tee would assess and rate the need—is this a non-negotiable must-have? A wish list item? Then the committee would set goals and make a list of outcomes to describe what success would look like. Find out what matters. Gathering feedback and doing a proper assessment of needs are critical aspects. “You have to listen to the people the change is going to impact,” says Barth. “I can’t stress enough the importance of this up-front work,” he adds. “Before you ever start talking about vendors or solutions, think about why you’re doing it and what you’re trying to achieve.” “You have to ask, ‘Why?’” agrees Kerr, who managed the rollout of a new POS, e-commerce platform, and RFID access gates at Red Mountain. “Closely followed by, ‘How?’ and ‘Can we use it?’” If you don’t do the work to identify your business’s specific needs, says Kerr, even a system with all the bells and whis- tles won’t fix your problems. Red Moun- tain, he says, scrutinized whether the upgrades were truly going to improve the experience for both guests and staff. WEIGHING THE OPTIONS Once needs and wants have been identi- fied, requests for proposals are submitted and the process of identifying potential vendors begins. Unlike other resort functions that only have a couple suppliers to choose from, software vendor options abound, and competition is real. Most industry veterans have relationships with ven- dors, or know someone who does, so it’s easy to ask around. “It’s a small industry,” says Barth. Still, different ski areas have differ- ent needs, the menu of vendor options and what they offer is varied, and deci- sions need to be made. Data: stored on-site or in the cloud? Is it best to choose a cloud-based system or manage your own on-premises servers? Lake Louise, for example, with its remote location and unreliable inter- net service, invested in on-site servers. What type of system? Should you retain a vendor willing to customize sys- tems, or opt instead for a one-size-(most- ly)-fits-all package? Is an “all-in-one” package best, or is your operation sophis- ticated enough to warrant separate best-
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“IT’S THE PEOPLE INVOLVED THAT MAKE ALL THIS WORK”
of-breed applications? If the latter, how well do the various systems interface? What type of vendor? Meanwhile, vendors come in all shapes and sizes. Should you choose an established ven- dor with lots of customers, or try a newer, up-and-coming vendor that might offer more personalized attention? These characteristics matter and can affect potential fit. Where are they located? In your state or across the con- tinent? Will they be available when you need support? How supportive will they be? Will they adapt to your changing needs or changes in the industry? Do you trust that they have your best interests in mind? Are hardware upgrades needed? Also, what sort of hardware upgrades is your resort willing to make? For exam- ple, if you are buying a lift access system that uses scanners, is the new system compatible with the old scanners? Is a new ticketing system compatible with the old ticket and season pass printers? Will you be printing tickets and passes? Red’s experience. Red Mountain found a good fit with Paradocs Moun- tain Software, which was a relative startup at the time (prior to its acquisi- tion by Accesso Technology Group), but growing. The Paradocs team shared their plans for growth, and Kerr and his team liked what they had to say. He also appre-
ciated their candor and honesty when Red expressed interest in Paradocs’ food and beverage package. “They told us to wait on the F and B stuff because it wasn’t ready yet,” says Kerr, so the resort stuck with implementing the software for tick- ets, passes, and ski school, with rentals and retail to follow in the future. Impulsive Kissing. Contrary to the more deliberate processes of other ski areas, McNulty opted to rip out the exist- ing technology stack at Kissing Bridge in the middle of his first winter as owner and replace it with the SnowCloud platform. The system—which includes e-commerce, ticketing, rentals, RFID access, and more—went live in January. It was a hasty transition, but McNulty chose to move forward with it for the same reasons other ski areas would: He and his team liked SnowCloud’s products and the support that was offered, recog- nized that the system could improve the employee and guest experience, and got the impression SnowCloud was invest- ing in their products. About the cost ... Finally, price will affect any decision. The more sophisticated and bigger the operation, the more systems will cost. For a small- er operation like Kissing Bridge, for example, McNulty appreciates the sub- scription style of SnowCloud’s cloud- based system, no required investment
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