Modernizing Mission-Critical Systems: Tricension and the VFW Auxiliary

Context

The Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary has supported veterans, military personnel, and their families for more than a century. As membership and services evolved, so did the technical demands of running a large, mission-driven organization. An aging mainframe and an off-the-shelf solution constrained the Auxiliary’s ability to serve members efficiently and prepare for future growth.

Tricension partnered with the VFW Auxiliary to design and deliver MALTA, a custom Association Management System tailored to the organization’s operational needs and forward-looking vision.

Problem

The Auxiliary’s legacy environment presented a familiar set of modernization barriers. Data lived in silos, reporting required manual consolidation, and day-to-day workflows relied on paper and manual handoffs. Members lacked self-service channels, and staff spent time on administrative tasks rather than mission work.

Key challenges included:

Data fragmentation that hindered accurate reporting and strategic responses.
Slow, manual workflows dominated event registrations, voting, and membership changes.
Limited member access and few self-service options that reduced engagement.
Scalability and integration gaps that blocked future features and seasonal load handling.
Security and compliance concerns stemming from outdated controls and limited auditability.

Solution

Tricension began with an architecture assessment and a modernization roadmap that balanced risk, continuity, and impact. The goal was not a wholesale rip-and-replace but a practical, staged transformation that preserved service while enabling new capabilities.

The MALTA solution reflected that pragmatic approach. Core elements included:

Centralized, cloud-based database to consolidate member data and provide a single source of truth for reporting and operations.
Self-service member portals allowing members to update profiles, register for events, and participate in online voting.
Automated digital workflows that digitized registration, voting, and charter access to reduce manual errors and paper handling.
Microservices architecture enabling components to scale independently and supporting phased feature delivery.
Enhanced security and compliance with encryption, multi-factor authentication, and audit logging built-in from day one.

Technically, Tricension used secure ETL processes to migrate trusted data from the mainframe to the cloud, applied automated testing during development, and integrated observability so operational teams could monitor performance and behavior post-launch.

Delivery Methodology

Tricension’s delivery combined platform engineering with change management to reduce risk and accelerate adoption.

Assess and prioritize: identify high-value workflows for digitization and plan incremental releases.
Pilot and iterate: roll out MALTA features in pilots to validate integration points and refine UX based on staff feedback.
Automated verification: use automated tests to validate workflows end-to-end and catch regressions early.
Train and transition: provide documentation, training sessions, and runbooks so staff could adopt new processes confidently.

Impact

MALTA shifted the Auxiliary from reactive operations to a more resilient, member-centered platform. While exact numbers vary by program, the qualitative improvements are clear:

Reliability: centralized data and automated workflows reduced dependence on fragile manual processes and improved operational consistency.
Scalability: microservices and cloud infrastructure enabled the system to handle seasonal peaks and expected membership growth without service degradation.
Usability: self-service portals and streamlined staff interfaces made routine tasks faster and less error-prone.
Member experience: members gained easier access to events, voting, and services, increasing engagement and lowering administrative friction.
Security and compliance: built-in logging, authentication, and encryption strengthened data protection and auditability.

Conclusion

Transitioning a century-old organization from a mainframe and an off-the-shelf product to a purpose-built system is more than a technical project. It is an organizational transformation that touches people, processes, and governance. For the VFW Auxiliary, MALTA is not simply software; it is an operational foundation that enables staff and volunteers to spend more time on service and less time on paperwork.

Tricension’s role was to translate mission needs into a resilient, scalable platform while minimizing disruption and preserving institutional knowledge. The result is a system designed to evolve with the Auxiliary, supporting decades more of service.

If your organization is wrestling with legacy systems that limit mission delivery or member engagement, Tricension can help: we offer assessments, modernization roadmaps, and platform engineering that align technical choices with organizational priorities. Reach out to explore a phased plan that reduces risk and delivers tangible benefit quickly.

Sources and further reading:

VFW Case Study

Modernizing Mission-Critical Systems: Tricension and the VFW Auxiliary