Stop Paying to Solve the Same Problem: Lessons From 45+ Union System Implementations

Chris Walton is back. More than 45 unions have replaced their systems through the ACTU's Union Innovation Hub, and he has watched every one of them. Riley Miller asks him what union leaders should learn from that before they start. His first answer is blunt: never do a custom build from scratch. From there Chris walks through why unions put the decision off, what goes wrong with each of the usual routes, and why starting from a shared base lets a union put its time and budget into the part that's truly its own. He also explains why he skips the long requirements phase, the three things that still sink projects (data, the person running it day to day, and change management), and why go-live is the starting line. The conversation covers checkoff, AI, and what North American unions might bring to the Hub. If you lead a union with a system decision anywhere on the horizon, this one's for you. 📄 Show notes, transcript, and links: https://www.burstingsilver.com/podcast/ep20 🔗 About Bursting Silver We're a fully remote consultancy specializing in modern CRM, iMIS, and AI solutions for membership organizations across North America. Website ▸ https://www.burstingsilver.com/ LinkedIn ▸ https://www.linkedin.com/company/bursting-silver 🌐 Follow the show Instagram ▸ https://www.instagram.com/burstingsilver/ X / Twitter ▸ https://x.com/burstingsilver Facebook ▸ https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61579548728138 TikTok ▸ https://www.tiktok.com/@burstingsilver YouTube ▸ https://www.youtube.com/@BurstingSilver 🎵 Music Fresh Start by Joakim Karud https://soundcloud.com/joakimkarud Creative Commons, Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported, CC BY-SA 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/_fresh-start Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/XN-tBgJ5CVw #TheModernMembershipOrg #Unions #UnionLeadership #iMIS #MembershipManagement #LabourMovement #BurstingSilver