We are investing in our systems and platforms for the long term. We refer to this internally as our “Digital Transformation” project. This work will take a phased approach and is about modernizing our platforms and providing staff and members with software solutions that include all the features that organizations like ours require to effectively develop and nurture relationships, communicate, measure engagement, drive collaboration, and advocate for an Internet for everyone.
It is important to note there will be a two-week downtime to allow the completion of the system change. During this downtime, there will be no access to MemberNova (our current association management system, also known as the member portal), Connect (our two-way messaging platform), Docebo (our learning platform), and for chapter leaders, Fluxx (the Internet Society Foundation’s grant system). We will provide dates for this scheduled downtime shortly.
Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about the system transition.
Last updated Monday, 17 July.
Some of you have participated in the user acceptance testing (UAT) process for our new AMS provided by Fonteva. The UAT uncovered some items that we need to address that have, after careful consideration, led us to delay the 1 July rollout. We are focused on addressing those needs, ensuring the new system meets accessibility standards and passes a comprehensive security review. As a consequence, the scheduled system downtime is also on hold. Concretely, this means that you can continue to access and use the current member area, the two-way discussion platform, Connect, the Internet Society learning platform, and our Foundation’s grants platform, Fluxx. We will share the new system transition date and related system downtime at least six weeks in advance to allow enough time for those who count on these systems to plan around it. We remain committed to launching a well-functioning AMS. Thank you for your patience as we navigate this transition.
We want to put better tools into the hands of the people who need them to work effectively to support our mission. It is also about ensuring greater agility in adapting to change in future years, as required.
Two systems will be changing:
1. MemberNova. This is our current Association Management System (AMS), also known as the member portal. We will replace this with a more widely known and used AMS named Fonteva.
2. Connect. Our engagement platform and two-way messaging forum. Our new AMS, Fonteva, will support these features.
The new Association Management System (AMS) offers staff and members a more robust and user-friendly interface. Benefits include:
– Improved multilingual navigation.
– Enhancements to the member-join process.
– The ability for chapters and special interest groups (SIGs) to communicate with their members directly from the member portal rather than relying on an external system.
Overall, members will have a much more intuitive experience from the member portal as we transition to more advanced and widely recognized AMS.
As we launch the new AMS, we aim to deliver all the current functionalities of the existing systems (MemberNova and Connect), but they will be more user-friendly. After launch, we will roll out some additional enhancements and functionalities. This will take a phased approach. We are determining the roadmap for the post-rollout enhancements and should be able to share this with you sometime in August-September.
User training sessions will be held across select staff and membership groups to help those whose work heavily depends on our AMS familiarize themselves with the new portal. We will share more details soon.
We will share the downtime and rollout dates with you shortly.
All systems that we are migrating will be unavailable during this time. That means you will not be able to access them at all. You will need to prepare any work that counts on these systems to happen before the downtime period or after the new system is live.
In addition to the member portal and the discussion platform, Connect, the downtime period impacts Docebo (the Learning@ISOC platform) and, for chapter leaders, Fluxx (the Internet Society Foundation’s grant system). Like MemberNova and Connect, users cannot log into Docebo and Fluxx during the two-week downtime. However, the difference with these two systems is that nothing else will have changed post-migration. These platforms are not migrating and will remain as they are.
Yes, email lists will continue to function, allowing you to stay in contact with one another if needed. However, please note that lists will not sync with our AMS during the two-week downtime, so any communications sent during this timeframe may not be fully up-to-date with the latest member data.
Downtime is a standard stage of any system implementation when transitioning from one system to another. It is required so that the technical team has a designated time to take data in the old system and move it to the new systems while guaranteeing that no one is simultaneously entering new data. As this is a significant transition, we have identified two weeks most appropriate for migrating these systems.
User training with staff, chapter leaders, and other members who count heavily on these systems will occur in the lead-up to roll-out. After the downtime, our new AMS portal will be available for use, but for most people logging on, the member portal experience will be similar. It will just look a little different. You can also log into Docebo, our learning platform, and Fluxx, the Foundation’s grant management system, as you have in the past. For our leaders of the chapters and special interest groups, as frequent users of our AMS, your regional community engagement manager will be a committed resource to ensure you have the information and resources you need to transition to the new system successfully.
We intend to migrate all historically relevant data relating to a member or chapter’s history to keep a complete profile, all while ensuring compliance with related data privacy and legal requirements.
We’re looking forward to bringing you a new suite of tools that allow you to thrive as advocates for the Internet. We know this transition will bring about a lot of positive change for all of us. We thank you for your patience as we switch from old to new. If you have other questions, please don’t hesitate to contact [email protected].