Norsk Selskap for Fotografi was struggling with an old system that had been patched up for many years and had eventually become impossible to update. At the same time, their needs were so complex that it was hard to find a standard system that covered everything. The solution was to have the system tailored to their needs.
Our impression of Rubic is that it is an innovative company that stays close to the customer, with the ability to tailor and adapt solutions quickly. Not a large, heavy organisation that has to spend a lot of time making decisions – Johnny Berg, head of the secretariat at NSFF
Norsk selskap for fotografi (NSFF), founded in 1927, is the umbrella organisation for all 110 amateur photography clubs in Norway, with around 3,500 members. Previously they had a home-made membership system, built on in every direction as they grew larger.
Five reasons to choose Rubic's membership system
Old system impossible to maintain
In the end it became a system that was impossible to maintain. Originally database-based, but with a lot of data straight from Excel and connections in every direction.
Parts of the system were sorted by membership number, others by name or email address, and the coding differed between the various parts. Updates meant going through approx. 1,200 pages, which in itself was an enormous job. When the person responsible for the whole system stepped down, we started looking for a ready-made system that could cover all our needs. That was no easy task, explains Johnny Berg, head of the secretariat at NSFF.
Complex needs
They had an external agency evaluate the system, and the verdict was that nothing could be done with it.
Then everything stalled a little, because our needs were so specific. Among other things, NSFF organises the Norwegian Championship in photography with several rounds throughout the year, handles international competitions, and has an award system for badges of honour and plaques at different levels.
The Rubic membership system has features for every need
Custom-made for NSFF's needs
Purely by chance, Berg was at the Fakkelprisen award ceremony in Lillehammer in February 2019, where Rubic's membership system was nominated for the entrepreneur award. That sparked his interest; he got in touch and received a thorough presentation.
I saw that their system could cover many of the needs we had and a lot more besides, although it did have some shortcomings. But as a member register for us it seemed to work fine. Rune (Solholm Bakken at Rubic) went thoroughly through our requirements and what we already had, and gave us a favourable offer that covered both the membership system and a custom-made competition section that took awards and points allocation into account. The price reflected that Rubic also saw this as an advantage for its own company, and as a way to develop the system further so that it could suit all types of organisations.
Adaptations and adjustments
The contract was signed in spring 2019 with a plan to go live in January 2020, but with a number of adaptations and adjustments that had to be made along the way.
The process has been very smooth, with many pleasant meetings and reviews. Many of the meetings at the start were about Rubic getting to grips with our complex system. The tailor-made competition module alone has four options: club competitions, which should only be visible to the club in question. National competitions, which should be visible to everyone. Some competitions award patronage (badges of honour), some award points, others don't. And all of this, plus the Championship itself, has to be linked to a member register.
Close collaboration with Abaris
Abaris Consulting in Gudbrandsdalen has been a partner since the start, and built the first version of what is now Rubic. They have also played an important part in the custom version for NSFF:
It has been a pleasure for us at Abaris to deliver a tailor-made competition system to NSFF in collaboration with Rubic. The Rubic platform has proven its strength and flexibility, as we managed to implement what the customer wanted using standard Rubic member administration as the core. We are proud to have helped NSFF get a modern cloud-based IT solution that its members appreciate, explains Lars Tungen, general manager of Abaris.
A simpler system increases participation
As planned, the system went live at New Year 2020, and they have already completed part one of a Norwegian Championship using the tailor-made solution.
We had intended to test quite a bit before going live, but it ended up with us testing along the way. As things stand, everything is going well. Some things are different from the old system, but it is now much easier for the local clubs both to organise and to take part in competitions. That in turn means we are seeing an increase in participation. We are still working on finding the best way for the system to handle the many different ways we invoice: at club level, at organisation level, and the fact that many people are members of more than one club but should only be invoiced in one place.
De Sandvigske Samlinger got far greater support with a new system
Unanimously positive feedback
Spring 2020 was not the best time to launch new systems. Even so, it seems to have gone very well for NSFF.
I definitely miss physical meetings, that way of communicating. At the same time, this has gone very well, and we have had unanimously positive feedback from members, not least that everything is gathered on one page and that it gives a good overview. I would definitely recommend this to others. Our impression of Rubic is that it is an innovative company that stays close to the customer, with the ability to tailor and adapt solutions quickly. They have a basic package that can be adjusted to the users. We see continuous changes to our benefit. Not just what we ask for ourselves, but constant updates that improve functionality.