Author: Carl Grieves, CEO, Silverbear
Having watched Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella, deliver a keynote speech and share his vision for Microsoft at the opening of this year’s Microsoft Inspire – an annual conference held by Microsoft for its partners – I would say that there are now almost limitless opportunities for effective membership management for organisations using a membership management system built on Dynamics 365.
Of course, as CEO of one of the largest firms in the world, Nadella had a lot of ground to cover in the 40 minutes he had to present, particularly in the wake of a global pandemic. However, there were several points that stood out.
- Every company will need to become a technology company
Regardless of geography, sector, and size, technology is no longer a nice to have, but an essential component for organisations if they are to succeed - and digital adoption is key to achieving this step change. We’re seeing this with our association, professional body, and museum customers, too, all of whom now understand how important digital projects and membership systems are when it comes to delivering excellent customer service and increasing engagement levels.
- Data is an organisation’s most strategic asset
We’re creating more data than ever before. According to Satya, the amount of data created over the next three years will exceed that created over the past 30 years. Even as CEO of a data-driven business, I still find this astounding. However, the more pertinent point is how do we organise it?
Microsoft leads the way when it comes to Artificial Intelligence (AI), not only in terms of how it utilises it as an organisation, but also in terms of how it provides the tools for partners such as Silverbear to utilise it. And it’s AI that’s now a key tool in mapping data. Through Microsoft’s Enterprise Metaverse, and by using PowerPlatform, we’re not only providing our membership customers with the tools required to access and make decisions around data - in real-time - but we’re also allowing them to predict future states, too. Our Renewal Predictor, for example, is helping our customers predict when their members might not renew so that they can make any necessary interventions to prevent that from happening.
With other tools and insights available through Microsoft Synapse, which offers a limitless analytics service that brings together data integration, enterprise data warehousing, and big data analytics, it’s likely that our membership customers will have even more opportunities to make data-driven decisions over the coming months.
- Collaboration is key
Satya stated the importance of breaking down silos between communication, collaboration, and business process - three elements that Microsoft is addressing through its latest wave of collaborative apps. Perhaps the most notable example of this, certainly in the context of membership management, is how Microsoft has fully integrated Dynamic 365 and Teams so that our online membership software customers can now access and search for records within Teams.
A common thread
What do these three points share? They’re all relevant to membership management systems built on Microsoft Azure. As a leading membership database software developer that has done just that, we can offer our customers all the features, benefits, and the very latest technology that Microsoft launches – all of which is wrapped within the only Cloud with best of breed and best of suite security capabilities.
2021/22 will no doubt be a big year for Microsoft, and one that’s full of opportunities. As a Microsoft Partner, we’ll be passing these opportunities down to our customers so that they, too, can share the success and deliver richer, more meaningful experiences for their membership.
If you’re looking for the best management membership software, whether that’s museum membership software or association membership software, then contact our team of membership management specialists on 01483 409409 or email hello@silverbear.co.uk.