Its a time of great concern for hospitality businesses with the fundamental drivers of the industry completely locked down in their homes. For hoteliers, the present scenario maybe saddening with cancellations and postponements hurting revenue. Hotel owners have more prioritized aspects to ensure business continuity when things do begin returning to a ‘new normal.’
One of these prioritized aspects that hotel owners must ensure regularly is the maintenance of hosted technologies across the hotel. Irrespective of guests using them, the array of technology across hotels must be constantly diagnosed and serviced. After the FBI’s constant warnings of increased cybercrime attempts, hotel owners have to realize that lockdowns are the least of their worries.
From a simple POS machine to more sophisticated I.T. systems, every aspect of hotel technology requires regular maintenance irrespective of it being used. There are multiple factors including security, compliance, upgrades, etc. that affect the maintenance needs of tech.
There must be a clear action plan to ensure the regular maintenance and servicing of relevant technologies. As part of the overall strategy for CVOID19 redundancies, hoteliers have to prepare budgets for the essential technology maintenance.
While a large portion of technologies including Smart TVs, electronic keys, light sensors, WIFI access points, etc. will not be operational they will require their regular maintenance checks. Hotel owners will be tested amid layoffs and shutdowns, but this is the sour pill that the modern hotelier must swallow.
Technology maintenance will not require a massive portion of budgets though especially if a technology management provider is handling the process for your hotel. A professional technology manager will be critical for managing the liability of the hotel owners, their staff, and the technologies.
In her recent article, Nicki Dehler (VP of Product Management, StayNTouch) writes that:
“Amidst this crisis, it’s recommended that hoteliers carefully review their investment spending plans to identify opportunities for deferral. Can you proactively pause, reduce, and/or eliminate non-essential investments this year? Is there an opportunity to make the transition from costly inefficient technologies to more cost-efficient technologies that provide the total cost of ownership?”
Bogdan Romashko also mentions in his HospitalityNet opinion article:
“Coronavirus outbreak doesn’t mean hoteliers are closing doors and are just waiting for this period to end. It’s a perfect time to catch up and improve. Whether it is a spontaneous renovation or completing your Property Improvement Plan, there’s no better time to do this.
To begin, you can make a list of items, things, and everything that needs to be repaired, do an inventory of maintenance supplies, laundry room systems check, railings and balcony checks, elevators, life safety checks, pool systems, ensure all lights are off, etc.”
Mohammed Shoaib Ziaee (PCIP, HFTP), Director of Information Technology at AHT INC. commented in a discussion with us:
“It’s a difficult time, yes, but we must think about what is coming rather than what is. Ensuring the safety of guests from COVID19 infection through intuitive technology applications, cloud tech migration, remote work systems, improved mobile apps, and robotics will be paramount in coming months.
Technology assistance in hotels will not be mere concepts anymore, just look at the Sheraton Los Angeles San Gabriel. It is essential owners keep hotel technology operational and at its peak performance levels, the future depends on reliable technology infrastructures hospitality businesses carry.”
Conclusion
Hotel owners will have to make certain hard choices, one of these will be to ensure the regular maintenance of their hotels’ various technology systems. Consult your official hotel technology management provider today to learn more about how they can assist with managing technology during the COVID19 pandemic.
Advanced Hospitality Technologies is a leader in Hospitality Technologies. We have an award winning benchmark for providing affordable, reliable and most advanced hospitality Technology Solutions.
