The iSTEDY.com team is helping Epic Opportunities to adopt a new, state-of-the-art software management system.
A new, state-of-the-art management software system will soon allow Epic Opportunities staff to spend less time performing routine tasks and devote more time to providing essential services to people the agency serves.
The Epic Management Software (MS) system was developed by iSTEDY.com, a Winnipeg-based software services company. The software acts as a digital administrative assistant and allows users to do everything from schedule shifts and track budgets to file reports and monitor the progress of specific programs in a fraction of the time usually required.
Epic Opportunities is currently testing the MS system and the first version of it is expected to go live in September, according to Tal Vargulich, iSTEDY.com’s chief executive officer.
Vargulich says what makes the system unique is its intuitiveness and ability to analyze information and make recommendations based on information that is inputted. That can include sending out an alert when a household item such as a furnace requires servicing or notifying a user when a staff member has been scheduled to work two shifts at the same time.
“We don’t want people to adapt to the software, we want the software to adapt to the people,” he says.
iSTEDY.com’s management software is already being used by nearly 100 companies and non-profit organizations across the country.
Vargulich says one of the reasons for the system’s growing popularity is the simplicity of its design. It is customized to meet the specific needs of each user group and doesn’t provide a bunch of unnecessary bells and whistles. Most users can learn to use the system within 15 minutes, he adds.
“Simplicity is the key,” Vargulich says. “If it’s simple for you to use you will want to use it. If it’s complicated you will find excuses not to use it.”
The biggest benefit of the system, Vargulich says, is that it requires staff to spend far less time on tedious day-to-day tasks such as filing reports or searching for paper copies of documents while enabling them to devote more of their shift to providing essential services to the people they support. It can also save organizations money by suggesting how staff can be best deployed and promote safety by issuing reminders about when a home or vehicle may require servicing, he adds.
iSTEDY.com’s management software system was specifically designed for three industries: home and healthcare; education and employment; and medical transportation.
Vargulich says the cloud-based system provides the highest level of online security available with one of the highest encryption levels currently offered in the technology industry. In addition, iSTEDY also has two Canadian-based data centres (one in Winnipeg, the other in Toronto), meaning no data crosses any borders and there is always a back-up available.
Ruby Reimer, Executive Director of Epic Opportunities, says the database will offer the organization a foundation for accountability and will allow it to monitor and evaluate the services it provides in a more meaningful way going forward.
“It will allow us to be much more informed on so many new levels. Decisions can then be made with data as opposed to speculation and anecdotal evidence,” she says.
Epic Opportunities was able to purchase the management software system thanks in part to a $15,000 community grant from the Winnipeg Foundation as well as donations of $5,000 from Investors Group and the Epic Opportunities Foundation.
Kerry Ryan, a community grants associate with the Winnipeg Foundation, says the foundation’s two main criteria for choosing grant recipients is that they must have a registered charity number and provide a benefit to the people of Winnipeg.
“The idea is for all of these organizations to flourish and serve the community to the best of their ability,” she says.
