New Zealand’s Department of Conservation (DOC) has an important mission – to make New Zealand “the greatest living space on earth” and to protect the 
natural and historic heritage of the country. To do this, the department is equipped with hundreds of rangers, and manages over 100,00 work orders and 15,000 inspections annually. That also means, to achieve their mission, they must collect a lot of data and be able to properly store, manage, and use the information for documentation and strategic decision-making.
Because most of the department’s activity and data collection takes place in the field through the work of rangers and inspectors, the organization implemented a mobile platform to collect conservation data. Unfortunately, the original mobility solution was clunky and slow, and caused frustration among users. The DOC quickly realized that the solution needed to be easier and quicker so rangers would adopt use and not encounter the challenges that became a distraction and therefore, prevented them from focusing full attention on their primary responsibilities.
The immediate need was to create a more efficient and quicker means of collecting field data, so rangers could focus properly on ensuring safety and enjoyment for visitors, and to be able to collect accurate data for better decision-making and reporting to Parliament. As a result, the DOC team turned to their trusted solution partner and added an SAP solution to their infrastructure. By working with SAP Services to implement the Work Manager mobility solution, they seamlessly implemented and the DOC was quickly able to use the full capabilities of the solution to increase data collection and information flow.
After implementation, the DOC saw 350 rangers and 25 members of the inspection staff adopt and use the Work Manager solution. In-field reporting became much easier and data transfers took minutes instead of hours. In addition, the Work Manager solution enabled the flow of real-time data, enabled better data-driven decision-making at the strategic level, and provided complete accuracy in reporting. The DOC now has a 360 degree view of their workforce and assets, which provides strategic oversight and maintenance with a clear audit trail, capable of showing the necessary due diligence for any incident.
Mike Edington, Manager Partnerships, Historic and Visitor Management, New Zealand Department of Conservation, knew that the efficacy of the department’s infrastructure was paramount for ensuring proper care of the land, the safety of rangers and visitors, and that everyone has can experience and enjoy New Zealand. Because of the necessity of an efficient and reliable solutions partner, Edington is proud to run SAP (and has been since 2003). Edington knew that working with SAP as a partner in their conservation mission would take their mobile and data management solution in the right direction.
To watch Edington and others from the DOC discuss their experience, watch the SAP Services Helps New Zealand's Department of Conservation customer video below:
