Blackbaud has launched a new European Data Centre for its cloud-based CRM and online fundraising software customers, providing more benefits when deploying cloud services.
Nine out of 10 new Blackbaud customers opt to host with Blackbaud, and the company’s selection of the award-winning Virtustream as its IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) provider for application hosting services will make the cloud an even more attractive proposition.
“The time and resource savings, combined with flexibility of payment and deployment, means that cloud-based services could almost have been designed with the not-for-profit sector in mind,” said Blackbaud Europe’s General Manager, Core Markets, Elliot Gowans. “The cloud is integral to our future strategy and a European Data Centre will play a major role in helping NFPs grow more confident and comfortable in deploying cloud services.”
Blackbaud Europe will run on Virtustream’s Tier-3+ Amsterdam node using its enterprise-class physical, security, and environmental controls to support its application hosting solutions. This new Data Centre demonstrates the company’s investment and commitment to optimizing its product portfolio and continuous efforts to offer NFPs the solution-sets they need to fulfill their missions.
Research from Blackbaud’s Data-Driven Fundraising report showed that 31 per cent of UK NFPs are already using a cloud-based CRM system. The survey of 338 not-for-profit professionals also revealed that just 19 per cent said their organisation was concerned about data privacy in the cloud and only 17 per cent were concerned about a lack of control with cloud-based systems, showing that NFPs are increasingly comfortable with using the cloud.
“Many of our existing on-premise customers continue to steadily migrate over to hosting their software with Blackbaud, and this will provide further encouragement for them to do so,” continued Gowans. “Allowing NFPs access anywhere, anytime, with any device and with confidence in their data security, is an attractive and compelling proposition. This in turn lets them concentrate on fundraising and engaging with their supporters.”
