POWER UP YOUR WEB PRESENCE.

The need for interactivity and customization is a given. How you get there is another matter.

Let's get this straight right from the outset. Web-browser systems are in. Client-server systems are out. So what's your association waiting for?

"It's not about if customers or members are going to ask your organization to deliver customized information," says Kerry Stackpole, CAE, president and chief executive officer, Data Interchange Standards Association, Alexandria, Virginia. "It's about when. And Web-based systems provide the easiest technology to do that.

"A client-server system is internal technology. You sit at a terminal and connect to a server containing all the information. A Web browser allows you to connect to the information anytime, anywhere. The members have an instant connection to the association no matter where they are. So associations shouldn't wait to do this."

Making the move

While the migration theoretically may be a no-brainer, some associations are making the move in stages. The Washington, D.C.-based American Gas Association (AGA) last year buried a Unix-based minicomputer system dying from data overload and brought to life a Microsoft SQL Server-based Windows NT environment. The move standardized the association's inventory on a Microsoft platform, which rapidly is becoming the association community's favorite information technology location.

But even though Jim Linn, AGA's director of information systems, says there are absolutely no downsides about moving to Web-based systems, he hasn't changed his address yet.

"We know what the Web can do, and we are looking at ways to leverage it," Linn explains. "But we didn't go there directly [from the minicomputer-based system], because we wanted to put our effort into implementing our new system correctly. We're presently in the process of building the architecture for a secure location to house the new Web components. When this infrastructure is in place, we will begin to roll out new capabilities."

A piece of the 189-corporate-member organization already has pitched its online tent. The association expects to launch its new Web-enabled statistical information package in late summer or early fall. AGA contracted with Panurgy Chesapeake, Millersville, Maryland, to create the application and its browser interface. The package apparently is a powerhouse; another association already has expressed interest in licensing it. AGA plans to implement AVECTRA'S Web-based Ablaze components immediately following the installation of the Web-enabled statistical application.

"The statistics system is really exciting," Linn says. "Our move to Web-enabling the system is critical for returning member value. The members frequently contact our policy analysis staff for statistical information. Now they will be able to query the database themselves."

Getting it done

AGA's decision to buy it rather than to build it is becoming de rigueur these days. Confronted with the same choice as they strive to remain relevant to their members, even the largest and the richest associations more frequently go outside so they can save money inside. They--along with the smaller and less affluent organizations--are recognizing the advantages of partnering with the growing number of turnkey solutions providers.

The only missing prescription in the turnkey providers' inventory is a single-package panacea. Otherwise, as Stackpole wrote in "Made-to-Order Marketing" (ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT, March 2000), outsourced solutions such as Symantec's ACT, Claris' FileMaker Pro, Epiphany, and IBM's BroadVision can greatly mitigate the damages of trying to control the data collection, the analysis, the warehousing, and the operations of an organization's database. In addition to AVECTRA, other players include MEI Software Systems; Design Data Systems; Advanced Solutions International, Inc.; TMA Resources; and ProTech Professional Technical Services, Inc.

"Internet market makers look for the pain point in the supply chain, where companies are required to do something inherently costly to conduct business, and the choke point, where you have to play the cards you were dealt," says Brad Stevens, vice president of marketing at eSociety. The Seattle-based company, says Stevens, "offers a turnkey Web strategy and partners with associations to improve member satisfaction, increase nondues revenue, and thrive in the Internet economy." Its partners include the National Housewares Manufacturers Association, Rosemont, Illinois; the National Truck Equipment Association, Farmington Hills, Michigan; and the Northwest Venture Group, Seattle, Washington.

"The Internet frees up a lot of terrestrial pain points, and associations are very interested in doing that," Stevens said. "We're not the only company attempting to help associations sort out these issues and implement their own solutions. We also see a huge business opportunity in helping associations realize that their value lies in their existing assets such as brand equity and domain expertise," Stevens says.

The software providers are competing fiercely to keep associations first in their members' hearts and minds, particularly when members want critical information now. Not later, when the busy staff has time to get to it. Not later, when the server decides to answer a member's query. And not later when the overwhelmed information technology staff fixes what was broken hours before.

So when association executives and their chief information officers compare benefits and drawbacks of vendor offerings supplied, that gives the association a competitive advantage by streamlining business processes that result in increased value to members wins the laurel wreath. Key considerations include buying canned modules rather than tool sets, selecting interactive updating instead of batch processing, and hosting the system at home or away.

Seeking synergistic partnerships

How do vendors provide that crucial added value? They'd prefer to do it alone, thank you very much. But very few, if any, have the single key to the turnkey kingdom. So they call in other experts. MEI, for example, has established strategic partnerships with providers of Web functionalities, such as distance learning packages and job information schedulers, that associations need but don't want to own. AVECTRA has put its Plaza brand on a groupware member-to-member product from Teamware, a Fujitsu subsidiary. And TMA Resources' new uAPPS application science provider hosts its customers' software applications and stores the data on secure servers.

These myriad solutions indeed make it easier to integrate additional applications into existing databases. But creating a common logon and a seamless look and feel still can be a long, strange trip. Nevertheless, as Web sites evolve, online business begins to boom, and 30 seconds of downtime on the client-server becomes a capital offense, more association executives realize that if they don't get with the program, there won't be a program left to get with.

Internet upstarts such as WebMD and VerticalNet, which calls itself "the home of e-business to business" and organizes professionals into 11 business communities, have become public enemy No. 1. These venture-capital-backed companies have made it their mission to wean members from the womb by providing--for free--about 95 percent of traditional association functions, such as serving as information hubs and providing online communication forums for likeminded people. Put that number next to member dues and it's a no-brainer to figure out why delivering personalized, customized services to members needs to be the first thing, the last thing, and possibly the only thing on association executives' radar screens.

Naturally, industries with a large number of constituents and high buying power are the primary prey. Associations representing those industries tend to be among the largest and strongest, but even their resources might not protect them against a skilled, street-smart predator. But what Alan Browning, vice president association consulting group, Management Advisors, Inc., Englewood, Colorado, calls "an infusion of entrepreneurial spirit" just might win the day.

"If they move quickly and get out in front of the for-profit companies," says Browning, "larger associations can thwart the competing portals. But too many associations are plodding along and just talking about e-business and communities. I don't think they're going to panic unless they're directly threatened. But they shouldn't let it get that far," warns Browning. "We find that too much member involvement can slow the process down and cause the association to miss opportunities. The most successful Web-enabled associations are entrepreneurial and are leading their members."

Keeping the invaders at bay will require an unprecedented degree of cooperation in this often-fragmented industry. The potential warriors include application service providers (ASPs) that rent association software either themselves or through third parties. (See sidebar "Getting to Know Your ASP.") ASPs can fulfill member demands for higher-level services that the sometimes-underpaid and usually overworked association information technology staff cannot. While ASPs handle the dreary chores of maintaining, upgrading, and distributing software, they also can arrange Internet capabilities--through powerhouses such as Digital Nation or PSINet--that the vast majority of associations never could hope to develop on their own.

"Association software providers have to continue to take their clients' databases and put them in the forefront of Web-based outreach to members and to nonmembers," says Cort Kane, a senior consultant for data management at Design Data Systems. "Those database applications can be moneymakers for associations if they can provide instantaneous information, such as seamless online conference registration, to members and nonmembers."

Adding e-business

That's all well and good--for today. What about tomorrow?

"The association community is talking about portals and companies like VerticalNet," American Gas Association's Linn says. "But the real deals are in business-to-business e-commerce. What's the impact of that on us? Associations should be seriously thinking about how to do something creative in that area.

"We certainly can maximize our industrial relationships by implementing e-commerce within selected industries. We can be electronic online facilitators, setting ourselves up as a clearinghouse for business-to-business transactions and acting as matchmaker among ourselves and other groups," says Linn.

So at the end of the day, as the IBM E-Business Web site (www.ibm.com/e-business) reminds its surfers, e-business is about business, not about technology. And associations are in the business of managing their relationships with their members.

No wonder association CEOs are hearing things go bump in the night about how to stay relevant with their unique content and their intellectual property that's now becoming available to their competitors on the Web. How can associations earn more revenue as dues income either shrinks or flattens? If associations wait too long, their voracious Internet competitors will pounce on the low-hanging fruit, then offer similar content and proprietary information for free.

What can vendors do to help associations generate nonmember revenue? Encourage strategic alliances, provide robust turnkey packages and back-office software sets--particularly for audience data mining--and extend everything to the Web. Executives and CEOs can do their part by no longer thinking their brand name renders them untouchable to vertical portal solicitations. And by answering members' questions before they're asked.

Willie Schatz is president of The Schatz Group, a Washington D.C.-based company that provides editorial coverage and analysis of technology, policy, and communication issues.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR ASP

RANDY RICHTER

If you're thinking about making the Leap to a Web-browser-based system, application service providers (ASPs) may be in your immediate future. Some are predicting ASPs will be in every organization's future within the next five years.

Basically, ASPs allow you to rent software applications and run them over the Internet. Rather than having applications residing on a server in your office, they reside on a server in a secure data center somewhere else, and you access them over the Internet.

I caution association executives to do their homework, as they would with any new process model, before signing on the dotted line. ASPs can provide offsite hardware, software, networks, and support for your association software. Since this industry is relatively new, however, several levels of support exist. Remember to consult with legal counsel before signing an agreement with an ASP. And consult a comprehensive checklist of questions that will help you evaluate when shopping for an ASR.

1. Level of support. Will the ASP provide single applications or a total solution--and will it support and maintain your desktop hardware and network white making sure that your fax server and printers will work correctly with the application? Confirm that the ASP is doing more than only providing access to the application.

2. Knowledge of the industry. Does the ASP understand or specialize in the association management industry? Request a list of association clients; your level of service and the ASP's response time may depend on its ability to serve organizations like yours.

3. Customization. Does the provider use a one-size-fits-all approach or will the provider customize your application package to meet your specific needs?

4. Customer service. Can you count on help desk service 24 hours per day, seven days per week? Also, make sure the provider will agree to specific guidelines for turnaround time for responses to members.

5.Training. Is the ASP committed to initial and ongoing training, since systems will be continually upgraded? Determine in advance training sites (preferably in your own offices), materials, and frequency of updates.

6. Ownership. As your association requires change and as software applications advance, eventually you may choose a different ASP or application. Ask your provider now to confirm that you'll be able to obtain all of your member and financial data out of the current system if you should transfer to a new system--or if the ASP should go out of business. Security and appropriate use of data are also important. Clarify in any contractual agreement with a provider exactly what the provider is allowed to do with your member data, if anything.

7. Upgrades. How responsive will the provider be to upgrading your software? Will it automatically upgrade to the latest version of the software? Will you be forced to upgrade software or hardware on your provider's schedule or to wait for other clients to upgrade even if you are ready now? Query the ASP--and perhaps one or two of its clients--to find out timeframes in which the ASP typically accomplishes upgrades.

8. System redundancy. Confirm that the ASP will manage its Internet connection to your association and that there is a plan for accessing your data in the event that the connection fails. Your ASP should have redundant paths to the Internet, for example, a T1 line, and a DSL (digital subscriber loop). Make sure the ASP maintains fail-over servers, which allow one server to be upgraded or replaced while you access another. Review reports of recent redundancy tests and results.

9. Performance measures. Will the ASP monitor your applications for performance? You'll likely want to set some specific performance measures, such as the time it takes to perform a member lookup or to access certain documents. Verify that the ASP continually monitors such performance standards, providing the association with detailed reports.

10. Security. What level of security is provided for your data? Is there a firewall on the ASP's network--and wilt you be able to get through the firewall to access your data through an ISP while traveling or onsite at a conference?

11. Downtime. The ASP should keep accurate records of scheduled and unscheduled downtime, while minimizing downtime for upgrades and following a procedure for communicating the schedule in advance. Confirm that you may arrange to block out additional downtime based on your association needs, such as when you are closing the year-end books. Find out what has been the ASP's longest downtime during which users could not use its service.

12. Disaster plan. Confirm that the ASP has a disaster recovery plan and find out when it was last reviewed and tested. Keep a current copy of the plan on file so that you know your association's responsibilities in the event that a disaster occurs. Be sure that the ASP s backup strategy includes off-site storage and a procedure to replace corrupt data. You should be able to recover your data in the event of a server failure or if you discover that a temporary employee has incorrectly modified 1,000 member records. In addition, data recovery needs to be independent for each client, so that if another client's database needs to be restored, your data isn't affected.

13. Fees. Last, but certainly not least, find out what is included in the monthly fee. While some ASPs are offering what seems to be a low monthly fee, that figure may not be the total story. Request a detailed list of charges, including any additional upfront or start-up fees and any a la carte charges for services that are not included in the basic fee.

Randy Richter is director of Information and customer services, Educause, Boulder, Colorado.