You are live, have gone through the go live challenges, and have worked on the other phases whereby the implementation project can be closed. What now?
Here are a few items to consider:
Expand Training
Spend time developing training materials, and put a system in place for keeping the training materials up to date as business processes change. Contemplate what new staff members will use to learn the AMS. Consider not relying on tribal knowledge to take you forward.
Keep Up With Updates
In the technology sphere, things are always changing. Establish a team within the organization that will keep up with the testing and adoption of current versions of the AMS and software patches.
Associations that make the effort to keep up with this tend to get the best return on investment from their AMS.
Adopt New Features
Software continuously evolves. Seriously consider adopting new features that are relevant to your business. While this can be a mini project in itself, it is worth the effort to ensure all data resides in a centralized repository. Ultimately, this will give you the most value.
Engage in the Community
Contemplate engaging in your AMS’ user community to have a voice in the new features that the AMS should include in its product roadmap. Work with other associations like yourself to push for an agenda that considers the advancements of the platform.
Be a Reference
If you are happy with your AMS, consider posting positive reviews and being a reference for your AMS vendor. The same applies to your systems integrator as well. Collaboration always pays off in the long run.