The future for charities is “warfare” unless they can get to grips with the people issues related to IT, according to the CFDG’s special IT adviser John Tate.

Speaking during the panel session at the Charity IT Conference last month, Tate said he agreed with the panel that the charity sector is still in its infancy in terms of IT and that it is having to learn different ways of working.

“I think we’re in danger of stalling at the moment and I think the bottleneck or the barrier is people and how people work together and how they do things.”

He added: “If we don’t get to grips with this then my future of IT is, I think, warfare probably.

“Warfare between IT departments and chief executives, warfare between charities and warfare between suppliers and customers, because right now these relationships are what are holding us back, we need to find a different way of managing it.”

He argued that it is up to everyone involved with IT in charities to communicate about their work, use others’ language, and produce statistics about how good a job they are doing, before saying: “But it’s got to come with a stick as well and I’m hoping we’ll see more examples of where things have gone well published on the web, and more examples of where things are done badly.

“I think transparency and what technology can offer have an opportunity to embarrass people into getting things right.”

Change now driven outside the organisation

Meanwhile, Iain Pritchard, engagement partner at Sayer Vincent, argued that boards must understand that change in IT is now being driven from outside of organisations rather than within.

“Expectations on what IT will deliver are no longer coming predominantly from within organisations or being driven by suppliers and what they can produce, they are coming from people’s experience at home, particularly, and outside the workplace.

“So if you don’t know why it is people are buying more and more iPhones, if you don’t know why Facebook is growing exponentially, and why people type into Google instead of a directory, then you need to find out.

“It’s that strategic opportunity and drive that needs to be in the discussions at board level.”

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Charities facing "warfare" on IT, says CFDG adviser

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Directory: Charity Finance Directors' Group (CFDG)
Who's Who: John Tate | Iain Pritchard