From Implementation to Managed Services: How ISA Continues to Evolve Its AMS implementation with fusionSpan as a Partner

Project Goals

Transitioning from a basic Fonteva implementation to Managed Services lays the foundation for improved staff and user experience.

After partnering with fusionSpan for a new Fonteva implementation, The International Society of Automation (ISA) transitioned to fusionSpan’s Managed Services team. The goal for this team was to take that basic Fonteva implementation and add customizations that created improvements in business processes and offered an enhanced experience for ISA’s members. The fusionSpan team was able to achieve this by:

  • Executing an initial successful Fonteva implementation
  • Producing an exceptional Minimum Viable Product (MVP), with plenty of features and capabilities to satisfy the client and the client’s users, but primed for additional customizations, future upgrades, and further improvements
  • Using the Managed Services team’s expertise to further expand on the implementation
  • Building configurable systems so ISA can make changes and improvements on its own as needs change and the company evolves

Services We Provided

  • Discovery
  • Fonteva Implementation
  • Integration Services
  • Google Analytics
  • Feature Enhancement
  • Technology Roadmapping
Project Challenges

ISA knew an out-of-the-box Fonteva implementation would be just the beginning of the journey with fusionSpan. Customizations improved user experience and helped create a future-proof system.

It was clear from the beginning that the out-of-the-box Fonteva system was going to be the starting point for this project. ISA’s complex business processes and the specific needs of ISA’s members required system customization to function at its best. During the project, the team faced some distinct challenges:

Implementation was an MVP

Everyone recognized that the initial Fonteva implementation was really the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Getting this huge system up and running in its basic form was a standard job for fusionSpan, but adding on the customizations and additional features needed to support ISA’s business and members meant layering enhancements and customizations with careful planning.

Communication through transition:

ISA knew in advance there would be a transition from the Implementation team to the Managed Services team, but the change in team members, process, needs, and communication approach took time to adjust to.

Streamlining eCommerce technologies:

The original system setup wasn’t working optimally for ISA’s eCommerce needs. Due to the checkout process in place, ISA couldn’t use Google Tags properly, which left them without the data they needed to make informed business decisions. In addition to accessing this data, ISA needed solutions that reduced the workload for employees and improved the customers’ shopping experience.

ISA needed more than just customer service:

Though a Managed Services team does often provide support services, the scope of their abilities is much greater. In this case, to really give ISA technologies that allowed them the autonomy to propel the business forward, fusionSpan Managed Services’ skills would need to be fully leveraged as new features were built out from scratch.

Solutions and Outcomes

fusionSpan focused on building custom, configurable systems and integrating ISA’s AMS and CMS to improve user experience and bolster eCommerce performance and capability.

fusionSpan’s experience with associations and ISA’s specific needs made it clear where the out-of-the-box Fonteva implementation could be improved upon. Building configurable customizations gave ISA the function they needed and empowered the team to make updates on their own, without relying on fusionSpan for day-to-day needs. Working together as a unified team, fusionSpan helped ISA:

  • Implement a stellar MVP: fusionSpan’s Managed Service Team took on ISA’s challenge, roadmapping the enhancements to optimize resources and prioritizing next steps. During the process, fusionSpan built a great MVP while keeping in mind their future needs for the system. Once the system was up and running, both the client and the client’s users were happy with the product and fusionSpan could focus on customizations and enhancements.
  • Move away from a lagging eCommerce setup: The old eCommerce system was inefficient, creating extra work for staff and requiring a tremendous amount of maintenance. ISA previously used its own website to host eCommerce items, but checkouts took place in the Fonteva system. This meant the ISA team was managing both the website and Fonteva for each sale that took place. The fusionSpan team integrated the ISA website with Fonteva, reducing the amount of time ISA needs to spend managing the eCommerce aspect of their website, simplifying the process for staff while creating a better experience for the users making purchases.
  • Leverage Google Tags: ISA’s original eCommerce platform wasn’t set up in a way that allowed Google Analytics to track purchasing data during the checkout process. By implementing the newest Google Analytics and developing custom code to enable customer tracking through the checkout process, fusionSpan was able to connect ISA with the data they needed.
  • Streamline the membership process: fusionSpan simplified the existing process of becoming a member, which provides a better user experience for members, but also creates improved marketing opportunities for ISA. With more data on the membership makeup, ISA is able to target businesses and groups that have a significant audience for training and services. New membership features, like allowing for member referrals and providing a point tracking system where members could earn and use points, provide users with further benefits.
  • Manage ongoing needs: ISA’s goal with fusionSpan as a partner is to continue to offer its members improved experiences and services. To do this, they rely on the Managed Services team to help them navigate new pain points and technology changes. To make the most of their time with fusionSpan, the Managed Services team created configurable customizations that ISA can access and change as needed, like creating custom labels where possible, so text can be updated to reflect new language, dates, and other small, but important, details. This reduces ISA’s need to use their Managed Services hours for maintenance, and instead allows them to continue evolving their systems and processes.

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