Retreat.Guru Research
Published June 3, 2019
This Tech Stack Survey was conceived as a collaboration between the Holistic Centers Network and Retreat Guru. The information in this report was originally presented at the HCN Centers Gathering held at Hollyhock in May 2019.
Most organizations embrace technology as a means to enable them to focus on what they do best – delivering programs that impact
lives. But when considering the myriad software available today, the choices are dizzying. How do you decide? What applications are other organizations using?
This report identifies commonly used software in key categories and highlights user satisfaction levels. If you are looking for a new app, learn which are popular. If you’re already tech-deep, compare your stack with others. You might be surprised by some of our findings.
But first, a quick quiz:
True or false?
-
- The tech stack of a large organization is different from that of a small or medium-sized organization.
- Most organizations rely upon an IT department to choose the best applications and to provide support.
- In each category, there is a clear #1 choice for a software application and most are happy with their choices.
- If you have the resources, a custom software build is the best.
An evolving list of software applications
A tech stack in the context of this report is the evolving list of the software applications that you employ within your organization to enable business activities and support your work life.
The software applications are listed within general categories that relate to typical business use cases and operational areas. For example, Office Suite includes applications for email, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and similar apps. Point of Sale includes the apps that you use to manage the retail component of your business, like your food service, bookstore, and gift shop.
It’s rarely about technology - it’s always about people
A software application is a tool, and a tool is simply a tool.
To build a house, you need more than the shiniest state-of-the-art hammer (and the same applies to software). You need an architect (to conduct a needs analysis, design a strategy and develop a plan), a contractor (project manager and change meister), and top trades (super users with operational expertise). Tools alone won’t guarantee that the house will be solid, or even functional.
And when it comes to change within an organization, surprise usually isn’t a good thing. Before you even begin to search for a new software application, gather key stakeholders – those who will be most affected – and do a deep dive to engage them. Keep your whole team informed as your process unfolds.
How do I choose?
Every day, more and more apps become available, promising to help you do whatever you need to do with ease, faster and better. The choices are dizzying. Due diligence is required, but if you’re constantly researching and comparing, you’re stealing time from your essential priorities.
When evaluating current tools or looking for new ones, consider how they help you to focus on those essential priorities. And in most cases, the principle less is more should apply. This is what author Greg McKeown refers to in his book, Essentialism.
When you make a decision, stick with it. If doubt seeps in during implementation, seek help and strive for mastery of the tool before you give up and switch to a different app.
Some key questions to ask
Clearly define where you are today and where you want to be at a specific future date. Identify the resources (like money, people, and time) that you will be able to apply along the way.
Your goal is to develop use cases – functions, workflows, integrations, and reports – that support your business. Prioritize as must-have, would be nice, or wish list and consider them as acceptance criteria.
Identify key features and functions
-
- What is within scope for this project? Keep it real – don’t boil the ocean for a cup of tea.
- What existing workflows and internal policies will be affected? Are they still serving you?
- How are you doing business now? How do you manage registration, reception, finance, retail, rentals, housekeeping, food services, marketing, information technology and web management, conferences, events, spa, and other departments? Query your front line team – they know.
- What technology systems do you currently employ? Does your stack include legacy software, paper ledgers, manual data entry, and overloaded email inboxes? Is it time for a change?
- How will this new software simplify your operations, provide more efficiencies and present one version of the (data) truth?
Describe your desired state
-
- In a perfect world, how would your processes and systems align, integrate, and operate?
- What current processes and systems are holding you back from realizing your goals? What would you like to do differently?
- What is the cost of your current way of doing business? Are you expending valuable labour hours for manual data collection and management? Would you like to redirect those hours to activities with higher value, like enhanced services for your participants/students?
Everything looks great during a demo
The best way to discover and to learn is to dive in.
When you’ve narrowed your search to the top 2-3 contenders, request full-featured trial versions of the applications. To the extent feasible and appropriate for a given application category, configure the software to support your use cases.
The time that you spend in the evaluation phase should be directly proportional to the resource investment required and the impact that the application will have on your organization.
What are the hidden costs?
-
- Extended cost - what is the true cost to operate the new software over the next 3-5 years? The monthly or annual software subscription cost is usually clearly stated, but what other costs will you incur (or avoid) if you decide to move forward with the new application?
- Other fees - are there any one-time costs for implementation? Are initial and on-going training and support included? Is there an annual maintenance fee in addition to the software license? Are future software upgrades included?
- Constraints - is the number of users or transactions limited? Are there other constraints related to the subscription plan you have selected? How are you protected from future price increases?
- Opportunity - if you proceed with this project, must you give up or delay another project? You don’t need to constantly second guess your actions or strategy, but you do need to be cognizant that your choices have consequences.
- Efficiencies - while your new software may yield some staffing efficiencies, most organizations reallocate saved labour to higher-yielding and more beneficial activities. Overall, there is rarely a significant saving in labour, regardless of what the brochure said.
- Expertise - do you have the expertise in-house to manage the new software application or do you need to hire/train for new skills? Is a project manager, business analyst, database administrator, marketing or SEO expert, or other specialist required?
Some interesting finds
Does size matter?
No. The survey responses did not vary significantly by the size of the organization. In general, large, medium, and small organizations (ranked according to annual registration volume) favored the same applications. The only notable exception was that large organizations were more likely to use business intelligence and CMMS applications.
Do IT departments rule?
Anecdotal evidence uncovered during this survey suggests that decision-making related to the selection of software applications has been widely distributed, but that the current trend is to standardize both selection and support.
The IT department (or individual) is being called upon more and more to help other stakeholders organize the selection process and develop a support plan.
In most cases, software for accounting, website, and registrations has long been standardized on single applications within an organization, but software for office suites, payment processing, graphic design, task management, and scheduling, online surveys and forms, and many other categories have been whatever works for me.
Historically, departments or even individuals have been free to select their favorite applications. The common result was a complex set of disparate systems.
The motivation behind standardization is likely efficiency – teams using the same applications can collaborate natively, user support is improved, better reporting is possible, and the cost of a shared system is usually less expensive.
Is there a clear winner?
In most categories, one application did receive more mentions that the others and most respondents said they were happy with their choices. However, the fact that one application was mentioned more frequently than others, or enjoyed a high satisfaction level, does not necessarily mean that the named application is best suited for your environment.
Due diligence is required to make the right choice.
Are custom solutions always better?
Maybe, but custom solutions are often costly to develop and maintain, and introduce higher risk.
Most custom software solutions require the engagement of a third-party developer as organizations typically do not have a technical staff with the required expertise. You may have to remain reliant on that third-party developer, often an individual for many years. What happens if your custom source code becomes out of date? How long will that individual be around?
Custom solutions sometimes suffer from we only know what we know, whereas most commercial solutions are stimulated by continued input from a broad client base.
Do we have recommendations?
No – responses to this survey are presented for information purposes only.
Our goal was to provide a snapshot of commonly used applications in key categories as reported by survey respondents from a cross-section of retreats and holistic learning centers.
This report is not intended to recommend a specific software application or by omission, deter you from considering applications that are not mentioned in the report.
Use the information in this report as a starting point, to begin conversations within your organization and with outside software and service providers.
Software application categories
The results of the survey are shown in the following pages.
On the charts, the Y-axis shows the number of mentions.
The color-coding of the bars along the X-axis indicates the satisfaction level expressed as a percentage of all respondents:
-
- Green - respondents who highly recommend the application.
- Yellow - respondents who are satisfied with the application.
- Red - respondents who are unsatisfied with the application.
Software categories are generally presented in descending order by the number of responses. For example, the category office suite received the most responses and the categories of HR admin, business intelligence, and work orders received the fewest responses.
If you want to learn more about a specific application, follow the link on the chart pages.
If you didn’t have a chance to participate earlier, you can add your tech stack now.
We’re continuing to collect and analyze data and would love to hear from you.
Our findings
Office suite
Google and Microsoft were the most often cited, with Google respondents having a slightly greater satisfaction level.
Overall, the survey attracted 60 responses. However, the chart shows that over 45 identified Google, over 45 identified Microsoft and over 20 identified Apple - a total of over 110 marks! This likely indicates that almost half of the respondents use more than one of these office suites.
Cloud storage
Google was more clearly favored in the cloud storage category and enjoys a high percentage of satisfied or highly recommend responses.
Communication
Although the applications in this category vary somewhat in their feature sets, they generally are used to communicate within teams and beyond. Zoom received the most responses and enjoyed a high satisfaction level.
Payment processing
The top three responses are shown in this chart, but there were many more processing applications collected with only a few responses each. Again in this category, a high percentage of respondents indicated that they employ multiple payment processing solutions.
Online surveys and forms
Google Forms and SurveyMonkey were clearly the favorites, but a number of other applications received multiple checks and are compiled in the other column - Qualtrics, JotForm, WuFoo, Formstack and SurveyGizmo.
Website builder
Probably no surprise to most readers, WordPress was the clear favorite - most studies indicate that WordPress commands over a 30% market share on the web.
Only a small number of respondents indicated that they had a custom webpage development, and most of those indicated that they were unsatisfied with that approach.
Registration and booking
A large percentage of survey respondents were Retreat Guru clients, so the numbers are not surprising. However, we (Retreat Guru) are pleased with the reported satisfaction level and continue to strive for all green!
Email marketing
MailChimp was most often identified, but a significant number of alternatives were mentioned. This was one of the categories that reported a number of unsatisfied users.
InfusionSoft (by Keap)
Graphic design
The Adobe Creative Suite was a clear favorite in the graphic design category, although a number of respondents indicated that they used both Adobe and Canva.
Productivity tools
These applications are used for collaborative project management.
Accounting
Point of Sale (POS)
Appointment scheduling
Although all are used for scheduling and are included in the same category, these applications serve different markets. Doodle is primarily used to schedule meetings, MindBody serves gyms, spas, and salons, and Acuity allows clients to schedule online appointments, pay, and complete intake forms.
Document management/signatures
This category is associated with eSignature solutions. They vary in feature sets but most go beyond digital signatures to provide document preparation, distribution, and management.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
See also, Fundraising and donor management.
Fundraising and donor management
Blackbaud offers both eTapestry and Raiser’s Edge.
HR admin and employee scheduling
Very few responses were received in this category.
Humanity (formerly know as ShiftPlanning)
Business intelligence
These applications provide a collaborative analytics platform for visualizing data.
Very few responses were received in this category.
Work orders and asset management
Also known as Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS).
Very few responses were received in this category.
Fiix (formerly known as Maintenance Assistant)
Survey data
In May 2019, Retreat Guru polled its clients and members of the Holistic Centers Network via an online survey to take a snapshot of the current technology landscape.
| 60 responses | |
| 1 - 999 registrations/year | 23 organizations |
| 1000-4999 registrations/year | 23 organizations |
| 5000+ registrations/year | 14 organizations |
| 1063 data points marked | |
| Highly recommended | 428 |
| Satisfied | 526 |
| Unsatisfied | 109 |
| Locations | |
| North America | 47 |
| Europe | 7 |
| South America | 4 |
| Asia | 1 |
| Africa | 1 |
We thank the survey respondents for investing their time, sharing their experiences, and helping us all to be more informed. We’re grateful for your cooperation.
If you didn’t have a chance to participate earlier, you can still add your tech stack.
We’re continuing to collect and analyze data and would love to hear from you.
We’d Love to Hear From You
Was this report helpful? Any suggestions for improvement?
Would you like to suggest a topic for a future report?
Here’s a quick and easy feedback form.
About us
We have been lovingly referred to as the geeks of the wakeful movement.
Retreat Guru software and services blend online marketing, property management, and program registration, and are designed specifically for the unique needs of retreats and holistic learning centres. Retreat Guru’s main areas of focus:
- Retreat Guru Enterprise Software – more than 250 retreat and holistic learning centers use our cloud-based applications to process over US$110M per year.
- Retreat Guru Marketplace – lists more than 3,000 centers in 145+ countries, offering over 50,000 retreats and programs with over 100,000 visitors per month. It’s the place for new people to find your organization, learn about your programs, and register online.
For more information contact dennis@retreat.guru
The Holistic Centers Network (HCN) strengthens connection, communication, and collaboration among holistic centers worldwide and co-hosts Gatherings every year.
HCN serves as a meeting point for Centers both new and well-established that address the new consciousness emerging globally. The network includes rural retreat centers, urban learning centers, and places of wellness and sustainability, that work toward the goal of transforming individual lives and fostering a culture of greater holistic, ecological and spiritual awareness and practice. Monthly webinars and regional gatherings strengthen the peer-to-peer learning community, supporting each center to thrive in its fullest potential.
For more information contact christine@centersnetwork.org