Institute for Supply Management simplifies their tech stack

Serving a professional community of members online

The Institute for Supply Management® (ISM®) is the first and largest not-for-profit professional supply management organization worldwide. Founded in 1915, ISM has over 50,000 members across 100 countries.

For more than a century, Institute for Supply Management® (ISM) has impacted supply management and the purchasing profession through best in class education, certification, leadership development and research. Thousands have received ISM's coveted certifications including the Certified Professional in Supply Management (CPSM) and Certified Professional in Supplier Diversity (CPSD) designations. The organization continuously evolve as the profession evolves and help lead and advance the profession of supply management.

Their mission: To advance the practice of supply management to drive value and competitive advantage, and contribute to a prosperous, sustainable world.

Delivering research that gets the attention of Wall Street and global economists

First reported in 1931 at the request of the US President and consistently delivered (except during WWII), ISM developed the methodology and has delivered what is known today as the ISM® Report On Business®. It is made up of Manufacturing (PMI®), Services (PMI™) and newly introduced Hospital (PMI™) and entails a national survey of purchasing managements, measuring supply chain related changes in the manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors. The all-important report is widely considered as one of the most reliable barometers of the US economy, helping provide relevant information for the national government, Wall Street and economists worldwide.

Beyond the research, ISM at their core, takes a strong stance on corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability. That's why they are not only heavily involved in gathering data and trends, but also in the continuing education for all those pursuing and currently in the supply chain profession.

Changing digital presence

With a 100-year history, change is something ISM embraces. It’s something that has helped keep them relevant all this time. When it comes to digital, it’s a large part of what they do today to connect with their global community. ISM works hard to implement the voice-of-customer into their digital operations and their approach to infrastructure to enable them digitally. Unleashing Optimizely Content Cloud has allowed the team to serve members in a more sustainable fashion, reducing the amount of print needed for published materials. Their digital experience platform has improved the reach of their content - it's simply easier to facilitate to more people in a meaningful and personalized way.

The making of ISM 2.0

ISM’s prior website truly didn’t represent the thought leadership and pioneering spirit of the organization. They needed a platform that would emulate their mission digitally. They deployed Content Cloud to serve as a member-first community platform that provided great content and research, including incorporating their magazine, Inside Supply Management.

The ISM digital platform utilizes Marketing Automation to convey a more personalized experience and showcase the ISM brand in a more relevant way. Users are given the opportunity to access what educational courses they've purchased and easily see what their membership status is.

ISM leverages the power to, at any time, learn how the website is performing against expectation. They can see whether produced content was successfully consumed, or whether a user was not as engaged as desired. This helps inform their content strategy by dictating what needs to be done in the future to drive engagement and overall membership satisfaction.

Why ISM are delighted with their digital platform:

• Technology peace-of-mind
• Modernized technology infrastructure
• The ability to handle important, sensitive content
• Mobile friendly
• Ease-of-use
• Decentralized management of content
• The ability to support future digital growth
• Personalization capabilities
• Reliable technology partner

Long term buy-in

The right partner is important to enable ISM on their digital journey. That's why they made the investment in Optimizely for the long-term strategy. The next step will be further development of their Commerce Cloud environment to deliver even greater digital experiences for members. Personalization and customizing the front-end of the site will continue to increase member engagement, helping to cement ISM's mission.

In terms of the future, ISM is also excited by the opportunity to surprise and delight members without 'heavy lifting'. Optimizely's Digital Experience Platform delivers Content, Commerce and Personalization on one screen, simplifying ISM's technology stack. Therefore, this is the single, unified tool that will help ISM further connect with professional communities within the supply chain.