Before You Blow Up Your AMS, Read This
Association leaders tell me the same thing over and over:
“Our AMS is holding us back. We need better pipelines, marketing automation, and something that actually does AI and BI.”
Sometimes that’s true. A lot of the time, it isn’t.
Too often, the AMS becomes the scapegoat for gaps that actually live in the front of the house—sales, marketing, and service—while the back of the house (your system of record) is quietly doing its job.
Before you sign up for a multi-year, multi-six-figure rip-and-replace, it’s worth asking a harder question:
“Is my AMS really broken…or is my front-of-house stack just underpowered?”
What rip-and-replace really feels like
On paper, the new-AMS story looks great:
- “Salesforce-level CRM.”
- “Modern marketing automation.”
- “Built-in AI and BI.”
In real life, associations discover the downside after they’re deep into implementation:
- Staff confidence takes a hit while people relearn how to do billing, membership, events, and certifications.
- Leadership, SMEs, and key volunteers are pulled into months of discovery, design, testing, and retraining.
- You spend a fortune re-creating the exact same business rules…on a different platform.
And here’s the kicker: the front-of-house needs—the things that actually drive revenue and engagement—still lag behind.
So you end up with: New AMS, same growth problems.
A different move: keep the AMS, modernize the front
Here’s the alternative I’m seeing work:
- Keep your AMS as the system of record. It stays the authoritative source for members, transactions, and history.
- Layer HubSpot on top as your engagement engine.
- Connect the dots with an association-savvy integration layer. This is where partners like HighRoad Solutions come in. HighRoad is an association-focused digital and integration partner; their Spark platform is an integration and orchestration hub that plays a similar role to an iPaaS for associations—coordinating data and workflows between your AMS, HubSpot, and other key systems.
HighRoad is one strong example of this pattern: AMS as the system of record, HubSpot as the engagement engine, and an association-focused integration layer in the middle. The specific vendor or integration approach you choose may vary—but the pattern is what changes the game.
This is not an anti-Salesforce rant
Let me be crystal clear:
- Salesforce-based AMS platforms can be a fantastic fit for many associations.
- I actively collaborate with vendors in that ecosystem and see real value there.
This is not “Salesforce vs. HubSpot” or “new AMS vs. old AMS.”
It’s about sequencing and fit:
- If your AMS is genuinely broken—can’t be supported, can’t handle your core business rules—then yes, you should run a proper AMS selection and replacement project.
- If your AMS is solid and staff are proficient, but you’re stuck on sales, marketing, and analytics, then an integration-first strategy is usually:
Rip-and-replace when the back of the house truly needs rebuilding. Extend and integrate when the back is strong and the front needs to catch up.
The question to ask before you sign anything
Before you sign an AMS replacement contract, ask yourself and your team:
“Is our AMS actually the problem—or are we missing a modern front-of-house layer?”
If your honest answer sounds like:
- “Staff knows the AMS, we just can’t see pipelines.”
- “Marketing is stuck in batch-and-blast mode.”
- “We can’t get a full picture of member relationships.”
…then you probably don’t have an AMS problem. You have an engagement-stack problem.
Let’s talk about your stack
If you’d like to explore whether this approach makes sense for your association, send me a note or grab time on my calendar: Let’s schedule a meeting
Let’s have a conversation that leads to a relationship—then we’ll see what needs we can solve together.
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About the author
J. Mark Wallach, CEO Emeritus of Engagement Mobile Strategies, leads accessibility and digital engagement strategy for associations and member-driven organizations. A frequent speaker and advocate for inclusive design, Mark has helped dozens of associations meet compliance standards, modernize member experiences, and build long-term revenue through mobile strategy, accessibility, and integrated technologies.
