Museums Association Adopts Custom Microsoft Power Platform Solution
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Pragmatiq worked with the Museums Association to transform their restrictive system into one that better suited their day-to-day operations, enhancing efficiency and ultimately improving their member experience, leading to better outcomes for the organisation.
Background & Challenges
Background:
The Museums Association is a UK-based membership organisation advocating for socially engaged museums and supporting museum professionals across various domains, including policy, ethics, learning, and collections.
Challenges:
- System limitations: Museums Association’s previous system was built on rigid architecture, unable to adapt quickly to evolving operational needs or new business processes.
- Event management constraints: The previous platform provided only basic event functions, lacking the ability to customise event formats or capture detailed participant data. This forced staff to rely heavily on manual workarounds for event planning, registration tracking, and reporting, increasing errors and extending administrative timelines.
- Manual, time-consuming financial processes: Invoicing for memberships, events, and courses was handled through manual workflows. This not only consumed significant staff time but also led to delays in billing, payment processing errors, and cash flow unpredictability.
- Fragmented course administration: Managing course offerings, enrolments, and multiple payment methods was cumbersome, relying on disparate systems that did not communicate efficiently.
- Member portal limitations: The member portal was outdated and lacked intuitive self-service features, limiting members’ ability to independently book events, track personal development, or access resources.
- Inadequate marketing automation: Without a unified marketing platform, the organisation struggled to deliver personalised, timely communications to members, impacting retention and growth efforts.
The Solution & Implementation
- System re-architecture: Redesigned and implemented a bespoke solution leveraging Microsoft Power Platform. The solution was customised for member, course, and event management, aligning with daily operations.
- Custom event management module: Developed configurable event templates allowing staff to define multiple event formats, automate data capture through dynamic forms, and manage event logistics within a centralised system.
- Automated invoicing: Leveraged Power Automate to automatically trigger invoice generation upon membership renewals and event registrations.
- Course management: Implemented features for creating, editing, and tracking courses, including member enrolments and payment processing with support for multiple payment methods.
- Member portal enhancement: Created a modern, responsive portal built on Power Pages, that connects directly to backend data, enabling members to self-manage bookings, update personal development plans, and access relevant information anytime.
- Email marketing automation: Implemented Dynamics 365 Marketing, now known as Dynamics 365 Customer Insights – Journeys, for personalised member communications and automated customer journeys.
The Outcomes
- Improved member experience: The new portal and automated workflows empowers members with seamless self-service and faster interactions, boosting retention and strengthening the Museums Association’s reputation.
- Reduced administrative overhead: Automation and system customisation reduces manual processing times, freeing staff to focus on strategic initiatives and member support.
- Improved event and course management agility: The association can now rapidly configure and manage a diverse range of events and courses, scaling offerings to meet member needs and market demand.
- Improved financial accuracy: Automated invoicing and payment processing improves cash flow and reduces billing errors.
- Future-proof, scalable platform: The flexible system can evolve with the association’s ambitions, supporting new initiatives and growth without costly system overhauls.
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