Just like every other industry in the world, the hospitality industry has a multitude of challenges against it. This includes IT challenges — of which there are many that any hospitality business faces regularly.
Tackling these challenges head-on is vital for the success of any hospitality business. However, it’s hard to know what to do without knowing the challenges that you’ll face. The challenges that the hospitality industry faces are unique to the specific circumstances of the industry.
In this blog, we’re going review the top six challenges that hospitality businesses often face. Prepare your business to face these challenges to come out of the other end successfully.
Legacy systems and infrastructure are simply outdated. As technology continues to move forward, older technologies will fall out of favour and become obsolete — making them ‘legacy technologies’.
Generally, 31% of a given organisation will be made up of legacy systems. It’s not unusual for legacy systems to exist for businesses in any industry. However, when considering the fast-paced nature of the hospitality industry, legacy systems can cause far more trouble than they’re worth.
By failing to invest in new technologies and systems, you risk vital systems being slow or even fatally crashing. This could be catastrophic for your business and your employees.
Data security has become a vital part of the modern world. With many data breaches and privacy concerns moving to the forefront of public interest, a massive focus has been placed on data security and privacy. It is vital for every business to take this into account.
For the hospitality industry, this poses new challenges. Systems such as reservation systems and other vital hospitality systems that require data need to meet the modern standards of data security — as does your business’s most critical data. Failing to do so could not only result in legal troubles but also cause catastrophic problems for your business.
In the hospitality industry, several different systems are used daily within any given organisation that all complete a unique role. This can cause multiple challenges to arise — as not all systems work well together.
Because of this, there needs to be great attention given to the systems within an organisation and how they work within a wider organisation’s infrastructure. Older systems tend to mesh worse with other systems, as legacy systems were usually only designed to work in the specific context of when they were made.
Ultimately, this means that you’ll need to look at your systems and consider how they work together. Investing in newer programs and technologies that work better within a wider system are key.
In the modern world, customers expect that they’ll be able to get what they want with ease. In a world of online shopping and food delivery, convenience is paramount. Their experience needs to feel convenient to match expectations to create a good experience.
Looking towards modern conveniences, such as mobile technology, is vital. The infrastructure required to enable modern mobile conveniences, such as ordering online (with a QR code or ordering ahead), or reserving online needs to be apparent. It needs to feel good to use. Implementing systems that are responsive, intuitive, and work for the majority of mobile users no matter their device.
Your organisation is run in its day-to-day by your staff. They need to be trained on the modern technology within your organisation.
As you improve your systems, you need to train your staff on how to use them. Lots of consideration needs to go into training and onboarding. Failing to do so could result in confusion and chaos on the ground, and could result in a bad experience for customers and staff all around.
By teaching your staff how to use the technology around them in the day-to-day operation of your business, you’ll get more results out of the technology implemented. This requires planning and taking time out to train staff. Having a robust technology training process needs to be put in place.
As your organisation grows, the ability to scale your business’ resources and prepare for future growth and advancement is vital. This is because as your business grows, and the world moves forward, you need to be ready to stay ahead of the curve and act quickly to meet the needs of a modern organisation.
By failing to do so, you leave the door open for guests and staff to move on to other businesses. By putting the future at the top of their priority list, you could risk your business declining or even falling into catastrophe.
Futureproofing your systems and ensuring your organisation’s infrastructure is sufficiently scalable will let you grow and upgrade your organisation. This will help you remain successful and grow your business even further, creating a better experience for those who interact with your business.
The hospitality industry has its own unique challenges and difficulties that need to be addressed and dealt with to ensure long-term success.
Knowing and preparing for these challenges, your organisation will remain ahead of the competition. Being able to find success where unpreparedness could result in declining success or even cause trouble for your organisation. This is why it’s vital to ensure that these challenges are addressed and considered going forward.
Looking to take the next step in ensuring that your organisation can face these challenges with ease? Then reach out to our experts today. We’ll be able to help you work out what you need, and provide you with support along the way.