Napa Firewise, a nonprofit dedicated to wildfire prevention and community education, sought to modernize its technology environment while improving collaboration, security, and operational predictability. Their legacy support model under a Base agreement left leadership without consistent strategic guidance, and IT decisions were often reactive instead of guided by governance.
As the organization scaled, two issues became more urgent:
Contract Complexity
Fragmented support arrangements created uncertainty around billing, forecasting, and accountability. Leadership needed a predictable model that aligned IT with mission outcomes and grant cycles.
Security and Infrastructure Gaps
Legacy file systems, varying security controls, and inconsistent data practices introduced operational and compliance risks. A modern, standards-based environment anchored in Microsoft 365 became essential.
Email discussions between Jyan Omidian, Robyn Bera, and Joe Nordlinger revealed Napa Firewise’s desire to shift from Base support to a comprehensive Maintenance Agreement that delivered:
A review of 2023 billing data showed:
The modest increase provided a significant value gain by adding structured strategy, security advisement, planning, and governance oversight.
Endsight aligned the contract to support Napa Firewise’s operational maturity. The Maintenance Agreement introduced:
This replaced the reactive, ticket-centric Base model with a proactive, structured partnership.
Napa Firewise committed to greater organizational discipline by forming an IT Governance Committee consisting of leadership and key operational stakeholders.
The committee’s role included:
This became the primary mechanism for accountability and long-term planning.
The client fully adopted the Napa Communities Firewise Foundation Information Technology Standards and Requirements (2024) covering:
Endsight’s guidance as TAM/vCIO ensured the standards were not just adopted but operationalized, helping leadership interpret requirements, evaluate tooling, and sequence implementation steps.
Endsight implemented a SharePoint migration that aligned with the new governance and standards framework:
This supported the Governance Committee’s goals of reducing data sprawl and tightening access control.
By pairing the IT Standards with strategic guidance, Endsight delivered improvements such as:
Leadership’s willingness to tighten security and accept the cultural impact of adopting MFA, governance processes, and workstations standards demonstrated a growing maturity that aligned with their mission and stakeholder expectations.
The transition revealed significant strategic value derived from recurring TAM/vCIO engagement.
Through structured meetings, risk reviews, and roadmap planning, the TAM provided:
The organization’s willingness to embrace strong security practices allowed Endsight to implement controls typically challenging for nonprofits with limited staff.
These sessions ensured:
The Governance Committee became the backbone of the new Maintenance model. It ensured:
This governance maturity was not feasible under the Base agreement structure.
The TAM developed a forward-looking security and modernization roadmap that provided clarity on:
Napa Firewise’s adoption of the roadmap demonstrated trust in Endsight’s long-term strategic guidance.
Governance & Decision-Making
The Governance Committee and adopted IT Standards established a sustainable decision framework where IT initiatives are predictable, transparent, and aligned with mission priorities.
Security Maturity
The organization now meets core security requirements:
This represents a major shift from reactive IT to intentional cybersecurity leadership.
Operational Efficiency
SharePoint consolidation reduced friction in collaboration, improved document retrieval, and eliminated legacy data silos.
Cost Predictability
Maintenance billing removed surprises associated with ad hoc work, making long-term planning and grant alignment substantially easier.
Strategic Alignment
Regular TAM engagement provided Napa Firewise with the confidence that technology decisions are being guided by a comprehensive strategy, not isolated work requests.