challenging areas.
and education, and they provide programs that foster protection, catch-up learning, skills development, food security, justice and economic livelihood, all delivered in very remote and challenging areas.
Children in Afganistan wearing masks
If this solution saves one
child’s life, I would
consider it a huge win.
Hazel Van der Warken
Head of Operations and Customer
Success - RedBit Development
Success - RedBit Development
Impact on the world
In 2020 with the help of RedBit, War Child was able to make a huge difference in lives of at least 514,000* peoples in 6 countries:
250,000
Educated
Educated
67,000Raised out of poverty
197,000Gained access to justice
400+Employees
99%Local Staff
6 countries
helped:
Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Kongo, Iraq, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda
1
5
,
0
0
0
More people were helped by
War Child in 2020 vs 2019
War Child in 2020 vs 2019
What War
Child Canada had ahead office
pre-pandemic:
Child Canada had ahead office
pre-pandemic:
30 office employees in Toronto, relying on an on-premises server crowded into a storage room.
10+ outdated communication platforms
No IT staff
No remote access to files
or email
or email
No standardization
No document version control
No optimal security
Email functioning as document storage
Dilapidated computers
RedBit brought War Child Canada into the 21st century with Microsoft technologies to enable remote work, security and collaboration across 6 countries, saving expense, increasing productivity and helping save lives.
In true altruistic form, thinking last about themselves and first about those they serve, War Child Canada had ignored the fact that their own ancient technologies had been holding them back. technical debt mounted as they continued to focus on solving problems in the war zones.
Women in Afghanistan attending a women’s rights education class.
Finally, in 2019 they sought help, and the dedicated team with big hearts at innovative technology firm RedBit Development worked with War Child Canada to create realistic phased-in plan and roadmap.
In 2020, when the pandemic hit, it was time to put the plan into immediate action. War Child Canada could no longer rely on their technology stack, ancient out of date computer hardware used daily by their team and multiple unsupported operating systems. War Child Canada had shut down their Toronto office, move its headquarters and temporarily close its field offices. The entire team had to shift to work-from-home, with limited access to files and in-person systems.
Employees in the field needed better communication with Canada than ever as they faced the challenges of changing their frontline programs to respond to the pandemic. With working from home, employees from headquarters needed access to systems to perform their day-to-day functions. Fundraising also needed to be reimagined in a locked-down world and access to systems and files was critical for the fundraising team.
All the challenges identified in our Discovery Process
were solvable by Microsoft
365. And this was
life-changing for the team at War Child Canada.
were solvable by Microsoft
365. And this was
life-changing for the team at War Child Canada.
Mark Arteaga
President - RedBit Development
Impact on War
Child Canada
Child Canada
Using their roadmap and leveraging Microsoft 365, RedBit delivered the solution that would enable War Child Canada to operate in a remote-work world and continue to do their important work.
Some of the technological changes to the organization were:
Rollout of new standardized corporate laptops
Standardization to Windows 10
Latest versions of Microsoft office
Cloud file storage and sharing
Online audio & video conferencing
Corporate social network
Data protection & compliance
Enhanced Security
School children in the DRC
Covid
screening tool - automated
screening tool - automated
To meet the Covid screening requirements of the Ontario Government, which mandated a screening process for entry to workplaces, RedBit employed Microsoft Forms and Power Automate to simplify the process for War Child Canada.
RedBit set up a Microsoft Forms form to collect data from employees who wished to enter their office. Now that they were already on M365, they could simply sign in with their M365 account (same as their email account) and fill in the form.
Read More About This StoryRedBit set up a Microsoft Forms form to collect data from employees who wished to enter their office. Now that they were already on M365, they could simply sign in with their M365 account (same as their email account) and fill in the form.
Microsoft
Technology Stack
Technology Stack
After going through the Cloud Discovery process, RedBit recommended the
Microsoft technology stack as it provided everything required by War Child Canada.
Microsoft technology stack as it provided everything required by War Child Canada.
Windows Autopilot
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Azure AD
Microsoft Autopilot
Power Platform
Productivity Software Deployed to Windows 10 Laptops
Using Microsoft Cloud and Azure AD, RedBit was able to deploy the following software and have it automatically connect to the users Microsoft 365 corporate account.
Microsoft 365
Microsoft Teams
Outlook
Word
Excel
PowerPoint
OneNote
SharePoint
OneDrive for business
Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Defender
School children in the DRC
Alternative Technology Stacks
War Child Canada had been evaluating Google Apps instead of Microsoft 365, but simply did not know what they needed. RedBit demonstrated the benefits of everything Microsoft 365 had to offer and created a simple, phased-in roadmap.
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook were a key differentiator; it avoided a learning curve, since all the employees were accustomed to them
RedBit brought the technical skills to enable War Child Canada to digitally transform, but they also brought empathy and compassion, understanding the constraints of a non-profit in terms of both budget and culture.
The RedBit Cloud Adoption Discovery and roadmap sealed the deal. Their phased approach to the technology transformation was absolutely what helped RedBit win the business and what made the difference for War Child Canada. Too many changes all at once had the potential to overwhelm their employees and create chaos instead of convenience.
Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook were a key differentiator; it avoided a learning curve, since all the employees were accustomed to them
RedBit brought the technical skills to enable War Child Canada to digitally transform, but they also brought empathy and compassion, understanding the constraints of a non-profit in terms of both budget and culture.
The RedBit Cloud Adoption Discovery and roadmap sealed the deal. Their phased approach to the technology transformation was absolutely what helped RedBit win the business and what made the difference for War Child Canada. Too many changes all at once had the potential to overwhelm their employees and create chaos instead of convenience.
The real glue that held us together was RedBit's ability to transition us to that work-from-home capacity so we didn't miss a beat. We had much bigger priorities to focus on - both here in Canada and globally - than spending time determining which video-conferencing software to use and roll out. Everything was incredibly smooth, and that was really thanks to RedBit
Elliot Pobjoy
Chief Strategy Officer & General Counsel -
War Child Canada
War Child Canada
Impact of pandemic on charities
Imagine Canada released a report in February 2021 that shared the grim statistics of increased demand and decreased supply – more need with fewer staff and volunteers, and +50% of charities reporting a revenue decline.
COVID-19 Forces Non Profits to Adopt Technology
A catch-up learning class in Uganda
According to Nonprofit Trends Report by Sales Force, 86% of development professionals believe technology can replace many manual tasks that take them away from fundraising activities; 71 % of respondents said the technology they use at home enables them to be more productive than does the technology they use at work. More than ever, nonprofits need to adopt technology to help make an impact on their mission and going through RedBit’s Cloud Adoption process, is the step in the right direction. The following are other resources re-enforce the technological change nonprofits must undergo.
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Recognized Solution
RedBit’s Cloud Discovery process can be leveraged for other nonprofits who are looking to adopt technology to help increase their impact on their mission. It was also recognized by Microsoft by being a finalist for 2021 Impact Award under the Industry Innovation category.
The use of Microsoft Teams has significantly improved our internal communication and coordination capacity across all the countries where we operate, which has been a real priority for us to get right. Now that out head office has transitioned to a work-from-home structure, departmental and cross-functional teams need to communicate frequently, collaborate on documents, send messages, and engage our staff, Teams offers us the right level of flexibility.
Richard Corbridge
Chief Operating Officer
War Child Canada
War Child Canada
Let’s make something great together!
If you are interested in exploring RedBit’s Cloud Discovery
process or discussing how RedBit can partner with your organization contact us
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