Boomi provides data connectivity and technical support to ensure success of the recent Australia Unites Telethon.
Boomi, the intelligent connectivity and automation leader, has announced its support in helping Australian Red Cross raise over AU$27 million for flood-affected communities by enabling real-time data access throughout the Australia Unites Telethon flood relief initiative.
In February, communities in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland were hit by severe flooding that devastated thousands of people’s homes and livelihoods. All three major Australian commercial TV networks subsequently hosted a live telethon to raise money for Red Cross’ work with affected households.
With four days to prepare, Red Cross teamed with Boomi to ensure its technology infrastructure could handle the magnitude of anticipated supporter engagement during the five-hour national broadcast.
“While it looked smooth receiving 30,000 dial-ins on TV, the backend infrastructure in making the telethon possible was a huge feat,” said Brett Wilson, Chief Information Officer (CIO) at Australian Red Cross.
“Australians were eager to dig deep. On top of the caller influx, we saw 24,000 concurrent web users on our donations page. To ensure fellow Australian support could be processed and received by those affected, we needed our technology performing as it should. Boomi was the common link that pulled all our systems and data together, handling the Telethon’s traffic surge and ensuring supporter engagement was accurate and stable.”
Red Cross implemented the Boomi AtomSphere Platform in 2020 as its integration platform to connect a number of its core applications. This helped ensure data about its operations, stakeholders and members would remain secure, accurate and always available, and formed the foundations of the MyRedCross online portal.
For the Australia Unites Telethon, Red Cross rapidly scaled its Boomi services to focus on priority systems – including the MyRedCross portal, customer relationship management system (CRM) Pivotal, financial application Technology 1, and other internal cloud services – to maintain seamless connections for the duration of the live event.
Boomi’s local support team assisted with preparation and remained on standby to ensure the technology performed as intended.
Through the generosity of the public, the telethon provided more than 66,000 people with cash assistance grants.
Red Cross said the achievement comes at a critical time with extreme weather events increasing in frequency and severity. The agility and stability of its data foundation will help the organization continuously respond to the on-going humanitarian impact of climate change, quickly and effectively.
“Telethons typically happen in response to unforeseen, devastating natural disasters, and in the past, we’ve found them difficult to prepare for. But working with Boomi, we now have a technology backbone that makes the right data available and scales connections to best suit any need or magnitude of event,” adds Wilson.
“We hear a lot about the role of data in today’s world, but rarely do we see such concrete displays of tangible community outcomes,” said Nathan Gower, Head of Business Development, Australia and New Zealand (A/NZ) at Boomi.
“The applications and systems that make up the Red Cross donations process were put to the test during the Telethon, and the AU$27 million raised is a testament to the connectivity and accuracy of data stitched into the charity’s technology outfit. Boomi’s role of integrating data to better connect people and donations will become more and more pronounced as Red Cross focuses its support on helping Australian communities be better prepared for climate adaptation.”
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