“WE TEND NOT TO BE THE FIRST TO SIGN ON TO NEW TECH OR IMPLEMENT UPDATES ... IF NOT TOTALLY NECCESSARY. WE PREFER TO MAKE SURE THE TECH IS STABLE.”
BUDGETS UP At the national level, the story is clear: technology budgets are rising. Eighty- five percent of respondents said their technology budget has increased signifi- cantly or modestly in the last three years. Budget growth is paired with a more favorable view of technology within organizations, with 64% of respondents rating technology a 4 or 5 in importance on a 1–5 scale, with medium, large and extra-large resorts more likely than small resorts to view technology as of signifi- cant importance to their organization. 1. Importance of tech rated 4 or 5 on a 1-5 scale (by size)
function. Extra-large ski areas are more likely to have corporate IT support (63%) than small ones (32%). Training. Many respondents do not provide or require outside IT-specific training or continuing education for IT staff. Among respondents who answered the question, about half (48%) said that they do provide or require such training. Maintenance policies. Nearly three-quarters of respondents said they have a standard policy for keeping sup- ported hardware, operating systems, and security patches up to date. Almost all large and extra-large ski areas (88%) have policies for keeping up to date, but only about half the small areas (54%) do. Medium-sized ski areas sit close to the average at 78%.
Up-to-date systems. Regardless of policy, two-thirds of respondents said that they would consider 74% or more of their systems and infrastructure up to date. (See chart 2, below left.) Small ski areas are less likely than the average to have at least three-quarters of their systems and infra- structure up to date, while medium, large, and extra-large are more likely. When asked in an open-ended ques- tion why some systems aren’t up to date, cost was the most common theme among those who responded, with 38% mentioning cost or budget. Responses often included multiple themes. Vendor limitations and third-party dependen- cies were frequently cited (21%), along with hardware/OS lifecycle constraints (19%) and staffing/time limitations (13%). Compatibility or legacy depen- dencies showed up as well (12%). There were some differences by size. For example, small ski areas that pro- vided comment cited staffing/time and hardware/OS constraints more often than other cohorts. Large ski areas more often mentioned vendor dependency and cost. One respondent from a medium ski area broke it down to “cost and function- ality. … We tend to not be the first to sign on to new tech or implement updates as soon as available if not totally necessary. We prefer to make sure the tech is stable and bugs are corrected before updating or implementing.” Another highlighted “time and avail- ability of staff and competing priorities” as key obstacles. Technology roadmap. When asked if they have a multi-year technolo- gy roadmap or master plan, respondents were divided: 29% (mostly extra-large) said yes, 29% no, and 41% said “some- what.” Small ski areas skewed toward “somewhat” or “no.” » continued
100
100%
80
68%
65%
60
46%
40
20
0
2. More than 74% of systems up to date (by size)
SMALL: MEAN 3.56 MEDIUM: MEAN 3.78
LARGE: MEAN 3.89 EXTRA LARGE: MEAN 4.88
100
About 39% of respondents reported spending 1–3% of their annual operat- ing budget on technology. Another 32% spend 3–5%. The 1–5% range is common across resort sizes, although a few larger operations reported higher percentages. CAPACITY Headcount is more variable. Overall, 51% said their ski area has 2–5 dedicated IT/tech staff, while 18% reported having 0-1, with small ski areas (58%) far more likely to operate with 0-1 dedicated IT staff. In perhaps a reflection of ski area consolidation, 43% of respondents have support from a central or corporate IT Share of resorts in each size segment rating technology importance 4 or 5 on a 5-point scale, with 1 being “not important” and 5 being “most important.” Mean score shown in key.
86%
80
74%
68%
60
50%
40
20
0
SMALL: 50% MEDIUM: 74%
LARGE: 68% EXTRA LARGE: 86%
Share of resorts in each size segment reporting that more than 74% of their systems are up to date. Percentages are within each size group.
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