Aptify Overview and Architecture

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT | Recorded: 2025-12-19 | Verify against current system state

Abstract¶

This comprehensive session covers AANP's journey with Aptify AMS, from the original Argosy system through the current Aptify implementation. Jeff explains the various components (Smart Client, Aptify Web, eBusiness), integrations with Higher Logic and RealMagnet, and the critical merge process for handling duplicate member records. The session includes detailed discussion of the legacy merge process that updates AAMPDB tables and considerations for transitioning to Salesforce while maintaining data integrity across legacy systems.

Key Procedures¶

• AANP history: Argosy (Access DB) → Aptify (SQL Server with Visual Basic app) → Current Aptify Web
• Company ownership evolution: Aptify Corporation → Community Brands → Momentum Software (same product, different owners)
• Higher Logic and RealMagnet are also owned by Momentum Software
• Aptify handles: membership management, orders, e-commerce, invoicing, committees, community memberships (SPGs/SIGs)
• SendGrid used for transactional emails (renewal reminders) - high reputation, bring to Salesforce
• Smart Client: Windows desktop app, now runs via remote desktop on server
• Aptify Web: browser-based, missing some features (finance/membership team still needs Smart Client)
• eBusiness: member-facing portal (my.aanp.org) using Sitefinity - being replaced
• account.aanp.org: custom-built frontend using Aptify API (faster than eBusiness)
• Direct SQL Server access available - can read/update data, most integrations are read-only
• DBAmp sync with Salesforce won't be real-time data (only difference from current Aptify access)
• Production servers: Web01A (legacy apps), Web01B (eBusiness), Web01C (Aptify Web)
• QA consolidated: fewer servers, eBusiness and Aptify Web on same instance
• After Salesforce migration: eBusiness decommissioned, Smart Client read-only then retired
• AAMPDB will move to Azure servers and continue to be used for legacy apps

Notable Statements¶

• 0:04:45 "AANP originally used something called Argosy. It was a custom-built application... It was mostly just person records that they would then identify if they had a membership. They took check only at the time, and it was an Access database."
• 0:05:52 "When you hear people talk about Aptify... you're going to hear them talk about Aptify, Community Brands, and then most recently Momentum Software is the new name. The application is still known as Aptify, but the company that owns them has changed over the years."
• 0:07:49 "We use it to manage community memberships. So that's the SPGs, the SIGs, and other committees that get pushed over to Higher Logic communities. The integration with Aptify is through committees."
• 0:08:06 "We've had issues with the Network for Research community because it is so large. It's over 20,000 people. Committees were not made to have 20,000 people in them."
• 0:12:40 "The problem was it was not very performant. It uses something called Sitefinity. And over the years we made a decision to move things away from this eBusiness portal. So we started building our own custom applications."
• 0:13:13 "We have direct access to the SQL Server Database for Aptify. So unlike other systems which are software as a service, we have direct access to everything on the back-end."
• 0:14:02 "When we move to Salesforce with DBAmp, we're still going to be able to do some of this type of thing, but just know it's not going to be real-time data. That's the only difference that's going to be with Salesforce."
• 0:20:14 "AANP has a problem with duplicate records... They may be members for five years and then they drop off for five and they come back for another five years and create a new account."
• 0:21:26 "Aptify had a built-in merge process and we tried that for a while, but it caused problems with membership management. So we had Aptify create a custom-built merge process."
• 0:32:00 "Just because you're moving to Salesforce does not mean that these processes will go away. The Aptify merge will go away because you're not going to have access to Aptify to run those merges anymore."

Systems & Configurations¶

Systems Mentioned¶

• Aptify (AMS - Smart Client, Aptify Web, eBusiness)
• Argosy (legacy Access database)
• SQL Server (Aptify database backend)
• Higher Logic Communities (SPGs, SIGs integration)
• RealMagnet (email marketing)
• BluePay/Braintree (payment processing)
• SendGrid (transactional email SMTP)
• Sitefinity (eBusiness CMS - deprecated)
• Salesforce (future AMS)
• Chargent (Salesforce payment processing)
• Marketing Cloud (replacing RealMagnet)
• AAMPDB (legacy database)
• DBAmp (Salesforce-SQL sync)
• Plauti (Salesforce duplicate management)

Specific Configurations¶

Credentials/Access Mentioned¶

• Aptify Smart Client access (via remote desktop)
• Aptify Web login
• Direct SQL Server database access
• SAML configuration access (eBusiness)

Errors & Troubleshooting¶

• Issue: Higher Logic community performance with large committees
• Cause: Network for Research has 20,000+ members; committees not designed for this scale
• Resolution: Salesforce won't use committees for these integrations

• Timestamp: 0:08:06

• Issue: eBusiness portal performance problems

• Cause: Sitefinity CMS not performant for AANP's needs
• Resolution: Built custom account.aanp.org using Aptify API instead

• Timestamp: 0:12:40

• Issue: Aptify merge process fails

• Cause: Various conflicts like duplicate Higher Logic community records
• Resolution: Check documentation for specific conflict resolution; identify issue and retry

• Timestamp: 0:26:03

• Issue: Merge process after Salesforce migration

• Cause: Will lose access to Aptify license for running merges
• Resolution: Need to develop stored procedure-based merge for Aptify tables; legacy merge can stay same

• Timestamp: 0:32:00

• Issue: Duplicate member records

• Cause: Members lapse and create new accounts; email/name changes
• Resolution: CE Tracker history requires merge; overnight stored procedure identifies duplicates for review
• Timestamp: 0:20:14

Merge Process Details¶

Aptify Merge Workflow¶

1. Staff identifies duplicates (manual or automated overnight process)
2. Open Aptify Web merge screen
3. Select winning record
4. Review field conflicts and choose winning values
5. Submit merge request
6. If successful: writes to legacy merge queue
7. If failed: review error, fix conflict, retry

Legacy Merge Process¶

• Runs every 5 minutes
• Updates all AAMPDB tables (conference, events, financial, profile)
• Maximum 3 records at a time
• Rarely fails; shows error message in queue if it does
• Web app available for monitoring and manual submission

Tables Updated by Legacy Merge¶

• Conference and events tables (heaviest use)
• Financial tables (used by Conference Reg)
• Membership tables (mostly legacy, kept for clean data)
• Profile data tables

Future Considerations¶

• If Conference Reg moves to new LMS or Salesforce, legacy apps can be retired
• If legacy apps retired, no need for Aptify or Legacy merge processes
• Ask new LMS vendor if they can handle conference registrations
• Consider keeping sessions as non-products (just two products: Workshop Day, Conference Registration)

Transcript Gaps & Quality Notes¶

• Recording from Zoom meeting with McKenna Stout
• Meeting ended at ~39 minutes due to Zoom time limit
• Additional session planned for error monitoring and scheduled maintenance
• Presenter mentioned losing access to legacy merge web app for screenshots
• Duration: ~39 minutes
• Presenter: Jeff Sikes
• Audio quality: Good