I’ve worked with not-for-profit and community organisations for years. The pattern is relatively consistent: technology initiatives operate separately from organisational strategy, creating inefficiencies that compound over time.
Recently I worked with an NFP to deliver a comprehensive Current State Assessment for their IT function. The process revealed where things were working, where they weren’t and what needed to change.
What a Current State Assessment actually covers
A Current State Assessment maps your technology environment against where you need to be. It identifies strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, then provides a baseline for building an IT roadmap that supports your organisation’s goals.
The assessment covers seven areas:
Security: Current security measures and where vulnerabilities exist. What will actually reduce risk.
IT Governance: How technology decisions get made and who makes them. Whether those decisions align with organisational goals. Policies, procedures and regulatory compliance.
People: The IT team’s skills, capabilities and structure. Where gaps exist and what training is needed.
Infrastructure: Current hardware, software and network setup. What needs upgrading or consolidating. What’s creating unnecessary complexity.
Applications: Whether the systems in use actually meet business needs. Where integration makes sense and what should be replaced.
IT Operations: How work gets done – change management, incident management, service delivery. Where processes are inefficient and where improvements matter most.
Data Management: How data is collected, stored and used. Whether it’s secure, accessible and actually useful for decision-making.
Stakeholder engagement matters
The assessment process involves interviewing stakeholders across the organisation. Technology issues rarely exist in isolation – they connect to how people work and where current systems create friction.
SWOT analysis identifies internal and external factors affecting the IT environment. Gap analysis compares current state to desired outcomes, showing specifically what needs to change and in what order.
What the assessment revealed
In this engagement, three strategic initiatives emerged: IT workflow prioritisation, infrastructure consolidation and addressing accumulated technical debt. These weren’t quick fixes. They required understanding how technology decisions connected to organisational strategy and where complexity was generating ongoing cost.
Implementing these initiatives properly delivered substantial cost reduction over three years while improving security, efficiency and operational agility.
What happens next
Based on the findings, we developed a set of actionable recommendations:
- Develop a comprehensive IT strategy and governance framework
- Clarify resource roles and responsibilities
- Simplify infrastructure
- Adopt off-the-shelf solutions where custom builds aren’t genuinely justified
- Standardise IT service delivery processes
- Strengthen data management and security practices
Each recommendation addressed a specific gap identified in the assessment, with clear priorities and expected outcomes.
Why this matters
Mid-sized organisations – whether commercial, community or not-for-profit – often reach a point where technology has grown organically without a clear strategy behind it. Things mostly work, but inefficiencies accumulate and nobody has a complete picture of what they have or what it’s costing them.
A thorough Current State Assessment establishes that picture. It ensures technology initiatives align with organisational goals and delivers a prioritised roadmap based on strategic value – not on who raises the issue most loudly.
That’s the foundation for technology that enables long-term objectives rather than creating ongoing maintenance burden.
