Author: Jeremy Jalie, Business Development Director
Thursday 18th May, the membership sector’s most important annual conference, Digital Excellence, took place in London. As always, the event – which this year saw over 500 delegates and exhibitors attend – attracted the great and the good from the (fast-growing) world of membership.
Silverbear has been involved with Digital Excellence, either as an attendee, an exhibitor, or, a sponsor for many years. Having been involved in creating specialist membership management systems for associations, professional bodies, and trade unions for over a decade, we’ve come to know the majority of those who make up the membership sector. Seeing those people from a wide variety of organisations, all of whom share similar professional interests and goals, in the same space is a wonderful, energising, and inspiring experience.
A clear future for Dynamics 365
What was most noticeable, particularly from the viewpoint of a Dynamics 365 membership CRM provider, was that Dynamics 365 still retains the top spot when it comes to futureproofing membership organisations’ digital infrastructure. You can read more about this in our blog Is Dynamics 365 the best platform for membership organisations, which, according to research from the Digital Excellence Report 2021/22, states how Microsoft Dynamics 365 has gained the largest market share since 2018.
To illustrate this, Memberwise’s report revealed how 26 per cent of the sector uses Microsoft Dynamics and that when it comes to medium-to-large organisations, 36 per cent use the technology – up 13 per cent from the last report.
Every year Dynamics 365 becomes more and more popular for membership organisations that not only wish to benefit from Microsoft’s scalability and security but also its functionality, too. We’re eagerly awaiting the release of the latest Digital Excellence Report, which will be revealed later this year, so watch this space.
The latest in artificial intelligence
Perhaps it was no surprise that artificial intelligence (AI) was a huge focus at this year’s event. Equally, as the world’s largest software company, it’s no surprise that Microsoft is at the forefront of this emerging technology.
Ben Turner, Head of Membership Services at BCS – The Chartered Body for IT – wowed the audience with his view on using AI and data to predict member engagement and retention levels; an area that Silverbear began pioneering back in 2018 with its Renewal Predictor.
Microsoft itself states that The Era of AI is now and that AI has the power to transform the workplace and the nature of productivity. With Dynamics 365 and all the functionality and possibilities it already offers users, it’s not hard to see how AI will significantly bolster this within the context of membership organisations.
We are, of course, working closely with Microsoft, which has committed to integrating AI within the Power Platform wherever possible, which is a hugely exciting prospect for both our customers and Silverbear as a business. We're also hoping to explore some industry-specific solutions within our own tools to enable membership organisations to benefit from these to support their own work.
So, congratulations to MemberWise for hosting yet another insightful event, and thank you to everyone who continues to shape our dynamic sector, which is likely to look very different only 12 months from now.
Thinking of investing in a Dynamics 365 membership management system? Looking for digital transformation guidance or to speak with a Dynamics 365 membership management specialist? If so, call us at 01483 409409 or email hello@silverbear.com.