How to Choose an AMS

Ask hard questions.

Committing to an association management software (AMS ) solution is a big decision. 

The SharePoint AMS architecture starts on a multi-Billion dollar platform developed by the world’s largest software manufacturer (Microsoft Corp.) – and it only gets better from there. It doesn’t “integrate” with SharePoint, it IS SharePoint.

Our Association Management Ecosystem™ customers have something very special. They have an extremely powerful platform, with tens of thousands of companies making platform specific apps every day. They have the unique ability to leverage a unified platform approach (i.e. SharePoint = highly collaborative intranet, extranet, websites) AND the ability to enjoy a best-of-breed approach (i.e. hooks with MailChimp, PayPal, Authorize.NET, Amazon, Stripe, Avalara, ERP’s, CRM’s, accounting systems, virtually any modern system or service).

The best way to determine the strength or potential longevity of a platform is to determine the size of the platforms overall ecosystem.

Ecosystems cannot be forced, they happen organically around good ideas.

How many books are on Amazon about _____?
How many different LinkedIn groups exist about _____?
How many local user groups about _____?
How many partner companies?
How many conferences per year about _____?

…and some completely unfair questions to consider – which may be unfair, but our customers enjoy them none the less:

Does the platform ship with a $3.x billion dollar Search Engine?
Can you operate the platform on-premise OR in the “cloud”.
Speaking of “cloud”, does the manufacture own and operate the largest cloud on the planet?
Can your organization become self-sufficient on the platform, or is custom development required for practically everything?