Why do we even have an AMS?
Submitted Oct. 16, 2014
Our company decided to integrate an AMS after years of working off an Access database, QuickBooks, Outlook calendars and emails, and an event management software for our conferences. After months of research, a recommendation from a fellow association and a hefty sales pitch, Netforum Pro from Avectra seemed like a product that would fit our company's needs of consolidating our membership management into a one stop shop. Turns out that after implementation, all of their promises went right out the window. 2 years later, the company was bought by Abila and we were looking forward to improvements. Unfortunately, those improvements are slow going, however, customer service seems to have the most improvement, but sadly to say it was abysmal when we came on board. We have now been using the product just to retain our members contact information. We do not allow members to buy memberships as we are solicit to companies as a whole, and Pro does not cater well to that type of management. We do not use the software much for accounting, except to create invoices and process dues paid by credit card. We do not use the system for e-Marketing as the HTML editor is horrible. The company insists using Constant Contact and the like and have offered integrations, but why would we want to maintain a separate database for marketing?? We basically keep it so members can access the directories, purchase downloadable documents, and register for meetings. We regrettably use the software for registration to our major annual conference, and that was a big mistake. The layouts for the external website are from the late 90s, there is no calendar for events, just a listing by date, and at one point the directories did not show results in alphabetical order. At this point I question why we pay for the system, when we still use outlook to market, we still use the event management software for conferences, and we could just as well go back to access to maintain members. Unfortunately, Avectra nor Abila offer a cookie cutter product. You have to buy it all or none. I would not recommend this product unless your willing to pay for a "one stop shop" and have low standards.
