New Zealand Red Cross Improves It Resilience
New Zealand Red Cross has moved 95 per cent of its IT infrastructure to the cloud to improve its resilience from natural
disasters.
McDonalds IT is working with Red Cross to reduce the organisation’s risk of having its IT systems crippled during a
natural disaster.
“We began working with Red Cross over two years ago, initially checking out the lay of the land with their IT system. It
was clear some improvements needed to be made,” McDonalds IT director Tony McDonald says.
New Zealand Red Cross secretary general Tony Paine says it is important to ensure the organisation’s IT infrastructure
is resilient at all times, particularly during disasters.
“Red Cross is known for its frontline work as first responders during emergencies. Having robust IT systems behind the
scenes, that support our operations is crucial and will further help us deliver the right relief to the right people at
the right time.
“This new system will also support and improve the delivery of our day-to-day services, ensuring a smooth flow of
information for our programmes across Aotearoa and around the world,” Mr Paine says.
New Zealand Red Cross’ national office is in Wellington, however the servers are now in the cloud, supporting more than
450 staff and 15,000 members and volunteers around the country.
Red Cross chief information officer Wayne Sims recognised the vulnerability of their systems and decided that reducing
these vulnerabilities was a key focus for the organisation.
“Our priority is ensuring that if a natural disaster hits Wellington then we can have the national office offline, but
the rest of the country will remain operational,” Mr Sims says.
Mr McDonald says his company deals with a lot of charities but Red Cross is one of the biggest it has helped move to the
cloud.
ENDS