I found that not much has changed. Since about 2004 I have done a fair amount of work with associations. Mostly in the areas of Internet and Web Strategy, Product Strategy, and Web redesign/CMS implementations. So I was a bit surprised that the AMS/CMS/Website Redesign triumvirate is still dominating the agenda.

There was some chatter around new issues like the bad economy and implementing the PCI standard, and of course the whole Social Media/Networking thing was a hot topic. But in general, it seemed that most Associations are still dealing mostly with  fixing problems with existing technology infrastructure,  managing major system changes/implementations (AMS/CMS/Website), or just struggling to deal with complex technologies given limited budgets, skills, and time.

 I expected to detect a sense of urgency around the need to change the status quo, given all the ongoing change in how people connect, associate, and interact today. But I sure didn’t get that feeling. I wonder why?

But after listening to Chris Sacca (http://twurl.cc/ei9) General Session talk on innovation and Goggle,  it occurred to me that the way forward for Associations is to begin to shift their focus from technology to innovation. Sacca talked about Google’s laser focus on user problems and user experience, and he demonstrated how disruptive innovation can be incredibly powerful. I think Associations can transform themselves by embracing these concepts.

Because this post is already getting long, I will continue this conversation over the next several days to expand on this idea. Stay tuned for more on disruptive innovation for Associations, moving from surveying member needs to understanding member “jobs to be done”, and the power of a discovery driven approach to technology implementation for Associations.

One way to to define a disruptive innovation is that it enables a new set of customers to perform a job that only specialists could previously perform. In the case of TurboEnterprise, the new set of customers is PL/SQL developers within the enterprise who have been frustrated by their inability to deliver rich, web applications to business users because of the cost and complexity associated with implementing n-tier web applications.

The TurboEnterprise strategy fits this disruptive model in several key ways:

• It removes the barrier that has prevented PL/SQL developers from delivering rich web apps themselves and has relegated many DBAs and PL/SQL developers to the role of database server babysitter — the need to learn complex new technologies that are immature and rapidly changing.
• It removes a barrier constraining the adoption of rich web apps in the enterprise — access to skills.
• It targets a market in which factors such as product cost (middleware), complexity (web technologies), or inconvenience constrain consuption — enterprise rich web apps.

Essentially, TurboEnterprise is an AJAX framework for PL/SQL Developers. It allows PL/SQL developers to “do it themselves” and deliver enterprise-class, rich web applications to enterprise users, using only their existing PL/SQL and ORACLE skills.

The sharp engineers at TurboEnterprise have leveraged their distinctive competence with the ORACLE platform and with “thick database” concepts, as well as with n-tier application architectures and AJAX programming, to virtualize an AJAX framework and a n-tier application architecture inside of an ORACLE database.

In plain English this means: Turbo-Enterprise allows PL/SQL developers to build rich web apps using just PL/SQL code. There is no need to learn HTML, Java, CSS, Javascript, AJAX or a new programming framework/language.

As more and more business users are exposed to rich web applications outside of the enterprise, from companies such as Google and many others, they are demanding better user experiences within the enterprise. IT organizations have been hard-pressed to deliver these kinds of apps because of the need to have access to highly skilled people, and the need for these people to learn yet another set of rapidly changing, complex technologies. Now with Turbo-Enterprise, IT managers can get more out of their existing staff of PL/SQL developers while delivering new capabilities to business users.

The trade-off is that you may not be building rich web apps in Java utilizing the latest, very expensive, ORACLE Fusion middleware platform, but you are able to quickly deliver enterprise-class (secure, scalable, reliable, etc.) rich application experiences to the business user for a fraction of the cost. IT managers get more out of their existing investments in technology and people, while providing their PL/SQL developers with new challenges that extends and enhances their skills.

So in summary, TurboEnterprise,

• targets non-consumption of rich web apps in the Enterprise
• addresses important jobs to be done — allowing PL/SQL developers to enhance their skills and careers and allowing IT shops to better meet the needs of the business user
• eliminates cost and complexity by enhancing an existing, mature technology.

All the hallmarks of a disruptive innovation.

(Editor’s Note: In the spirit of full disclosure I am acting as the Product Manager for this product)

We can have two types of conversations with our customers:

• sales oriented conversations — trying to coerce the buyer into buying something we are selling through sales tactics, aggressive follow-ups, and polite persistence.
• market focused conversations — listening to the buyers situation given changing economic conditions, understanding how their needs are changing and how they need to do business now, and discussing how your solutions can help solve their most pressing problems in a way that fits their current situation.

I would argue that market-focused conversations are the better conversations all of the time, but in a  bad economy they are the only conversations that are likely to maximize revenue capture in the short term while preserving customer relationships for the long term. Get out and meet with buyers to understand what they are facing. Devise new ways to engage with them given their budget situation. And help them think through their strategy for the coming year, while being flexible on how you can help them.

Buyers still have pressing jobs to get done, even in a bad economy. Your goal is to understand  how their needs have changed and to devise new ways to help them. Tune in to your customers now and you will not only limit the impact of the bad economy on your short-term revenues, but you just might come through the downturn as a more market-focused organization.