Conducting a Technology Audit: A Mini Guide for Associations

Imagine you discover a tool that could streamline your association’s operations, improve your organization’s data security, cut costs, and increase member engagement all at once. This tool isn’t a new gadget or software system; it’s a technology audit. 

A technology audit is an evaluation of your association’s technology stack to assess your organization’s digital maturity and discover opportunities for improvement. 

Whether you’re dealing with outdated systems, ready to take advantage of integrations between your tools, or interested in adding new software that offers learning opportunities to your members, a technology audit can help. 

In this mini guide, we’ll walk through the process of conducting a technology audit, helping you strengthen your digital strategy so that you can do more for your association’s members. Let’s begin.

1. Define your audit objectives.

A technology audit is meant to help your association discover aspects of your technology stack that could be optimized or improved. While you may seek a general clean-up of your current solutions, you likely also have specific objectives for conducting an audit. 

Here are a few examples of goals related to a technology audit:

• Align technology systems and tools to support our association’s strategic objectives and plans for future growth.
• Identify potential technology-related cost savings and optimize current resource allocation.
• Improve how we use technology to market our association.
• Evaluate our current data analytics practices to enhance data quality and usability.
• Explore new platforms and strategies that can help us improve member communications, engagement, and services.
• Discover resources for training current and new team members in our most-used software tools.

When choosing your objectives, involve key stakeholders, such as board members and staff from various departments. This approach ensures you gather diverse insights on your entire association’s technology pain points and needs. 

Also, reflect on how your technology stack and audit objectives will impact your members. Every technology decision you make should empower your team to offer a better member experience, whether that means automating menial tasks to open up time for interacting with members or investing in a platform that allows you to offer educational courses and certifications.

2. Budget for the audit.

A thorough and successful technology audit will incur costs. Prepare by working with your stakeholders to outline a clear budget that you’ll stick to throughout the process.

Here are a few things to plan into your budget: 

• Consultant costs: While you can perform a technology audit yourself, you may find relying on an expert with an external perspective is better in the long run, especially since these professionals can bring their knowledge of various technology solutions and best practices to the table. Plan how you’ll cover a technology consultant’s fees, which vary based on the time and breadth of the audit.
• Tools to be used during the audit: You may need specialized software to analyze your organization’s data, manage the audit process, or secure communications with your consultant. Note that if you work with a consultant, they may already have tools they use to complete audits, so your organization won’t need to budget for these, as they’re already built into the scope of your project.
• How big of an investment you’re willing to make on improvements: Some recommendations from your audit may be small fixes, while others may represent large investments for your organization. Determine what level of change and cost your organization is willing to commit to so that you can focus on the most realistic recommendations for your needs.

3. Assemble your audit team.

Get a holistic view of your organization’s technology strategy by involving both internal and external parties who are affected by your organization’s technology choices. Doing so will lead to a more accurate assessment and actionable recommendations. 

Though the makeup of your own team depends on your association’s size and audit objectives, you may want to include the following key players: 

• Executive Team: Senior leaders like your CEO or executive director can help allocate resources to the technology audit and ensure it aligns with your association’s larger strategic objectives.
• IT Staff: Your IT team can provide insight into your current systems and your organization’s daily technology challenges and needs.
• Finance Department: Your finance team can offer financial data about how your technology impacts your organization’s bottom line and provide practical perspectives on the effectiveness of current systems.
• Board Members: Involving board members will help you keep your organization’s mission and vision top of mind throughout the audit process. Board members can also offer their perspectives as governing members of your organization.
• Program Managers: Program managers use your technology to deliver promised benefits to members. These team members can provide input regarding current systems’ limitations and areas for improvement.
• Marketing and Communications Team: Chances are, your organization relies on digital tools to spread the word about its programming and recruit new members. Having your marketing or communications team members participate in your audit ensures you consider how your technology affects your outreach and engagement efforts.
• External Consultants: An experienced technology consultant can bring specialized expertise and impartiality to the audit process. Beyond that, they can help you implement new tools, create custom tools, take advantage of integrations, and train your team to use your technology more effectively.
• Members: Though your members won’t be directly involved in your technology audit, you may benefit from gathering their feedback. For instance, you might ask about the user experience in your member portal or gather their thoughts on how well your learning management system (LMS) helps them reach their professional development goals.

4. Evaluate your technology infrastructure.

With your objectives, budget, and team in place, it’s time to begin your audit. 

First, you (or your consultant) will analyze your current technology stack. Take stock of all the solutions you currently use and assess the following:

• What you use your technology solutions for
• How well your tools work together
• Overlapping functionality between tools or tools with the potential to be used across multiple departments
• How each tool supports (or doesn’t support) strong data collection and management practices
• Gaps in functionality
• Potential opportunities for integrations or developing custom solutions

Here’s an example of what this might look like in practice:

You begin analyzing your technology stack and take a critical look at all of your solutions, such as your association management software (AMS), website builder, LMS, project management tools, event management software, and digital marketing platforms. You notice team members struggle to fully leverage your AMS despite its many useful features. You also spot opportunities to integrate your event management tool and website builder and find out that your association’s members want more mobile-friendly learning opportunities. 

After this evaluation, it’s time to devise a strategy for moving forward. This will require you to determine: 

• Which technology solutions you need to invest in (if needed)
• Which solutions are no longer serving you and can be removed from your technology stack (if needed)
• Ways that you could maximize the functionality of current solutions (e.g., building a custom integration between two tools or customizing your AMS to better suit your needs)
• Standardizing new policies or processes to ensure your team is maximizing your technology stack

Let’s continue with the example above. Your strategy might involve investing time in additional AMS training for your team, having your consultant build a custom integration between your event management tool and website builder, and purchasing a mobile app that allows members to participate in microlearning.

5. Make the necessary changes to improve your technology solutions.

With a clear roadmap, your association's next task is to make the necessary changes to improve your technology stack. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you do:

• Effective change takes time. Though you want to get your new solutions up and running as quickly as possible, remember that migrating to or implementing new software takes time and effort. Plus, your team may experience growing pains as it adjusts to the workflows or processes new tools or strategies require. Be patient and lean on your resources, like your technology consultant, for support.  
• Training, documentation, and maintenance are key. Your technology solutions won’t benefit your organization if your team doesn’t know how to use them effectively. Invest the necessary time and resources to bring all team members up to speed on the software they need to complete their day-to-day work successfully. Additionally, create documentation that current and future team members can rely on should they have questions. 
• Your technology needs will continue to evolve. Plan to regularly review your technology stack. Periodic audits allow you to address any new pain points that come up and keep your digital strategy fresh and in tune with current trends.

Once your technology stack has been revamped, it’s time to put your new tools and processes into action. For example, if you’ve invested in a new website builder, you may want to start building out your search engine optimization (SEO) approach. Or, you may now use your new LMS to deliver engaging continuing education courses, manage event registrations, and facilitate member networking, all within a centralized learning environment.Using your association’s technology stack to its full potential is essential for engaging members, delivering benefits, and ensuring long-term organizational success. A technology audit can help you apply a critical eye and make necessary improvements to your digital strategy. Use the steps above to get started!

Ready to take the next step in optimizing your association's technology? Explore how a modern LMS can integrate seamlessly with your audited systems to enhance member learning and engagement.