Getting iMIS was a great move for our organization
We started the implementation process with iMIS around April 2017, launched in late July and have been using for about eight months. This has been a great move for our organization to get out of the "silo" situation with all of our different platforms and get them integrated. Prior to iMIS we did not have a true AMS - we were using a system to track membership and some events, another unrelated system to take registration for smaller events, a separate system for email marketing, separate system for website management...you get the picture.
When we started looking at Association Management Systems, I was initially thinking we'd spend less and get something that was all-encompassing. Those AMSs exist and I think there are good ones, including several we were looking at. Where those types of systems started to falter was when we got really deep into what we wanted to do -- could we integrate with different vendors? Yes - but sometimes information could be shared one way and not the other, or there were other "no" answers to things we had envisioned happening. The key for us became the integrations with our on-site registration vendor, email marketing automation, existing LMS, and another LMS that we were working on with a partner organization. This is where it was obvious that iMIS would be a great solution for us.
With iMIS you have to work with a separate consulting company to do your implementation and work with you on a regular basis to maintain your system and help you do new things, set up complex reports, etc. iMIS has website design templates, but you will either have to do quite a bit to set these up yourself, have your consultant do it, or pay another designer (we paid another designer to create graphics/code and our consultant implemented it to iMIS). Pretty much every little piece of functionality has to be set up by your consultant. This is good because it is set up exactly how you want it to work, but can be bad because all of the different functions don't just "work" when you initially get going or if you haven't used them before. And if your arrangement with the consultant is hourly, it could be mentally challenging to get a lot of invoices (we do ours on a yearly/retainer basis, which I think is better because our staff is not afraid to reach out and get help any time they want).
That sounds like a lot to think about, do, and pay for, however the end result is really good. You pretty much never get "no" for an answer with iMIS, it's just a matter if what you're looking to do will be quick/easy, more challenging, or your consultant might suggest a different way than you envisioned which also accomplishes your goal (we did this many times).
I recommend iMIS for any organization that has a lot going on and/or has a lot of members/attendees, particularly if you would like to integrate with other systems such as your LMS, on-site registration, you want single-sign-on, etc. This was definitely worth the investment for us.
The reason I gave it a 4 for customer service is, with all of the customization there are times you have to wait for an answer (it has always been resolved for us, just not instantly). And I gave it a 3 for ease of use because I don't think it's reasonable that a regular association professional will be able to figure it out on their own -- you have to work with a consultant.
If your organization doesn't have much currently in place, or if you have a small organization, or if you hold smaller events, you can probably get away with one of the less expensive AMSs. However if you want integrations and have a high expectation that things will work exactly how you want them to, iMIS is a great solution.
