Big Brothers Big Sisters Save Money with New Technology
Austin, TX (PRWEB) June 15, 2015 -- Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, a nationwide nonprofit that focuses on helping children realize their potential, has partnered with BlueSky Unified Communications, a Microsoft-focused unified communications company, to overhaul their existing communication technology with Microsoft’s Office 365 and Skype for Business. The result has been a game changer for the nonprofit, saving them over $30,000 annually.
“We’ve seen a great return-on-investment,” Big Brothers Big Sisters V.P. of Information Technology & Mentor Sean Ryan said. “Microsoft Office 365 and integrated Skype for Business is now a best practice for us, and we’re sharing this with the federation of 325 agencies nationwide. One of the most beneficial aspects is that it’s a complete solution. Rather than using several third party vendors for different things, you have everything together including PBX capabilities and teleconferencing under Skype for Business.”
Ryan went to Microsoft to start the process, who, in turn, enlisted BlueSky Unified Communications to spearhead the shift to Office 365 for the organization.
“We’re really pleased with the support we’ve received from BlueSky Unified Communications,” Ryan said. “The two things that I find most important are account management and not having to deal with a bunch of people. We want a competent person looking out for us with the technology experience to back it up.”
“We started with Microsoft in 2008 to bring these communication systems to non-profits,” explained BlueSky Unified Communications managing partner Charlie Ramirez. Through BlueSky Unified Communications and its sister Office 365 arm, Team Venti, “We’ve helped hundreds of non-profits over the country and now tens of thousands of their employees can efficiently communicate to serve others. Other non-profits absolutely need to be aware of the fact that Microsoft offers some of their Office 365 plans for free or for a substantial discount.” Team Venti and BlueSky UC worked together to overhaul the existing telephony systems for Big Brothers Big Sisters and transition them from using Lync to Skype for Business. This essentially unifies telephony and computer communications together while eliminating the cost and complexity of traditional on-premises deployments.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America is currently relocating its Headquarters from Ft. Worth, Texas to Tampa, Florida and has about 35 employees. Over the years, the organization has been able to operate efficiently, saving nearly 60% in labor costs by leveraging technology. The organization took advantage of the Office 365 E3 plan that is designed specifically for assisting nonprofits.
By leveraging 365 and Skype for Business, Ryan estimates the result could be a cost savings of $30,000-$35,000 per year.
“Operationally, it means that every dollar we save we can utilize to mentor a kid,” Ryan said.
Charlie Ramirez (pictured in attachment) has over 20 years of experience helping organizations succeed through the smart leverage of information technology.
Based in Austin, TX, Charlie currently serves as founder and managing partner at Team Venti and BlueSky Unified Communications, organizations specializing in Microsoft Cloud services and advanced enterprise communication services based on Skype for Business.
During his career, Charlie has sold or marketed to almost all customer segments in Information Technology including consumer, small and medium businesses as well as multinational Fortune 500 corporations.
Before becoming an entrepreneur in 2007, Charlie held various roles at Microsoft Corporation, ultimately managing their field operations efforts and building their largest U.S. territory serving small and midmarket organizations.
Prior to joining Microsoft, Charlie held global product management and business development roles developing internet services, hardware and software at Dell, IBM and AT&T.
He started his career in New York City where he worked for one of the top Hispanic advertising agencies in North America.
Outside of his family, two of Charlie’s passions are music and technology. He also serves as board advisor to several Texas-based companies.
Jessica Scanlon, Hot Dog Marketing, LLC, http://www.hotdogpr.com, +1 (512) 731-6129, [email protected]
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