Did You Know? Online Training, Collaboration Tools Changed the Game for Associations in 2017

This month we asked our readers what technology has made the biggest difference for your organization in 2017. The results:

What technology has made the biggest difference for your organization in 2017?

Online training and certification aided by technology has had the biggest impact on respondents this year, followed by collaboration tools. With many organizations shifting to a team-oriented structure, it’s not surprising that these same organizations are using technology to aid such changes and help their employees continue to work as efficiently as possible.

Other choices in the poll were mobile apps, adoption of cloud computing, 3-D printing, cybersecurity/privacy and using big data.

A plurality of respondents chose “other” as their technology game-changer. If your association benefited from a tech tool not listed above, let us know what it is and how it helps your association in the comments below!

We asked this same question at the end of 2015. Here’s how respondents answered two years ago:

Once considered a breakthrough in affordable technology, cloud computing and the use of cloud services to store files, communicate with others, develop products and has become a routine practice for businesses and associations alike. Gartner estimates that the average organization uses the cloud 1,427 times per month: Every file upload, edit, phone call, video chat, code update or file transfer is included in this count, and helps an organization achieve their goals without being burdened by the cost or time required to maintain heavy equipment or expensive hardware.

The Gartner report cites online collaboration as the most common use of the cloud, in line with the 20 percent of poll respondents who said collaboration tools have made the biggest impact on their association in 2017.

We’ll continue to monitor this topic throughout 2018.