Protech Rolls Out Cloud-based Association Management Software Powered by Dynamics CRM

Protech Associates Inc., long time maker of CRM for Members association management software (AMS), has launched a cloud-based AMS offering, powered by Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

With the new product, associations can offer their members a number of features including online self-service and ecommerce capabilities as well as the ability to create dynamic, private and secure online communities where members can connect, collaborate and communicate with each other, according to Protech CEO Brian Bruffey.

Additionally, the solution offers the associations integrated dashboards containing the data decision makers need to make critical business decisions.

The solution includes four applications that integrate the various features together as well as with a variety of third-party applications including accounting, email marketing and trade show management to meet the varied needs of member-based organizations, Bruffey said. As a rule, customers buy the four Protech applications as a package, very rarely separating them.

"The big thing we bring to this is the invoicing and payment processing-the ability to create an invoice for a new member or a renewing member or for a conference registration or for a product sale," Bruffey said. "Dynamics CRM does not do that out of the box. CRM does all kinds of great things but that's where our intellectual property becomes important. We've created the invoicing and payment processing engine integrated with the PCI credit card authorization capabilities and then we extend that to the associations' websites so that a member can do those same types of financial transactions online."

Bruffey said Protech also included capabilities to deal with the unique reporting requirements, which play a huge role in helping associations operate more efficiently.

"For example, associations have cash basis accounting ...