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? 1.The Board 2.The CEO 3.The CTO/CIO 4.Director of IT 5.Other Technology Staff 6.Cross Staff Team 7.Consultant 8.CFO 9.Member Committee 10.All of the above

What are the top 3 areas where you will be spending your time this year? 1.Content Management System 2.SharePoint 3.AMS 4.Business Intelligence 5.Social Networking 6.Infrastructure 7.Mobile Computing 8.Updating Website Last Year (January 2008)

What are the top 3 areas where you will be spending money this year? 1.Content Management System 2.SharePoint 3.AMS 4.Business Intelligence 5.Social Networking 6.Infrastructure 7.Mobile Computing 8.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 They use current equipment and outdated “legacy” equipment in the same office.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.Necessary Evil 2.Necessary 3.Necessary Good 4.Strategic Lever Last Year (January 2008)

What is the prevailing attitude towards technology among your members? 1.Necessary Evil 2.Necessary 3.Necessary Good 4.Strategic Lever

How is your technology budget trending over the last 3 years? 1.Going Up 2.Going Down 3.Flat Last Year (January 2008)

Which best describes the technology adoption style of your organization?  Early adopter  Mainstream Adopter  Late Adopter

Where do the most emerging technology ideas come from in your organization? 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? 1.IT skills among the regular (not IT ) staff 2.Skills among the IT staff 3.Adequate IT budget 4.Strategic planning for IT 5.IT understanding among other senior managers 6.Having the right IT partners/vendors 7.Having the right infrastructure (hardware and software)

In which area of IT do you think your organization is the strongest? 1.IT skills among the regular (not IT ) staff 2.Skills among the IT staff 3.Adequate IT budget 4.Strategic planning for IT 5.IT understanding among other senior managers 6.Having the right IT partners/vendors 7.Having the right infrastructure (hardware and software)

Major Focus Areas

In the past months, in what area of performance have you felt IT has been under the most pressure within your organization? a)To innovate and do something truly original b)To compete or address a business threat c)To fix existing problems d)Streamline business processes e)Major system Change f)To reduce or contain costs g)Other

What is the most important technology issue facing your organization? 1.Infrastructure 2.Traditional Website Issues (non-Web 2.0) 3.AMS 4.Content Management 5.Web 2.0 Technologies 6.Service 7.Security 8.E-discovery 9.Integration Last Year (January 2008)