Success Story: MSPs Can Look to Goodwill for a Nonprofit’s Beneficial Cloud Migration

By Michael Brown 1

Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana made the leap to the cloud for more effective backup and disaster recovery. In an industry (nonprofit) that may not always be viewed as a good fit for MSP and cloud migration, Goodwill is demonstrating that the cloud can benefit any company, as long as the approach is correct. It's an interesting migration story for those who offer cloud-based file sharing and other cloud services.

The Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana was lacking IT support and found it too difficult and costly to send their two key system administrators offsite, sometimes for weeks at a time, to test, patch up, and update their previous recovery systems.

Making the Leap (to the Cloud)

So Jeff Ton, CIO and senior VP of corporate connectivity, hired Bluelock, a local cloud service provider compatible with VMware environments, to move Goodwill’s systems to the cloud. Ton decided to store all copies of Goodwill’s primary systems there, and according to this article in InformationWeek, “established a frequently updated copy of its production data.”

Since the move, Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana has found lower costs and room for IT staff to work on projects with higher value.

Goodwill was not the most likely of candidates to make the jump to the cloud, however, being an organization founded in the early 1900’s. MSPs looking to attract large, historical nonprofit organizations would be smart to recognize the areas which are more difficult to convert to the cloud.

For one, moving hundreds of already existing applications with years and years of data might not be the most seamless of transitions. For older organizations such as Goodwill, obtaining accurate ROI metrics for future decision-making is also an integral part of making them feel secure in making the transition.

But the migration for the Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana serves as a great example of how the cloud can help industries that are less likely to migrate.

Ton estimates that the cloud DR service saves Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana $25,000 a year compared to the physical systems they were using before.

These are “significant numbers when you’re a nonprofit,” he says.

An Unlikely Candidate

Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana also supports structured learning environments for adults through their Goodwill Education Initiatives, Inc. The switch to the cloud has allowed IT staff to build data warehouses that can track the 3,000 students who attend the 10 high school programs that Goodwill runs.

Cloud Data analytics have proven to be so effective that by analyzing the data from these warehouses, the numbers accurately predict students who are likely to drop out. Other high schools in the area have even commissioned Goodwill to run its analytics on their own students. 

Perhaps most importantly, Goodwill employees are “freed up to do things that are strategic to Goodwill,” Ton says, “It’s become a revenue generator instead of a cost center.”

MSPs need to understand the fluctuating costs and benefits from company to company, and tailor their approach accordingly. A leap to the cloud is possible for any company, its knowing how to manage it that will determine whether it’s a successful one or not.