The State of Technology in Associations

A Town Hall Meeting January 26, 2008

Selected Results

Connecting Great Ideas and Great People

These selected results show areas where there were significant

changes from last year’s results. For other issues facing

associations, see last year’s results.

Who makes key strategic decisions related to technology in your

association?

6%19%

13%

25%5%

19%

2%2%1% 8%

The Board The CEO The CTO/CIO Director of IT Other Technology ... Cross Staff Team Consultant CFO Member Committee All of the above

1. The Board2. The CEO3. The CTO/CIO4. Director of IT5. Other Technology Staff6. Cross Staff Team7. Consultant8. CFO9. Member Committee10.All of the above

What are the top 3 areas where you will be spending your time this year?

Content Man

agemen

t Syst

em

SharePoint

AMS

Business

Intellig

ence

Socia

l Netw

orking

Infra

structu

re

Mobile

Computing

Updating Web

site

21%

6%

28%

25%

1%

7%

10%

1%

1. Content Management System

2. SharePoint3. AMS4. Business Intelligence5. Social Networking6. Infrastructure7. Mobile Computing8. Updating Website

Last Year (January 2008)

What are the top 3 areas where you will be spending money this year?

Content Man

agemen

t Syst

em

SharePoint

AMS

Business

Intellig

ence

Socia

l Netw

orking

Infra

structu

re

Mobile

Computing

Updating Web

site

19%

5%

20%21%

4%

17%

10%

5%

1. Content Management System

2. SharePoint3. AMS4. Business Intelligence5. Social Networking6. Infrastructure7. Mobile Computing8. Updating Website

Last Year (January 2008)

Culture, Attitudes, Adoption

Necessary Evil: Fails to see the benefits of technology and avoid it as much as possible.

 Necessary: Uses technology reluctantly. Often, there is not organization-wide use of the website, but individual staff members might. They use current equipment and outdated “legacy” equipment in the same office. Some workstations may run on older Windows platforms, some more recent.

Necessary Good: View technology as a necessary and important part of their work. They use current hardware/software and the organization uses the website, and other internal technologies heavily. However, this group often has an underutilized web site from by members.

Strategic Advantage: Believe that their effective use of technology will give them a strategic advantage. They have invested in technology and try to integrate it into all program functions. It is used extensively in delivering services, fund raising, and both internal and external communications.

Technology Cultures in Organizations

What is the prevailing attitude towards technology on your staff?

1% 27%

43%

29%

Necessary Evil Necessary Necessary Good Strategic Lever

1. Necessary Evil2. Necessary3. Necessary Good4. Strategic Lever

Last Year (January 2008)

What is the prevailing attitude towards technology among your members?

7%22%

50%

21%

Necessary Evil Necessary Necessary Good Strategic Lever

1. Necessary Evil2. Necessary3. Necessary Good4. Strategic Lever

How is your technology budget trending over the last 3 years?

Going U

p

Going Down

Flat

67%

23%

10%

1. Going Up2. Going Down3. Flat

Last Year (January 2008)

Which best describes the technology adoption style of your

organization?

18%

44%

38%

Early adopter Mainstream Adopter Late Adopter

Early adopter Mainstream

Adopter Late Adopter

Where do the most emerging technology ideas come from in your organization?

10%

8%

27%

55%1. It Staff

2. Other Employees

3. Members

4. Vendor Partners/Consultants

In which area of IT do you think your organization is the weakest? 

IT sk

ills among th

e regul..

Skills

among the IT

staff

Adequate IT

budget

Strate

gic planning f

or IT

IT underst

anding among..

.

Havin

g the rig

ht IT part.

..

Havin

g the rig

ht infra

str...

23%

7%

5% 4%

11%

27%24%

1. IT skills among the regular (not IT ) staff

2. Skills among the IT staff3. Adequate IT budget4. Strategic planning for IT5. IT understanding among other senior

managers6. Having the right IT partners/vendors7. Having the right infrastructure 

(hardware and software)

In which area of IT do you think your organization is the strongest? 

IT sk

ills among th

e regul..

Skills

among the IT

staff

Adequate IT

budget

Strate

gic planning f

or IT

IT underst

anding among..

.

Havin

g the rig

ht IT part.

..

Havin

g the rig

ht infra

str...

13%

24%

21%

15%14%

5%

9%

1. IT skills among the regular (not IT ) staff

2. Skills among the IT staff3. Adequate IT budget4. Strategic planning for IT5. IT understanding among other

senior managers6. Having the right IT partners/vendors7. Having the right infrastructure 

(hardware and software)

Major Focus Areas

 In the past 12-18 months, in what area of performance have you felt IT has been under the most pressure within your

organization?

To innova

te and do so

m...

To compete or a

ddress

a...

To fix exis

ting pro

blems

Stre

amlin

e business

proc..

.

Major s

ystem Change

To reduce

or contain co

sts O

ther

13%

4%

37%

1%4%

28%

14%

a) To innovate and do something truly original

b) To compete or address a business threat

c) To fix existing problemsd) Streamline business

processese) Major system Changef) To reduce or contain costsg) Other

What is the most important technology issue facing your organization?

6% 13%

18%

9%24%3%

0%

2%

24%

Infrastructure Traditional Websi... AMS Content Management Web 2.0 Technolog... Service Security E-discovery Integration

1. Infrastructure2. Traditional Website

Issues (non-Web 2.0)3. AMS4. Content Management5. Web 2.0 Technologies6. Service7. Security8. E-discovery9. Integration

Last Year (January 2008)