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- Info
Society of Authors
Overview
The Society of Authors is a not-for-profit organisation that was
founded in 1884 to protect the interests of professional authors,
illustrators and translators. With more than 8,500 members, nine
full-time staff and three part-time staff, the Society campaigns for
authors’ rights, negotiates with publishers and lobbies for changes to
copyright and libel laws.
Business need:
The Society of Authors wanted to be able to offer more and better
services to its growing membership – but its existing database was
poorly supported, difficult to use and too inflexible to be integrated
with Web services.
Solution:
Working with APT Solutions (www.aptsolutions.co.uk), the Society
implemented the APT Stratum solution for membership, events and
merchandising management. Stratum, based on the UniData platform,
provides Web access for staff and will soon be extended to enable
members to update their own records.
Benefits:
Simple front-end eliminates the need to type database queries manually,
saving time for staff. Automation of processes and integration of
events and merchandising reduce administrative workload. Flexible
solution can be extended to meet new business needs.
Case Study
The Society of Authors is a not-for-profit organisation that was
founded in 1884 to protect the interests of professional authors,
illustrators and translators. With more than 8,500 members, nine
full-time staff and three part-time staff, the Society campaigns for
authors’ rights, negotiates with publishers and lobbies for changes to
copyright and libel laws.
To manage its growing membership, the Society relies on its IT
systems, especially its membership database. The database is at the
heart of many of the organisation’s core processes, providing services
such as events and merchandising management – so its stability and
flexibility are vital for the Society’s effective operation.
“The first database we installed was problematic in several ways,”
explains Emma Boniwell, Membership Secretary at the Society of Authors.
“The initial data migration was faulty, which led to instability
further down the line. We didn’t receive the levels of support we
required from our IT supplier, and we knew that it would be difficult
to extend the platform and introduce new functionality. Moreover, the
user interface was inconvenient – we had to type in queries manually in
order to filter the data. It was time to find a new solution.”
Finding a new partner
The Society chose to work with APT Solutions, an U2 Business Partner
specialising in software and applications for the not-for-profit
sector. APT’s considerable experience of building solutions for trades
unions, institutions, clubs, societies, charities and public bodies has
led to the development of Stratum – a membership and contact management
system that offers broad functionality out of the box, while retaining
the flexibility to be customised to the unique needs of each
client.
“APT Stratum seemed like an ideal solution, offering not only
improved reliability and usability, but also the versatility to adapt
to our changing needs in the future,” says Emma Boniwell. “The APT
Solutions team’s combination of technical expertise and knowledge of
the challenges facing not-for-profit organisations has been invaluable,
helping us build a solution that is aligned with current best
practices.”
Nick Osborn, Account Manager at APT Solutions comments: “Stratum is
built on the UniData database platform, using the U2 Web Development
Environment and U2 SystemBuilder. UniData is designed to offer very
high levels of performance, even on comparatively low-end hardware –
which makes it ideal for not-for-profit organisations operating with a
tight IT budget”.
“In addition, UniData is designed to be embedded into applications
such as Stratum, reducing the need for database administration and
making life easier for non-technical users. The platform is so stable
and reliable that the Society of Authors does not need to employ its
own IT staff.”
Simple, flexible access
The new solution provides access via a simple client front-end that
can be installed on any standard PC, enabling employees to access the
system from a laptop or home office as and when necessary. APT
Solutions has also enabled Web access to a read-only version of the
database, and the Society plans to extend this to full access in the
near future.
“Our aim is to give limited access to members via the Web, so that
they can update their own addresses and contact details,” explains Emma
Boniwell. “This will reduce our workload considerably and give us more
time to develop the services we offer to members.”
The Stratum front-end makes it much easier for staff to search and
filter the database, eliminating the need to design and type out
lengthy queries.
“APT Stratum is a very user-friendly system,” says Emma Boniwell.
“You can find the information you need with a couple of mouse-clicks,
and it is much easier to segment members and manage information.”
In the future, the Society hopes to work with APT Solutions to
integrate the new database with its SAGE accounting package and to
introduce a new e-commerce solution for merchandising.
“This solution from APT and Rocket gives us a stable, reliable and
intuitive database platform that is more than capable of handling our
day to day needs,” concludes Emma Boniwell. “We are confident that our
partnership with APT Solutions will help us to extend the solution onto
the Web, and deliver even better value to our members.”
Products and services used
Rocket products and services that were used in this case study.
Software:
U2 SB+ for UniData and UniVerse, U2 Web Development Environment for
UniData and UniVerse, U2 SBClient for UniData and UniVerse, UniData
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Mark Kinnell, Managing Director, Selima Software
UniData is designed to offer very high levels of performance, even on comparatively low-end hardware – which makes it ideal for not-for-profit organisations operating with a tight IT budget". "In addition, UniData is designed to be embedded into applications such as Stratum, reducing the need for database administration and making life easier for non-technical users. The platform is so stable and reliable that the Society of Authors does not need to employ its own IT staff."
Nick Osborn, APT Solutions account manager
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