Governance and structure: Decision-making and oversight
"A supporting hand to help you make the right decisions or to keep a firm grip on what's going on with your technology projects or initiatives."
Key to managing the strategic use and control of IT in your non-profit organisation is having an appropriate decision-making and oversight structure in place.
The right system of governance will enable you to make better-informed procurement decisions, deliver your IT strategy, and lead digital transformation programmes with confidence.
Through analysing your current decision-making processes and gathering situational understanding from across your organisation, we can help you to design a suitable governance structure with tailor-made terms of reference.
We can also provide guidance for governance groups and facilitate the meetings if required, either an on ongoing basis or to simply ‘help you get going’.
Why Adapta
Our team of consultants is drawn from the voluntary sector and includes people who have held senior management positions in both large and small organisations. We understand the how, what and who of IT governance. Uncertainty is often the greatest obstacle to planning and decision-making. Working together with you, we can help ensure your IT systems are cost-effective, warranted by business cases, and underpin rather than hamper your success.
Clients
We have helped many charities, membership organisations and other non-profit organisations with their Decision-making and oversight projects. Below are examples of just a few of the organisations we have worked with.
What our clients say
Andy Murphy
Director of Finance and Business Support, WAGGGS
"Adapta were quick to understand our issues and needs going forward and their knowledge and expertise was evident in their suggestions. I would not hesitate to recommend Adapta Consulting to any organisation seeking independent IT support or advice."
Eileen Parle
Applications Manager, RCPCH
"Adapta helped us to introduce rigour to the final versions of our business case and options paper. They provided an experienced and unbiased perspective, which ultimately guided our senior management in considering which decision to take."
Mary-Ann Piggott
Executive Administrator, Anatomical Society
"Adapta always listened very carefully to our needs. They understood the complexities of membership organisations. Their broad range of experiences in the sector and of dealing with suppliers was invaluable to us."
Josh Weinberg
Former Head of Financial Systems and Change, Citizens Advice
"We got exactly what we needed from Adapta - challenge, experience, assurance, yet in a context where we've still internally owned the decision making."
Denise Spence
Chief Executive, Girlguiding Scotland
“Thank you to Adapta for your professional support with helping us procure a new integrated retail solution. We welcomed the research and the chairing of the sessions with potential suppliers. It was a rigorous process and we needed the external advice!”
Our experts
Paul Sypko
Consultancy Director
07773 321293
Email
Paul is a highly experienced technology and management consultant with nearly 30 years’ experience leading high-impact consultancy engagements. With a senior-level...
Philip
Associate Principal Consultant
Philip is a senior IT professional, experienced in leadership positions such as IT Director / Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has a particular focus on technology strategy, architecture and consultancy. Adapta clients have included...
Paul Sypko
Consultancy Director
“Charities and not-for-profit organisations are demanding users of information systems and digital technology. There’s a clear sense of purpose in the sector, and that shows in how technology is used to achieve impact and obtain real value. Not-for-profits often hold massive amounts of data, much of which is highly sensitive in nature, and they engage in many different ways with a very broad range of stakeholders. Whether it’s using digital channels to support personalised ‘user journeys’ or high-impact campaigning and engagement, or diligently taking care of back-office systems to deliver an efficient and cost-effective service, it’s great to be working in a sector where technology can be used so effectively to make a tangible difference to people's lives.”
Paul is a highly experienced technology and management consultant with nearly 30 years’ experience leading high-impact consultancy engagements. With a senior-level CIO/CTO background, he specialises in technology strategy, digital solutions, interim leadership, technical leadership, infrastructure and systems management, service reviews, information security, data protection, supplier management, and the selection and oversight of technology partners. Much of Paul’s work has been in the not-for-profit sector, though he also brings significant commercial experience. Before co-founding Adapta, he held senior roles at sector specialists Sayer Vincent, Crowe UK, and BlueSpark Consulting. Earlier in his career, he worked at strategy consultancy Strategy& (now part of PwC), where he received a Professional Excellence Award for leading a large-scale digital transformation and innovation programme. Paul has delivered assignments for over 100 organisations, including charities, membership bodies, trade unions, royal colleges, professional institutes, and commercial businesses. His recent clients include ActionAid UK, the Bank Workers Charity, the British Medical Association, Central YMCA, Crisis, Chichester Cathedral, Girlguiding Scotland, Guy’s & St Thomas’ Foundation, the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health, the National Children’s Bureau, Maudsley Charity, Westminster Abbey, and the Woodland Trust. His core areas of expertise include strategic planning for technology platforms and digital tools, service reviews and outsourcing, commercial contract negotiation, project planning, data protection, technical leadership, and procurement of business-critical systems such as CRM. Paul is a state-educated graduate of the University of Oxford, where he was awarded a scholarship to study Economics and Management at St John’s College and the Saïd Business School. A Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute and a Fellow of both the Institute of Consulting and the Institute of Leadership and Management, he is also a Certified Business Advisor and a member of the British Computer Society’s IT Leaders Forum. He played a key role in shaping the Chartered Management Consultant award, launched in 2020, and continues to support those working towards professional recognition. Outside work, he chairs the board of trustees for a local Scout group and remains committed to helping others realise their potential.
“Paul is enthusiastic, dedicated and a highly capable person who works with such integrity and to a high standard. I very much value Paul’s support and guidance and know I can always rely on him.”
Philip
Associate Principal Consultant
Philip is a senior IT professional, experienced in leadership positions such as IT Director / Chief Information Officer (CIO) and Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has a particular focus on technology strategy, architecture and consultancy. Adapta clients have included Asthma UK, Cranstoun, Earthwatch, Enham Trust, the Labour Party, Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, Lymphoma Action, the Mental Health Foundation, NSPCC, PCS Union, Pony Club UK, SignHealth, the Royal Society, the Trussell Trust and the Woodland Trust. Commercial experience included senior management roles at Sopra Steria and its public-private joint venture Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL), 2012-2016. Before that (2003-2012), Philip provided IT leadership as a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Justice (CTO) and the National Offender Management Service (CIO). Earlier, as Technical Director, Philip led the European professional services team for Software.com (later known as Openwave), specialising in email software, following a similar role with HP Consulting. He has travelled widely and worked overseas in the Americas, Europe and Asia, including having lived for three years in India as a British Council officer. Philip has significant experience at board level in both commercial and voluntary organisations, as non-executive director, charity trustee and chairman. Philip was previously Chair of Trustees at Eduserv, a not-for-profit IT services business. Philip has held numerous voluntary roles within the Church of England and the United Reformed Church, from local to national levels. He has advised both the Alzheimers' Society and the Church of England on IT strategy, information security, programme delivery and organisational design, on a voluntary basis. He has also been a school governor in both the UK and in India, and served as the chair of trustees for Hands of Compassion, supporting primary education in Zambia. Philip read Natural Sciences and Mathematics (MA MMath) at the University of Cambridge. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (FIoD FBCS MIET).
Emma Revie
Chief Executive, Trussell Trust
“To achieve the level of change we saw in 6 months without the support of Adapta would have been impossible. Shortly after completing the project the pandemic hit. Without the work completed by Adapta, our organisation would not have been able to weather the pandemic and keep working.”