Case Study | Google Apps for Business

Google Apps enables BAZNAS to reduce IT costs by 50% Organisation Established in 2001, BAZNAS is a government-supported charitable organisation that collects Zakat from Muslims to help the needy and small business owners across Indonesia. Zakat means grow (in goodness) and the act of giving Zakat for Muslims is considered a form of offering thanks to God for the material well-being one has acquired.

At a Glance

As part of the new Zakat Management Act No. 23, announced in Indonesia in 2011, BAZNAS also organises trainings for other Zakat collection offices owned by provincial governments across country.

What they wanted to do: • To be mobile and have data easily accessible by employees on the move • To reorganize their growing database of donors and recipients • To incorporate the latest technologies with SiMBA but still keeping the ease-ofuse factor for local officers who are less tech-savvy to operate What they used: • Gmail • Google Drive • Hangout What they achieved: • Over 50% cost savings on physical servers, from IDR4 billion to IDR1.3 billion • Increased mobility of staff with the ability to respond to emails and access the server at any time from any location • Ability to embed Google Apps to their own software • User-friendly Google Apps easily adopted by everyone in the office • Increased operational availability of corporate email using Gmail compared to their previous email server

Challenge BAZNAS needed an effective method to coordinate all Zakat collections and distributions across Indonesia’s 7,000 islands. Prior to switching to Google Apps, BAZNAS was using a Bank Data server to store all corporate information and personal data, including fundraising and distribution data that has been processed or archived. This approach wasn’t feasible for its growing database. The Fund Raising and Distribution team was also constantly on the move to collect and distribute Zakat physically while the IT team travelled to other regions in Indonesia to introduce and train local officers on how to use the National Zakat Management Software (SiMBA). While on the move, the Fund Raising and Distribution team and IT trainers were unable to access the corporate data base, leading to lower work efficiency.

"Google Apps is extremely user-friendly. This was very important for us as we have many employees and partners, especially from the smaller provinces that are less tech-savvy." — Mr Achmad Setio Adinugroho, IT Manager of BAZNAS

Solution While Achmad Setio Adinugroho, IT Manager of BAZNAS, felt that it was necessary to structure the personal information of donors and recipients, it was difficult to manage the growing database with his five-member IT team. He was thus considering upgrading their physical server to cope with the influx. However, with its ability to simplify work and improve productivity, Google Apps became BAZNAS’s preferred and more cost-effective choice. “Google Apps is extremely user-friendly. This was very important for us as we have many employees and partners, especially from the smaller provinces that are less tech-savvy,” said Mr. Adinugroho. Result BAZNAS initially planned to spend IDR 7 billion to build up their data centre, with a majority of the budget factored in for purchasing a physical server.

About Google Apps

Google Apps is a cloud-based productivity suite that helps you and your team connect and get work done from anywhere on any device. Google Apps includes Gmail, Google Calendar (shared calendaring), Google Drive (online content storage and sharing), and Google Docs, Sheets & Slides (document creation and collaboration). For more information, visit www.google.co.id/a

However, with Google Apps, BAZNAS saw no need to spend on a physical server, managing to reduce costs from IDR4 billion to IDR1.3 billion, over 50% of their initial IT budget. “After being introduced to Google Apps in 2013, we were able to switch our focus to developing our own software with the cost savings,” said Mr. Adinugroho. The mobility of Google Apps also allowed BAZNAS’s employees to have access to corporate data while they are travelling and this resulted in a significant improvement in productivity and efficiency levels. Employees used Google Drive to access shared corporate data seamlessly while away from their desks. “Each BAZNAS employee now has a personal Google Apps account, and even the least tech-savvy employees, with minimal training, are comfortable using Google Apps” added Mr. Adinugroho. Another key benefit that BAZNAS now enjoys is the ability to share large files via Gmail with employees and officers from other provinces. Google Hangout has also helped the BAZNAS IT team reduce travelling cost and time. BAZNAS even held one of their media conferences via Google Hangout where local officers got together online to witness and participate in the event. Looking at the successful move from a physical server to Google Apps, BAZNAS plans to switch their existing IT infrastructure and networks to Google Cloud in the next five years. BAZNAS also develops its own data collection software to track donations and the IT team is currently working on ways to enhance SiMBA, by integrating it with Google Maps. The IT team is looking forward to testing out other Google Apps to find out how these other applications can further increase workplace efficiency.

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