{"id":7429,"date":"2017-11-13T12:06:58","date_gmt":"2017-11-13T12:06:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/?p=7429"},"modified":"2018-10-12T21:06:14","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T21:06:14","slug":"hate-my-ams-association-software","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naylor.com\/associationadviser\/hate-my-ams-association-software\/","title":{"rendered":"I Hate My AMS – but Would Never Think about Changing It"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Photo
Photo by Jacob Miller on Unsplash<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Dave
Dave Bornmann, Naylor Association Solutions<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI hate my AMS, but would never think about changing it.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a direct quote from an association executive at a focus group I recently attended. There were lots of nodding heads in the room. I found this a startling statement and started pondering how we got here.<\/p>\n

Back in the day, an association management software system (AMS) focused on the basics of helping an association manage its membership data \u2013 things like contact records, member types, member applications, accounting and reports. They evolved to include features and functions like email, directories, event registration, content management and website upkeep. Today, it\u2019s common for an association software suite to support job boards, blogs, forums, surveys and even business analytics. And that\u2019s only a sampling of the abilities of most of today\u2019s AMS solutions.<\/p>\n

However, if you\u2019re using an AMS today, you\u2019ve probably discovered that it just doesn\u2019t do a great job at everything you need to ensure your association runs smoothly. In defense of AMS providers, it\u2019s a bit unrealistic to expect them to be experts in all functionalities.\u00a0 I\u2019d even say you should give them credit for being responsive to client needs.<\/p>\n

Many AMS providers started out delivering the core set of member management functionalities. Over time, they developed new modules as clients said, \u201cIt would be great if it could also do________.\u201d (You fill in the blank.) Like all new (at the time) software companies, they wanted to do whatever it took to meet customer needs.<\/p>\n

So, AMS providers expanded their products into adjacent areas outside the core of member management. As they created new modules for their association software they started selling this expanded feature set to all clients. However, most associations think their organization is unique with its own set of requirements.\u00a0 Soon, AMS providers were selling their new modules and<\/em> customizing them.<\/p>\n

You may be protesting as you read this: \u201cWe do have unique data management requirements that necessitate custom AMS tooling.\u201d That\u2019s fine \u2013 the point is that customizations upon add-on modules on top of more customizations often results in an unorganized jalopy of association software that requires an extraordinary amount of time and manpower to maintain<\/a><\/strong>. Furthermore, this type of approach to enhancements make training new staff on a custom AMS difficult because knowing how to use it exists more in the realm of oral history than a pass-down instruction reference.<\/p>\n

<\/i>\n\t\t\tCustomizations upon add-on modules on top of more customizations often results in an unorganized jalopy of association software that requires an extraordinary amount of time and manpower to maintain.<\/i>\n\t\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n

This is at the heart of the focus group participant\u2019s proclamation.\u00a0 They have an AMS solution that has so many customizations that the thought of unraveling it and starting anew is simply too much to bear.<\/p>\n

Specialized association software grows popular<\/h3>\n

The good news is that today\u2019s association software environment has options that can keep associations from getting into the predicament of our focus group member.\u00a0 The first among them is the emergence of specialized, niche software products.\u00a0 Over the years, there has been an increasing number of software solutions that address associations\u2019 emerging technological requirements to support their membership, professional development, event or advocacy ambitions.\u00a0 Because these solutions are focused on a particular area, such as event management or email marketing, their features and functions are robust and were developed to meet evolving expectations among associations.\u00a0 The result is a product that can typically work out of the box, with no customizations.<\/p>\n

Many associations have taken to adopting specialty software solutions from companies such as Cvent, EventCart, Real Magnet and Informz.\u00a0 Associations benefit from the better functionality these specialized solutions give their core AMS system and have chosen to eschew some of their custom AMS modules that were originally designed to meet the same requirements.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, no good deed goes unanswered:\u00a0 This new approach of associations using multiple technology solutions brings its own set of challenges. The overall challenge is how to best get these applications talking to one another and sharing data.\u00a0 After all, siloed data is one of the reasons associations move to association management software in the first place.<\/p>\n

On the user interface side, establishing a single sign-on (SSO) across applications is necessary to make it easy for your members to use your association\u2019s systems. They expect to have to remember just one login to move easily between applications.\u00a0 But ideally, you want the back-end of each application to integrate together to make managing member records easy for your staff as well.\u00a0 For example, instead of having staff run an AMS export of customer records to populate your email platform, associations want the two systems seamlessly integrated so that:<\/p>\n

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  1. Data automatically flow between the applications,<\/li>\n
  2. Your staff doesn\u2019t have to wonder whether or not a member communication reaches the most current customer list, whether event registration lists are up to date, or if employers from your job board are receiving the most current promotional offers from your staff, and<\/li>\n
  3. Updates to email addresses (i.e. invalid addresses)in the email platform can be noted directly in your AMS.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Challenges to integrating association software functions<\/h3>\n

    Member software integrations clearly make sense for association members and staff but aren\u2019t always being performed<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0 What\u2019s been in the way?\u00a0 Historically there have been three challenges to integrations:<\/p>\n