CASE STUDY

From Fragmented to Future-Ready: How BPM Transformed IT for Bay Area Community Resources 

August 20, 2026

Services: Managed IT Services

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Bay Area Community Resources (BACR) has been a cornerstone of community support in the Bay Area for decades, delivering after-school programs, mental health services, and other vital community initiatives to tens of thousands of residents each year.  

With more than 1,600 employees and over $35 million in operating revenue, BACR operates at significant scale. But like many mission-driven nonprofits, its technology infrastructure hadn’t kept pace with its growth. When a long-standing managed IT services relationship reached a breaking point, BACR turned to BPM to help chart a new course. 

The Problem 

BACR’s technology environment was, in a word, fragmented. A mix of on-premises Windows servers and cloud-based systems had accumulated over the years without a unifying architecture or clear roadmap. The organization had an existing managed service provider, but frustration had been building.  

Day-to-day IT support demands (password resets, help desk tickets, routine maintenance) were consuming the bandwidth of BACR’s small internal IT team, leaving little room for the kind of strategic, forward-looking work the organization needed. 

When BACR decided to make a change, they conducted a mini-RFP and collected bids from three vendors. What they were looking for wasn’t just IT support. They needed a partner who could provide managed IT services, Security Operations Center (SOC) capabilities, and compliance support under one roof. They also needed someone who could see the full picture of where they were and help them get where they needed to go. 

The Solution

BPM’s approach stood out from the start of the scoping process. Rather than offering a generic proposal, BPM’s team took the time to understand BACR’s environment in depth: what their systems looked like, what the pain points were, and what a successful outcome would mean for the organization. 

From that discovery process, BPM proposed a structured 30-month engagement built around 10 clearly defined technology modernization objectives. The proposal was specific, accountable, and built to deliver measurable results; it was not simply a retainer with open-ended deliverables. 

One of the distinctive elements of BPM’s engagement model is what Michael Sellai, partner and head of BPM’s Managed IT Support, calls the “IT bookends” approach. On one end, BPM absorbs all Tier 1 technical support, freeing BACR’s internal IT staff from the constant pull of day-to-day requests. On the other end, BPM’s senior-level professionals work alongside those internal resources to build technology vision, set strategic goals, and execute the complex, high-level work that smaller IT teams typically don’t have the bandwidth or depth to take on independently. 

BACR initially selected a lower-cost competitor. But after BPM explained what differentiated their proposal, the IT director went back to the board with a compelling case: the other vendors had offered services; BPM had identified their specific problems and committed to fixing them. That distinction won the engagement. 

Once underway, BPM conducted detailed 12-month roadmap planning sessions at the start of each engagement year, identifying specific projects, timelines, and priorities in collaboration with BACR’s leadership and IT staff. As the engagement evolved, some of the original 10 objectives were adjusted or replaced as higher-priority needs emerged. This was a natural result of genuine partnership rather than rigid adherence to a static scope. Throughout the process, alignment across BACR’s leadership and IT teams kept the engagement on track and momentum high.

The Outcome 

BPM completed the full modernization engagement in 26 months; four months ahead of the projected 30-month schedule. The results were tangible and lasting. 

The decommissioning of BACR’s on-premises Windows server infrastructure was among the most impactful deliverables, along with standardization and automation work that brought BACR’s IT environment into a modern, unified operating state. With the transformation complete, BACR transitioned from a full modernization contract to a streamlined support-only engagement, reducing their contract cost by nearly half. 

Equally important was what became possible once the foundational work was done. The projects that had consumed years of IT attention were “keeping the lights on” work: necessary, but not strategic. With that chapter closed, BACR’s team has been able to shift focus to value-added initiatives: strengthening the organization’s overall security posture, investing in data-focused projects, and pursuing technology work that genuinely advances the mission rather than simply sustaining operations. 

Ready to Modernize Your Nonprofit’s Technology? 

If your organization is navigating outdated infrastructure, strained IT resources, or a technology environment that’s grown faster than your ability to manage it, BPM’s Managed IT team can help you build a clear path forward: on time, on scope, and aligned with your mission.