"The typical small business in Australia has a few workers with modest IT knowledge and a handful of computers. It also has a mountain of needs and little time or money with which to resolve them.
"When Next approached the Hope for The Children Foundation--a volunteer organisation providing early intervention support for distressed families with young children--for an unusual IT renovation project, its managers were elated. Shane Dobbin, who was executive director at the time, says the charity had mismatched IT components, mostly received as donations, and couldn't afford to finish any IT projects once started.
"'It's a never-ending challenge,' she says. 'We do it on a shoestring...'"