Case Study - Independent evaluation of shared IT services for a global medical humanitarian organization

#Client

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) provides emergency medical aid in crises caused by conflict, epidemics, healthcare exclusion, and natural disasters. Their Vienna Evaluation Unit commissions and manages evaluations across the movement's projects and services.

#Opportunity

In 2019, MSF launched Shared IT Services (SITS) to consolidate IT operations across its network. The unit grew to support around 36,000 users across 43 offices with over 130 services. A year in, the question was straightforward but hard to answer: were these shared services actually cheaper and better than what individual offices could get on the open market or build themselves? No one had tested that assumption with data. The Vienna Evaluation Unit commissioned an independent evaluation focused on four service areas: security, license management, Microsoft SaaS solutions, and cloud hosting.

#Approach

We interviewed 17 stakeholders across MSF's offices, reviewed 30 internal documents, and collected 18 user surveys to build a picture of how SITS was performing from both a cost and experience perspective. We validated our methodology through an inception report before diving into the analysis.

The core of the work was a Value-for-Money comparison: benchmarking each SITS service against equivalent market offerings and what offices could achieve running their own solutions. We assessed 14 criteria covering cost-effectiveness, service quality, user satisfaction, and alignment with MSF's movement-wide goals. We shared draft findings for input before presenting the final evaluation report and recommendations to the SITS board. The evaluation approach shares DNA with the digital framework review we later delivered for LWF World Service, where we applied similar benchmarking to a broader set of IT services and governance structures.

#Outcomes

The evaluation delivered:

• A Value-for-Money assessment comparing SITS services against market alternatives and internal DIY approaches
• A user satisfaction analysis based on surveys and interviews across the network
• Clear findings on where SITS delivered well and where gaps remained
• Strategic recommendations for the SITS board on service improvements and prioritization

The report gave MSF's leadership a factual basis for deciding where to invest in shared services and where to reconsider the approach.

#Technologies used

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At Hikaya, we help NGOs and nonprofits worldwide evaluate whether their technology investments are delivering the value they should, with honest assessments grounded in user experience and market reality.

If you're unsure whether a shared service, platform, or internal tool is earning its keep, start a conversation with us, or explore how we work from evaluation through to recommendations you can act on.