Our aims:
vSIp started from a conversation in late 2006 amongst a group of managers who had retired,
or taken a career change, from leading UK IT services organisations. We were seeking volunteer work
that used our skills to contribute to society but had found that
the existing volunteer organisations, whilst doing invaluable work, tended to focus
on the small - medium (under £1m annual income) charities. Larger charities seek
more formal arrangements for support services - not surprising given this is an aspect of their business which
is increasingly critical to
their operations.
Such services from the private sector can be expensive – we know as this is where we come from!
Hence the launch in early 2007 of volunteer Systems Integration professionals – a service that we believe is both
much needed and unique.
Whilst modelled on the major IT service organisations operating in the UK, we are a charity charging for services
on an expenses (typically travel costs) only basis. To achieve this cost structure:
- Our volunteers are all experienced IT professionals giving their time for free
- Where needed, we seek service partners offering pro-bono or heavily discounted services for the charity sector.
- Where services require private sector suppliers e.g. network, hardware and software products, we assist client
charities in procuring direct contracts with those suppliers.
- We have no expensive office infrastructure and use web based tools to allow co-operative working by home based volunteers.
This minimises our corporate overheads and provides contracted services without the costs and mark-ups typically required under the prime contractor model.
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