iQMS RFQ Attachment B - BusinessCase.pdf

Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

Date: 10/07/2022 Version: 1.24 Frank Smith

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 2 of 37

Business Case – Authorizing Signatures

The person signing this section attests to reviewing and approving the business case as proposed.

OPRD Director (Name) (Date) Lisa Sumption

Signature:

OPRD Deputy Director

JR Collier

OPRD Deputy Director of Administration

Daniel Killam

OPRD Chief Information Officer (CIO)

Bob DeVyldere

This Section is to be completed by DAS Chief Information Office (CIO) IT Investment and Planning Section

DAS CIO Analyst (Name) (Date) Jenny King

Senior IT Portfolio Manager

Ryan Parent

Table of Contents

PROPOSAL NAME AND

DOCUMENT VERSION #

OPRD Campground Outdoor Recreation Solution - v 1.24

AGENCY Oregon Parks and Recreation Department

DATE 10/07/2022

DIVISION Information Technology DAS CONTROL #

AGENCY CONTACT Frank Smith PHONE NUMBER 971-375-5138

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 3 of 37

Business Case – Authorizing Signatures

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Purpose and Background

Purpose Background Agency Mission and Programs Strategic Value and Importance

Importance of an Outdoor Recreation Solution Current Reservation System Details OPRD Programs Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution External Stakeholders Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution Reservation Industry Trends and Developments

Problem or Opportunity Definition

Problem Definition Current System Limitations

Lack of Support for Business Rules Fragmented Customer Experience Convoluted Data Access and Database Structure Slow Response to Revenue-Generating Changes Limited Training and Support for Field Staff

Opportunity

Assumptions, Constraints, and Requirements

Assumptions Constraints Requirements

Alternatives Analysis

Alternatives Identification Method of Analysis – Selection Criteria Alternatives Evaluation

Detailed Alternative Comparison Project Costs and Return on Investment Analysis (ROI)

Project Objectives

Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions Recommendations Consequences of Failure to Act

Appendix A

Our Mission About Oregon State Parks

i. Overnight and Day-use Facilities Day Use, Grants, Other Programs Annual Visitor Information* 2017–19 OPRD Budget Revenues 2017–19 OPRD Budget Expenditures Ten Safety Principles

Appendix B: RFI Response Summary

Appendix C: Project Prioritization Matrix

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 4 of 37

Executive Summary

The Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) is interested in finding the best technological solution for managing campground reservations, park sales, and customer data to maximize facility utilization and revenue by retaining existing customers and attracting new ones. This project aims to identify the solution that will provide the most value for customers and other stakeholders and, if possible, reduce expenses for OPRD.

OPRD is legislatively mandated to manage the utilization of state parks and resources “in a manner that upholds their scenic, historical, natural, cultural, and recreation values” (OAR 736-010-0005, ORS 390.111, ORS 390.121). The reservation system helps our agency do this, and it is our single most important technology investment. For a park system of our size (3rd in day-use attendance and 7th in overnight attendance nationally), a robust reservation system is necessary. We use this system to process more than $22 million in revenue annually, representing over 400,000 nightly reservations. In addition, this system affects more than 220,000 customers and external partners, such as the Oregon Department of Forestry and Portland Metro Parks.

This system is vital to a variety of customers: individuals, families, groups, and small business providers who use our parks to recreate or as a staging place for delivering outdoor recreation activities. At a high level, the system supports Oregon’s tourism industry by connecting people with outdoor resources and bringing tourists into local communities. In the long run, this system could be leveraged across the public campground and recreation system and provide a centralized location for county, city, and state park camping. Furthermore, this project aligns with two of the Governor’s current priorities – government efficiency and conserving Oregon’s beauty of Oregon for future generations. This system has the opportunity to increase operational efficiency and thus “deliver quality public services efficiently and affordably” to Oregonians. It will also foster a “strong connection to nature” for young people by helping them spend time outdoors connecting with Oregon’s beauty and history. This connection will lead to a passion for conserving Oregon and ensuring it remains the special place it is today.

OPRD has used the reservation system since 1996. Although the product has evolved, it does not fully address our needs and is inefficient. Its limitations are significant and impede OPRD’s ability to operate efficiently:

Insufficient support for OPRD’s business rules and process improvements.

Fragmented customer experience;

Inability to easily answer basic performance questions due to data access restrictions and database structure;

Inability to quickly respond to operational changes, including revenue-generating ones; and Limited training capabilities for field staff;

A new system is expected to serve OPRD’s needs for at least ten years. We aim to implement a system that can be quickly adapted to respond to market changes and will more efficiently help us manage camping and day-use programs throughout the state. Specifically, the solution must meet the following requirements:

Allow the agency to react quickly to changing business demands Support business rules and identified operation efficiencies Function seamlessly across all sales channels (web, phone, and field locations) Integrate effectively with the state accounting system and OPRD programs and systems Provide a customer-friendly interface that translates easily across devices Store customer and financial data securely Make data available in a format that lends itself easily to comprehensive analysis to inform business decisions

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In 2017, OPRD began preparing for the replacement of the current reservation system by conducting market research and inviting interested vendors to informally showcase their systems. In 2018, a request for information (RFI) was issued for the project. The vendor presentations and RFI results showed a dramatic change in the reservation market. Not only are there many qualified vendors available to provide services, but there is also potential for significant savings and increased functionality. Reservation fees were generally quoted at lower levels than what OPRD currently pays. It is clear that OPRD has much to gain by exploring the full range of options in a robust market rather than extending the current contract.

This business case compares three alternatives for OPRD’s Outdoor Recreation Solution: status quo, new software purchase, and custom solution.

1) Status Quo: OPRD would keep the existing system and negotiate a new contract with its current provider.

This is seemingly a low-risk, safe alternative; however, this option is riskier than switching to a new system. The current vendor has a track record of slow or ineffective innovation, which means OPRD will continue to work with an inefficient solution. Other large clients have already left, which will likely decrease their resources and ability to provide service. The possibility that this vendor may be pushed out of the market in the next 5 to 10 years by more nimble competitors is very real.

2) RFP for A New Software Solution: OPRD could purchase new software by issuing an RFP to interested vendors in the market and selecting the best available option. The vendor would then configure its software application to meet OPRD needs. While there is risk associated with this option, the vendors are established in the reservation market and already have tried and tested solutions. Adapting an existing solution will require fewer agency resources, take less time to implement, and have a higher level of immediate success. This option also presents a great opportunity to better implement OPRD’s business rules, integrate with other technologies, streamline the customer experience, and increase operational efficiency.

3) NIC USA Custom Solution: OPRD could work with NIC USA to design, develop and implement a custom solution to address OPRD’s business needs. This option is most likely to address all OPRD’s technical needs;

however, it also poses the greatest risk of failure in terms of financial and public relations costs. OPRD cannot accept such high risks, given that lower-risk alternatives are available.

Moving to a new Outdoor Recreation Solution is inherently risky. However, OPRD cannot afford to stay with the status quo and be left behind technologically while other park systems modernize. Our preliminary research suggests that our business needs could be better met and for a much lower price if a new Outdoor Recreation Solution is implemented. Over a ten-year period, OPRD could save between $4 million to $14 million in transaction fees by switching to a new vendor. Given project costs of about $3.8 million, it would take OPRD as little as one biennium and as long as three biennia to recoup the project costs, making this a worthwhile investment for the agency.

At this stage in the project implementation, it is recommended that OPRD submit a Request for Proposals (RFP).

The RFP will allow OPRD to learn which vendors can deliver an Outdoor Recreation Solution that meets the agency’s short- and long-term needs. This process should yield a solution that provides OPRD with an improved and more affordable Outdoor Recreation Solution.

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Purpose and Background

Purpose

The purpose of this project is to improve business efficiency and the user experience; both are currently limited by the existing reservation system. The project will identify the best technological solution that supports the needed business process improvements for providing reservations and park sales for the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD). The agency has used the existing reservation system since 1996. Although the product has evolved over time, it does not fully address all agency needs and is not as efficient as we need it to be.

OPRD seeks a Outdoor Recreation Solution that will do the following:

Allow the agency to react quickly to changing business demands

Support business rules and identified operation efficiencies

Function seamlessly across all sales channels (web, phone, and field locations)

Integrate effectively with the state accounting system and OPRD programs and systems

Provide a customer friendly interface across all platforms and devices

Support marketing activities meant to retain existing customers and attract new ones

Store customer and financial data securely

Make data available promptly, easily and in the desired format – one that lends itself easily to comprehensive analysis to inform business decisions

The Outdoor Recreation Solution is the single most important technology investment at OPRD. The system is the largest contract in terms of revenue dollar value and is the backbone of the agency’s entire reservation function. The system processed over 400,000 nightly reservations in 2017. OPRD also uses the system in the park registration booths to collect from walk-in customers. In FY2017, camping revenue totaled over $22 million.

During that same time period, OPRD paid the contractor about $2.33 million in reservation and maintenance fees. To make the best decision for our customers and stakeholders now and long term, OPRD seeks to analyze alternatives to replace the current reservation system. Our goal is to implement a system that can quickly adapt to market changes, help us manage camping and day-use programs more efficiently, and allow us to manage our relationships with existing and future customers better.

Background

The Oregon State Parks system has a long tradition of delivering outdoor recreation experiences and is one of the most popular park systems in the country. Oregon ranks seventh among U. S. state park systems with nearly 875,000 nights rented. The 51.2 million day-use visitors a year have earned our parks third place in the nation in terms of day use. In 2022, OPRD will celebrate the 100-year anniversary of its park system, and we hope to enter our next centennial with an Outdoor Recreation Solution that more closely meets the needs of our customers, partners, and field operations. This project directly supports our agency mission and has implications for Oregon’s tourism industry.

Agency Mission and Programs

OPRD’s mission is to provide and protect outstanding natural, scenic, cultural, historic, and recreational sites for the enjoyment and education of present and future generations. The department manages 258 park areas and 107,960 acres of land, providing camping and day-use opportunities throughout Oregon. In addition, it oversees programs to protect and provide public access to natural and historic resources within the state, including the State Historic Preservation Office, Oregon Heritage Commission, Oregon Commission on Historic Cemeteries, Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 7 of 37 recreation trails, the Ocean Shores Recreation Area, scenic waterways and the Willamette River Greenway.

Appendix A describes agency programs and funding sources.

Strategic Value and Importance

Required Service/Product-Business Alignment OPRD is legislatively mandated to manage the utilization of state parks and resources, “in a manner that upholds their scenic, historic, natural, cultural, and recreation values,” (OAR 736-010-0005, ORS 390.111, ORS 390.121). The Outdoor Recreation Solution helps our agency implements this mandate. For a large park system like ours – about 6,000 individual and group campsites, meeting halls, boat moorages, horse sites and picnic shelters – an Outdoor Recreation Solution not only meets a strategic need, but it is also a necessity. The Outdoor Recreation Solution helps us manage customers efficiently, securely collect and properly account for revenue, and implement changes to enhance operations. For customers, an Outdoor Recreation Solution is invaluable. The system allows customers a way to search campgrounds and facilities, reserve desired sites, receive updates affecting their trip and provide feedback about their stay. A robust electronic, primarily web-based Outdoor Recreation Solution that provides a customer-friendly interface across all platforms and devices, including a mobile device application, is an expectation in today’s camping and tourism industry. Even small camping providers find it difficult to operate without one. The OPRD Outdoor Recreation Solution supports Oregon’s tourism industry by connecting people with outdoor resources and bringing tourists into local communities.

Furthermore, this project aligns with two of the Governor’s current priorities – government efficiency and conserving the beauty and bounty of Oregon for generations to come. This system has the opportunity to increase operational efficiency and thus “deliver quality public services efficiently and affordably” to Oregonians. The system will also foster a “strong connection to nature” for young people by helping them spend time outdoors getting to know Oregon’s beauty and history. This connection will lead to a passion for conserving Oregon and ensuring it remains the special place it is today.

Value to Customer The Outdoor Recreation Solution affects citizens, internal agency users, local and state agencies, and small businesses. Specific details are provided in the sections below -- “OPRD Programs Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution” and “External Stakeholders Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution.” The reservation system processes over 400,000 reservations yearly and has the potential to affect as many as 220,000 individual customers, families, groups, and small business owners. For many users, parks are where they go to create memories with family and friends. For others, parks are a source of income. Small businesses, usually located in the communities surrounding our parks, use OPRD’s campgrounds and day-use areas as a staging place for outdoor recreation activities. For example, a company specializing in bike tours may rent campsites to provide overnight accommodations for multi-day tours; a business focused on water adventure may bring customers to one of our parks for an afternoon of paddling and rent a day-use facility for a picnic, etc. In addition, OPRD provides campground reservation services to Portland Metro parks and the Oregon Department of Forestry

(ODF).

Leverage Potential OPRD’s Outdoor Recreation Solution is shared across internal policy areas and externally with our partners. As mentioned earlier, the reservation system currently supports a variety of external partners, including a state agency (ODF) and a local jurisdiction (Metro Parks). In the past, it also provided campground reservation services to Josephine County. Our future plans involve leveraging the Outdoor Recreation Solution to process additional financial transactions at the park, collaborate with tourism partners in the local community to deliver recreation opportunities and complimentary offerings to campers, and connect with other OPRD customers, such as ATV riders and new audiences. We believe an innovative Outdoor Recreation Solution will provide greater

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 8 of 37 value by attracting new audiences to state parks and managing these relationships to ensure OPRD remains fiscally sound and relevant in the future. Externally, the system will connect us to new partners, and together we will deliver a better experience to OPRD’s customers and, potentially, to visitors in the local community. In the long run, this system could be leveraged across the public campground system and provide a centralized location for county, city and state park camping.

Importance of an Outdoor Recreation Solution The Outdoor Recreation Solution is critical to OPRD’s operation. Our park system is simply too big and too popular to operate without one. Without an electronic solution, parks would operate on a first-come, first-served basis. This would dramatically reduce visitation and revenues because most customers prefer to camp with a guaranteed spot upon arrival. In addition, without an Outdoor Recreation Solution, all revenue ($22 million) would be processed at the park, which would increase our financial risk. Lastly, our customers have used an electronic solution for years to reserve and pay for campsites, and they demand that we provide a solution that is easy to use and saves them transaction time.

Current Reservation System Details Provider: Aspira, formerly known as Active Network, a large event and activity management software service provider, is OPRD’s current reservation services provider. Active’s past and current customers include large state park systems, such as California, Texas and Ohio, the National Park Service, the United States Tennis Association, the Professional Golf Association, and the YMCA. While not initially in the campsite reservation business, Aspira became OPRD’s contractor through acquiring the reservation system OPRD purchased in 1996.

Aspira delivers online reservations through its Reserve America website and provides a software solution which OPRD uses to manage camping and day-use facilities throughout the state. In December 2016, Aspira also started providing reservation call center services to OPRD. About 89% of our reservations are made online and 11% via phone. Online reservations have increased at a steady pace in the last few years, and we expect this trend to continue.

OPRD handles some services related to the reservation system in house. The department chose to use its own resources to control some aspects of operations, such as training and support for field staff, database updates for fees, general park information calls, and internal user access. Aspira handles high-level functions such as adding a new park to the system, creating new site types, implementing new business rules and any customization the department needs. OPRD’s reservation support team tests new features and improvements before they become available to internal users in the field and customers.

Reservation Services: The reservation system processes reservations for overnight and day-use programs.

Overnight: OPRD has nearly 6,000 individual campsites at more than 52 campgrounds; more than 5,000 of these sites are available for advanced reservation, while the rest are first-come, first-served. Sites range from full hookup that offer water/electric/sewer to primitive sites which offer only basic amenities. The department also manages 286 yurts, cabins, and teepees as well as meeting halls, group camps, horse camps, a youth camp, a conference center and two historic inns.

Day-Use: The reservation system supports OPRD’s day-use programs. Parks have the following reservable day-use facilities: 51-day use areas; 39 picnic shelters; and 15 meeting halls. Boat docks, ramps and launch sites are offered at 47 parks with four offering boat moorage facilities. While most all OPRD properties offer free access to these day use opportunities, 26 of the most diverse charge a day-use parking fee.

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Point-of-Sale Services: OPRD sells ancillary items such as firewood, ice and other things that support the camping experience through Aspira’s point-of-sale module. OPRD would like to expand the point-of-sale system to include promotional and souvenir items, but the integration of the current system with the OPRD accounting system makes that difficult.

OPRD Programs Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution The Outdoor Recreation Solution is the backbone of OPRD operations and affects both field and headquarters functions:

Financial Services:

o Accounting: The accounting section is responsible for ensuring the revenue reported by the

Outdoor Recreation Solution reconciles with the State Treasury and payment processor records.

Having accurate financial information from the Outdoor Recreation Solution that aligns with other financial records is critical in passing state accounting audits.

o Budget Section: The budget section uses data from the Outdoor Recreation Solution to help forecast revenue and attendance. Having accurate data at the right level of detail is essential to develop accurate revenue forecasts and to identify attendance trends in an efficient manner. As OPRD prepares to roll out flexible fees, reservation data must be able to help OPRD identify strategic opportunities to manage attendance at each park by lowering or raising prices as appropriate.

Information Technology: The IT section staffs a Parks Hotline team to support the Outdoor Recreation Solution users during business hours as well as on weekends and holidays. The Hotline team is the main point of contact with Aspira and works with them to troubleshoot system issues.

Marketing and Communications: The marketing and communication team uses the system to analyze information for a variety of uses:

o Providing statistical information to internal users, legislators, members of the media and the general public;

o Ensuring OPRD complies with the ADA, providing access to our facilities and programs;

o Creating promotional offers to increase occupancy in lower use parks;

o Analyzing the effect of current and proposed business rules;

o Timely responding to emergencies by providing updated information to customers

Park Development: The park development section relies on the system to prevent user conflicts when scheduling construction activities that take inventory off-line. They also use data from the system to forecast the types of facilities desired by customers. Those tasks include:

o Placing maintenance holds on sites affected by construction so they cannot be reserved;

o Communicating with customers who may be affected by noise or other disruptions caused by maintenance and construction projects;

o Generating reports on site utilization.

Park Field Locations: Parks employees access the system for a variety of reasons:

o Determining list of incoming campers;

o Checking in and checking out campers;

o Moving campers to new sites;

o Extending or shortening camper stays;

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 10 of 37 o Booking new reservations for customers who arrive at the park without reservations;

o Recording revenue and processing end-of-shift reports for reconciliation with bank and treasury records;

o Verifying and completing camper information as needed;

o Determining if campers are violating business rules on length of stay and use of special discount programs.

External Stakeholders Affected by the Outdoor Recreation Solution OPRD Customers: Customers use Aspira’s Reserve America website to book and cancel reservations for campsites, boat moorages and other facilities. Customers can also use the Reserve America website to research parks.

OPRD Partners: OPRD provides campsite reservations for Portland Metro and ODF parks. While these partners do not use the system at the same level as OPRD’s rangers do, they utilize reports to identify incoming campers and reconcile financial data.

Related Business Interests: Concessionaires operating in OPRD properties and in nearby communities are affected by the success of the program since many of their customers come from the campers attracted to OPRD parks.

Call Center Reservation Agents: Call center agent use the Outdoor Recreation Solution to book, cancel and change reservations for OPRD customers. They provide information about parks and specific sites.

Reservation Industry Trends and Developments In 1996 when OPRD moved to a central Outdoor Recreation Solution, there were only two major vendors in the marketplace. Since then, OPRD has monitored the changing practices and technology growth in the reservation services market. For many years, Aspira held the majority of the state park reservation business and the federal parks contract and faced little competition. However, in recent years, new reservation vendors have entered the market with better products that are attracting the interest of park systems. The federal park system and California State Parks have left Aspira for different vendors in their most recent contracts.

In 2017, OPRD began conducting reviews and analysis of new and different reservation services. In a series of presentations between March 21 and June 13, 2017, seven vendors presented to OPRD officials the features of their systems. The presentations confirmed that the reservation services market has changed significantly, and that OPRD has much to gain by exploring the full range of market options, rather than extending its current contract with Active.

To further understand the market and potential costs for a new system, OPRD issued an RFI for overnight Outdoor Recreation Solutions in April 2018. Eight companies responded, seven of which work with other state park systems. All respondents indicated they could meet OPRD’s requirements and had sufficient experience to be a potential viable partner for a future system. Although pricing models varied greatly, the RFI showed potential for great costs savings. Based on this research, OPRD should expect to have lower transaction fees in the future. Online reservations were quoted at between $3 and $7 per individual transaction, and phone reservations ranged between $5 and $13. With the exception of one respondent, all quoted fees lower than what OPRD currently pays Aspira and showed potential for increased functionality and efficiency. Over a ten-year

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 11 of 37 period, OPRD could save between $4 million to $14 million in transaction fees by switching to a new vendor.

For more details on RFI results, please refer to Appendix B.

Problem or Opportunity Definition

Problem Definition

Although the current reservation system has operated reliably for years, it has never addressed all of OPRD’s business needs. Today, the unmet business and technological needs are greater than ever and cost the agency valuable resources. Lost revenue, inefficient processes, workarounds meant to increase accountability, and lost opportunities have brought OPRD to a tipping point. Attempts to change the system to better meet our needs were met with little success, because Aspira’s system was developed as a “one size fits all” with limited ability to adapt to the specific business needs of an individual client. To resolve this technological gap, OPRD has had to create inefficient business rules and manual workarounds to fit the reservation system.

Currently, the system has the following significant limitations that affect OPRD’s ability to operate effectively and efficiently:

No support for OPRD’s business rules and process improvements;

Fragmented customer experience;

Inability to easily answer basic performance questions due to data access restrictions and database structure;

Inability to quickly respond to revenue-generating changes; and Limited training resources for field staff.

Current System Limitations

Lack of Support for Business Rules The current reservation system supports most of OPRD’s critical business rules; however, we have had to implement some costly, manual processes to communicate with our customers, and to provide accountability, especially with special access passes and boat slip reservations. OPRD has repeatedly asked for system changes to improve operational efficiency, and Aspira never delivered acceptable solutions. Some changes were only partial, while others created new work for OPRD. The following are examples of ineffective or lacking business technology solutions:

Special access pass: Enabling our 50,000 special access customers to reserve online is a good example of cumbersome and inefficient outcomes. OPRD asked Active for two things: 1) allow program recipients to reserve online and receive their discount at the time of reservation; and 2) prevent customers from making more discounted reservations than the Special Access Pass allows (10 nights a month for veterans with a service-connected disability and 14 nights for foster and adoptive families). Aspira committed to implementing a solution if OPRD made a slight change to the program business rules, which we did.

Even with this rule change, Aspira’s solution fell short of the desired functionality. The system now tracks pass usage but does not enforce maximum stay limits if the passholder camps in multiple parks. To ensure that customers comply with the rules and OPRD does not lose revenue, agency employees review weekly reservation reports and communicate with every customer whose reservations exceed the program limits.

This manual process takes an enormous amount of time, invites misunderstandings and problems, and reflects poorly on the OPRD brand as a whole. Conversations with other providers revealed that it is

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 12 of 37 possible to design a system solution that removes manual processes, provides an efficient way to manage program rules, and meets customer expectations.

Boat slips: The reservation system also fails to manage the rules for boat slips efficiently. OPRD requires customers who reserve a boat slip to have a valid campsite reservation at the same park. However, the current system does not connect individual boat slip reservations to a campsite reservation. To ensure customers remain in compliance with park rules and to decrease the potential for negative interactions at the park, OPRD employees manually review weekly incoming reservations and verify that customers have a campsite reservation if they have a boat slip. Customers who don’t meet the criteria for a boat slip are notified, and staff attempts to accommodate them. Given that OPRD has 154 reservable boat slips, this manual process takes a significant amount of time and costs us valuable resources. Aspira is unable to easily change the system to reduce this inefficient process, but other providers believe they can easily address such challenges and remove the need for manual reviews.

Horse camps: The current reservation system does not warn horse camp customers that horse camps are meant only for people who travel with pack animals. It isn’t uncommon for a general customer to see a horse site available for reservation and book it because it is the last site available at the park. At the time of the reservation, customers must acknowledge the site rules, one of which states that campers must bring a pack animal to occupy a horse site or they will be asked to leave. However, OPRD understands that in today’s technologically overloaded world, it is possible for customers to overlook the fine print of a transaction. For this reason, we asked Active for a separate reminder, perhaps in a pop-up window, so that customers realize at the time of booking that a pack animal is mandatory to occupying the site. Aspira has not been able to deliver a solution, and customers continue to show up at the park thinking they have a valid reservation. If rangers are unable to accommodate them, customers leave the park with a negative impression of OPRD. To protect our brand, we created yet another manual process in which staff emails reminders to customers with the site restrictions. This process is costly, given that we have 67 horse sites spread throughout eight parks. Automating these notifications or removing the need for this process is arguably an easy change that an Outdoor Recreation Solution should be able to deliver in today’s technologically advanced world.

Other services: OPRD asked Aspira for help reminding customers of rules for certain sites, which would decrease the need for enforcement conversations at the park, increase operational efficiency and improve customer experience. Active has been unable to deliver simple solutions to the following business issues:

o Preventing people from booking sites at different parks on the same dates.

This would help customers better manage reservations and prevent no-shows at the park.

Without this safeguard, customers risk being financially penalized for not showing up, and rangers do not have accurate stay information to help them better manage available campsites to maximize occupancy during peak times.

o Automatically verifying that meeting halls have the required number of campsites in order to be reserved.

Without this improvement, certain facilities can only be reserved by phone, which is costlier for OPRD and more cumbersome for the customers who prefer the online reservation option.

o Ensuring that customers provide individual occupant information for group reservations (when a single group reserves multiple individual campsites).

This information is critical for a smooth check-in process and helps us, deliver good customer service, and ensure campers’ safety. Currently, OPRD collects this information manually from group organizers and enters into the reservation system so it’s available for field staff. However, this approach is not always effective or efficient. In most cases, it takes several attempts to get this information from campers, and it is rare that we get

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 13 of 37 complete data. Sometimes we get this information so late that we cannot enter it in the system in time for field staff to utilize it. Having a system that allows users to manage this type of information on their own would save us significant time and improve the efficiency of our check-in process and the customer service we offer to groups.

Fragmented Customer Experience The current reservation system does not reflect the agency’s high value on customer service and experience with its supported parks. In the eyes of the customer, the Outdoor Recreation Solution is an extension of OPRD. Not having an easy-to-use, modern Outdoor Recreation Solution that delivers an integrated, seamless customer experience reflects poorly on the agency. Below are a few examples of unaddressed challenges that should have had solutions by now.

Inability to Merge Customer Records: Over time, some customers have been entered in the system multiple times, either because they signed up on-line with slightly different information, or because when they registered at the park, they were not connected to their existing customer profile. Multiple accounts create problems with reservation research and tracking, a daily business process. They also skew visitor attendance statistics because one person’s reservations are attributed to several customers. OPRD has asked for a way to link customer profiles, such as through an e-mail address or phone number, but Aspira has not provided a solution despite numerous requests spanning several years. Other reservation providers already have solutions to address this challenge.

Inability to pre-pay for ancillary park fees and services: The reservation financial transaction is limited.

Customers cannot prepay for services they need, or activities they want to take part in. For example, they may pay for an additional vehicle, buy firewood or ice, book a tour, rent equipment or purchase a souvenir. The current system does not allow customers to pre-pay for some of these purchases, which means that park rangers have to perform financial transactions in the field, collect fees and deposit cash.

These added tasks take rangers away from other duties and increase the risk associated with handling cash in field locations. This functionality is not only needed to improve efficiency, but to provide a better customer experience because some parks may not have the connectivity needed for credit card transactions, and some customers do not carry cash. So far, Aspira hasn’t been able to offer a complete and efficient solution to this significant business and operational need.

Lack of Online Options for Some Transactions: The majority of OPRD customers prefer to conduct their transactions online, but the current system does not always provide the flexibility to fully manage reservations on-line. This flexibility is strategically vital to OPRD. As the world becomes more digital-savvy, customers expect and demand that our system will keep up with technological developments available in the tourism industry. OPRD must be ready with technological solutions that address the needs of new generations of park users.

o Reservation changes: One of the most significant needs is to automate reservation changes.

Customers can book and cancel reservations online, but if they want to change a reservation, they must call the reservation line and talk to an agent. It is difficult for customers to accept that a system that can reserve and cancel online is unable to process changes online, too. This impacts OPRD in two ways: 1) it creates a cumbersome customer experience; and 2) it increases OPRD transaction costs, because Aspira charges OPRD more for phone transactions than it does for online transactions. Aspira maintains that if OPRD wants its customers to change reservations online, it must change its business rules to fit their current system. We cannot change our business rules because they serve a very important purpose: keeping customers accountable and providing fair access to parks. Preliminary conversations with other providers in the market show that automating the business rules for reservation changes is feasible.

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 14 of 37 o Accessible site reservations: Reserving ADA sites must be done by phone with an agent. OPRD has more than 200 ADA-compliant sites. These sites are held for those who need them. Aspira has not been able to develop an online solution that visually communicates that these sites should be booked by individuals who have a need for them. Rather than risk having these sites booked by customers who do not need an accommodation, we made these sites available by phone only.

Although effective, this limits reservation options for this customer segment. OPRD strongly wants to change this practice with a new contract, because it does not fit our strategic vision nor does it adhere to the principle of equal program access required by the ADA. Inclusiveness is one of the agency’s priorities; therefore, providing more options to customers is not only the right thing to do, but an important service component for the future.

Convoluted Data Access and Database Structure Obtaining and using accurate and easy-to-use data is a critical business need of the agency. The reservation system has a series of standardized reports with potentially useful data, and the ability to create custom reports for additional information. However, the database structure and the way in which information is collected render the data difficult to use, and at times, completely ineffective.

Budget: The system interface restricts the amount of data that can be collected in one query, which makes it essentially useless for forecasting purposes. The reports are designed for park managers interested in data for a single park. Individual site occupancy reporting is available for a 7-day period at one park at a time. The occupancy reports for multiple parks only allow for data collection in one week increments and do not show individual site data. This lack of detail makes it difficult to compare occupancy across individual days (e.g., weekends, weekdays, and holidays) and across years (e.g. past occupancy against reservations for future dates). The display format of these reports is also an issue as users regularly have difficulty finding and interpreting the information.

Lastly, reservation data is not readily downloadable in formats more amenable to advanced analysis (e.g., spreadsheet of reservation transactions). In order to overcome these issues, in-house databases have been developed to generate more useful reservation reports. This process requires staff to use (and sometimes learn) secondary software programs that are linked to the reservation database server. It is common to run into issues with the server not being up to date, which causes delays and additional work to obtain and prepare the data for analysis. A flexible reporting system that allows data to be aggregated in multiple ways and downloaded in multiple formats is necessary, but Aspira has been unable to provide a suitable solution.

Accounting: While financial information from Aspira generally matches bank records and Treasury data, following the money trail is cumbersome. In some cases, financial records do not match due to the timing of reports, and it takes many hours of staff time to research and resolve the discrepancies. OPRD must also defer revenue collected in advance until the customer stays in the park, which can be up to nine months in the future. Properly recognizing revenue is challenging and requires some manual processes by OPRD staff. It is further complicated by the fact that Aspira’s system does not have an easy way to track and account for reservation cancelations and changes made to those future stays. Ideally the system should track deferred revenue, adjusting as cancellations and changes occur.

Marketing: The marketing department deals with some of the same issues as the budget department. For instance, occupancy reports are not versatile enough to provide useful information for marketing purposes. These reports show data in only one-week time increments for multiple parks and do not show individual site data. Individual site occupancy reporting is only available for a 7-day period at one park at a time. For marketing purposes, it is important to know park and site occupancy available for every day of the year (for both past and future reservations). This option would allow for occupancy comparisons across individual days (e.g., weekends, weekdays, and holidays) and across years (e.g. past

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 15 of 37 occupancy against reservations for future dates) that are pivotal to marketing plans. It would also enable a better understanding of the most and least popular sites within a given campground. Reservation data is not readily available in spreadsheet formats that are more suitable for advanced statistical analysis.

This type of analysis is important for identifying reservation patterns across the system. Currently, these issues are addressed by developing in-house reports and databases using the reservation system’s database server. For example, Microsoft Access is used to create a spreadsheet of reservation transactions.

However, the current reservation database server is regularly out-of-date and its complicated structure is difficult to navigate.

Slow Response to Revenue-Generating Changes Even though OPRD accepted from the beginning that the reservation system was not going to address all its needs, Aspira’s slow response in certain areas affect our ability to generate revenue and remain relevant in the face of changing demographics. Below are two examples that illustrate these points.

Adding parks online: OPRD’s Hotline team is limited in its ability to perform certain functions, such as bringing a new park to the online system, creating a new site type or adding park maps. Aspira’s employees make these changes, and our requests are added to the queue of requests from all other customers. Historically, such changes have taken a minimum of one month. This timeframe is unacceptably long because it costs OPRD thousands of revenue dollars necessary to maintain its parks.

Market research shows that other reservation providers can perform such changes in less than 24 hours.

Application Programming Interface (API): A new trend is emerging in the campsite reservation business:

the ability to reserve a campsite by using a third-party provider that accesses information from multiple recreation entities. For example, if someone were to look for campsites around Portland the search would return results for Oregon state parks, private campgrounds in the area, as well as city, county, and federal parks. The ability for a third-party vendor to facilitate bookings at any of the providers is the model currently employed by airlines and hotels. In order for OPRD to take advantage of this opportunity, Aspira would have to allow third-party providers access to their reservation platform. Despite multiple requests from its many clients, Aspira has refused to support.

Working with a company that is open to API is within the best interest of OPRD. While we have a loyal customer base, our frequent customers will age out of the system, and when they do, we must be able to reach new customers who may not have any awareness of our parks. In order to be sustainable in the future, it is critical for OPRD to exist on all the reservation platforms that new customers frequent. Other recreation providers, including the federal park system, have recognized this same need, and have written API requirements in their recent requests for proposals.

Limited Training and Support for Field Staff Aspira offers limited staff training and support. OPRD has a large, distributed workforce of about 300 staff with a significant seasonal component of another 400 people. Currently, the OPRD IT section and some field trainers’ orient staff on system changes and train new employees. This process is labor intensive during peak seasonal hiring in the spring and is very expensive. Aspira provides some training resources in the form of written instructions with screen shots. However, these tools have moderate effectiveness because they do not appeal to different learning styles and lack a component to test proficiency. Other providers in the market offer significantly better, multi-faceted training, with online training modules, ability to tailor sessions to individual abilities, and ability to verify that staff can operate the program before they begin using it with customers. Having a proficient workforce is critical to OPRD for two reasons: 1) to deliver excellent customer service consistent with our service standards; and 2) to operate as efficiently as possible.

Opportunity

Oregon Parks and Recreation Department Business Case for Outdoor Recreation Solution v1.24 Page 16 of 37

It has been nine years since OPRD entertained proposals for an Outdoor Recreation Solution. Since then, much has changed – our needs evolved; customers are more reliant on technology; new reservation providers have entered the market. The Outdoor Recreation Solution is critical to OPRD operations, and any contractual relationship we develop will likely be in place for the next 10 years. In order to make the best decision for OPRD and our stakeholders, we believe we must consider all available options in the market rather than limit ourselves to a few familiar providers.

OPRD faces a remarkable opportunity to use what we’ve learned from the relationship with our current…