The challenge: Working on different projects across nine countries
ICT Administrator John Fletcher is responsible for managing Self Help Africa’s fleet of mobile devices. “There are so many people working on different projects across nine countries, so it’s quite a challenge to keep track of all the devices out there,” John says. In addition, because all the devices are funded through donor contributions, the agency wanted to care for those donor-funded assets properly and demonstrate that it was doing so cost-effectively.
“We’re extremely conscious that everything we do is donor-funded,” says John, “and we’re proud that 93% of donations go directly to our community projects, with only 7% spent on admin. I wanted to keep IT admin costs low, so I was looking for something cost-effective to help me track and locate lost or misplaced devices rather than replace them. I didn’t want the solution to cost more than the benefits. I was impressed with what Senturo could do for us.”
The Solution: Easy IT fleet management
“Registering the fleet was easy,“ John says, “and the interface is very user-friendly. It’s a very simple task to switch from a big picture overview of the fleet to drill down to individual devices.”
Self Help Africa operates mainly in the rural communities of nine countries, supporting small-scale farmers across countries within sub-Saharan Africa, including Burundi, Malawi, Uganda, and Zambia. Millions of people subsist below the poverty line, and mobile devices are vital to the agency’s operations to support the farmers. “Mobile devices are a game-changer when it comes to our people on the ground,” John says, “They enable better communication and a whole host of other benefits for our operational staff. That’s why it’s my job to ensure they’re always fully equipped. With Senturo’s easy track and locate features, I don’t have to worry about lost devices.” Self Help Africa can also rely on Senturo’s remote lock and wipe feature, protecting sensitive data should a device go permanently missing.
The result: Demonstrable governance
Being entirely donor-funded, Self Help Africa is responsible for using those funds with care, and it’s formed a robust governance process to ensure that agency assets are looked after properly. “Senturo is a line of defense against loss and the cost of replacement,” says John, “and it demonstrates to our governors and funders our commitment to good governance over the agency assets.”
Senturo’s cost-effective pricing structure helped John trial Senturo across his fleet. He says, “Senturo enabled me to have total visibility of the fleet for a relatively low cost.” Senturo’s super-accurate location tracking and cost-effectiveness give Self Help Africa an affordable way to recover lost devices, avoiding the cost of replacements.
