Singapore pools launches iShine Cloud to empower local charities with the right IT tools and support

Creating a cloud-environment for charities

Committed to being a world-class, socially responsible gaming company trusted by customers and valued by the community, Singapore Pools has been a major source of funding for charitable causes since 1968. But the organisation wanted to go beyond funding and build a culture of giving from within. So, it launched iShine in 2003.

iShine is a staff community program that stands for “I Serve from the Heart and In Nurturing Everyone.” It supports the community at large by inculcating a spirit of giving amongst Singapore Pools staff.

Since 2007, iShine staff volunteers have been successfully organising events under its flagship “With A Heart” fundraising events, raising over $4.6 million in donations to-date in support of numerous charities and good causes. To enable charity organisations to serve their beneficiaries better, Singapore Pools extended beyond iShine and set up ‘iShine Cloud’ with dedicated resources.

A key observation has been that many charity organisations do not always have access to the right IT platform or tools. Lack of training, inadequate expertise, licensing and maintenance concerns as well as the bewildering number of IT options constrained many of these organisations, hobbling them from reaching their goals and impacting their productivity.

iShine Cloud provides charities with an integrated suite of business productivity and sector-specific solutions via a secured cloud-based IT platform at a subscription-based charity pricing. The virtual desktop platform can be accessed on different devices at any time and from anywhere. With the offering, iShine Cloud aims to improve the productivity, governance and efficiency of the back-end operations of charity organisations, thus enabling them to focus on serving their beneficiaries better.

To address the challenges faced by charities, iShine Cloud needed a trusted, long-term IT partner who was able to build and deploy within a short time frame.

Maximising the best-of-breed advantage

From the onset, the challenges were clear. Charitable organisations did not have the resources for efficient IT operations. As a result, they had less flexibility at work that impacted productivity.

The work environment for professionals in the charity sector was also evolving fast. Users expect seamless networking and secure user experience when using key applications. However, their current, restricted environment formed a hurdle to embracing concepts like Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Remote connectivity, especially for field staff, was challenging, while many lacked the IT support and security needed for productivity.

iShine Cloud supports Microsoft Office 365, shared storage, accounting, and human resource systems on a common, multi-tenanted platform. HKBN JOS worked closely with Singapore Pools team to roll out the cloud platform. HKBN JOS was specifically involved in the end-to-end deployment of network, firewall and storage.

Secured access ensures that an individual charity organisation has control over the applications and data using their own devices. Furthermore, charities only have to pay and scale their IT requirements when needed, allowing them to budget accordingly and streamline their IT expenses.

HKBN JOS is delighted to leverage what we are good at: having an in-depth understanding of customer needs and proven technical know-how to deliver solutions for the purpose of good cause for the society,

– Andrew Tan, Managing Director, HKBN JOS Singapore

With a pool of highly qualified and experienced IT professionals, HKBN JOS was able to follow through with the planning, design and deployment on time.

Empowering charities to focus on care-giving

iShine Cloud offers immediate benefits for the various users of charity organisations. One key benefit is the improvement to internal operations and control.

With the adoption of the cloud platform and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) technology, iShine Cloud lowers the maintenance burden on charity organisations. It also increases operational efficiency, offers better control of data, and improves reporting and decision-making. Together, they allow professionals in the charity sector to focus on their work, instead of worrying about IT issues.

Staff productivity is vastly accelerated with the use of VDI. With 24/7 convenient access, professionals in the charity sector can have the IT resources they need immediately. BYOD support also means that staff can access their applications and information from anywhere and on their most convenient devices securely.

Meanwhile, the best-of-breed infrastructure improves overall reliability and reducing user frustration. It securely stores data while eliminating unplanned system downtime and data loss arising from security breaches. 

Overall, iShine Cloud helps charities to gain cost efficiency and scalability. By providing a suite of applications and infrastructure tailored for charity organisations, they do not need to worry about runaway costs, unforeseen budget overruns and costly maintenance upgrades.

Professionals in the charity sector are now empowered to provide the care that the community needs, while maximising each dollar donated on those who really need it

– Singapore Pools’ spokesperson