Course Descriptions: Accredited Online Club Technology Education

 

Our online technology courses have been created specifically for Private Club Professionals.  These courses are designed for a non-technical audience: Club Managers and Assistant Managers, Club CFO’s and Controllers and other Club Professionals who are involved with technology decisions and operations at their clubs.  The courses are also helpful for Club Members who are involved in technology decisions: Board of Directors, Finance Committee and Technology Committee members. 

 

Each course is approximately 55 minutes in length and includes a Course Synopsis document for student referral after taking the course.  In addition, the courses include various ancillary documents such as analytical tools, checklists and guides.  Courses are accessible for 6 months following purchase.  Below are the course descriptions:

 

How to Create an IT Strategic Plan for Your Club

 

Effective Planning is a key factor in business success.  Yet most private clubs have little or nothing to show when asked to produce a plan for their IT future.  Enter IT Strategic Planning – the process of assessing your club’s current IT environment and planning for maximum effectiveness in the future.  This course provides you with a solid methodology for constructing a strategic IT plan for your club. Topics include the benefits of planning, proper budgeting for systems maintenance, 3 key planning strategies specifically for private clubs, and coordinating IT planning with your club’s overall strategic plan. You’ll learn what’s needed to prepare a comprehensive IT plan for your club, and you’ll receive the tools to get the job done. (This course includes an IT Plan Outline to help you get started.)

 

How to Measure Your Club’s IT Effectiveness

 

Each year private clubs spend thousands of dollars on technology with the expectation that those investments will provide appropriate value.  But how can clubs accurately measure the effectiveness of their IT investments?  This course addresses a broad spectrum of subjects related to making the right technology investments and measuring the true value of those investments.  Topics include: recent survey data on what clubs are spending for Technology, how to create a proper IT budget, systems administration and maintenance options, using technology to reduce costs, translating IT value into funding dollars and determining your club’s overall IT effectiveness. (This course includes an IT Effectiveness Scorecard Template for your use, along with a sample IT Manager Job Description.)

 

Should You Replace or Reengineer Your Club Management Software?

 

Clubs that have purchased new management software during the past 5 years or more will be facing difficult choices in the future – to reengineer or replace their core membership, POS, accounting and website solutions. Replacement is the natural reaction when clubs become frustrated with legacy systems.  However, before pulling the trigger on replacement, clubs would be wise to investigate the value of reengineering the existing systems to provide significant improvements at much less cost – and turmoil - than replacement.

 

Reengineering is designed to:

• Make sure wholesale change is really needed.

• Assure that the contemplated change will provide significant value and is cost effective.

• In some cases, keep management from making a huge, expensive mistake.

• In other cases, prepare for the selection and implementation of new systems.

 

This session explores the seven analytical steps involved to determine if reengineering or replacement is warranted, along with the specific procedures to be used if reengineering is the appropriate action to take.

 

How to Select and Implement New Club Management Software

 

Private Clubs across the nation are periodically faced with evaluating and selecting new enterprise systems for Accounting, POS, Reservations, Website and a myriad of other functions.  If your club isn’t in the market today for new systems, you may be soon.  This session focuses on the Best Practices associated with the evaluation and selection process including: adequate requirements analysis, detailed functional specifications, structured vendor demonstrations, meaningful vendor reference checks, effective evaluation/ratings procedures, accurate cost analysis and comparisons, tips on contract negotiations, and new systems implementation best practices – all of the elements needed for a successful selection and implementation project. (Detailed cost analysis spreadsheet templates are included with this course.)

 

Wireless Technology for Private Clubs: What You Need to Know

 

This course will teach you everything you need to know about wireless technology for Private Clubs. Topics include: types of wireless technology, how wireless works, wireless standards, wireless uses and costs, best applications for wireless at private clubs, how to secure access to wireless systems, and wireless deployment best practices. Although this course addresses many technical subjects, it is specifically geared for non-technical club executives who are responsible for technology decisions at their clubs. (This course includes a sample Employee Internet Usage Policy for your use.)

 

Telephone Systems for Private Clubs: What You Need to Know

 

This course will teach you everything you need to know about telephone systems for Private Clubs. Topics include: types of telephone systems (digital systems, voice over IP (VoIP) systems, hosted systems), how the different systems work, pros & cons and costs of each system type, and telephone system deployment best practices. Although this course addresses many technical subjects, it is specifically geared for non-technical club executives who are responsible for technology decisions at their clubs.