Terry, Lisa, Hospitality gets smart (Eight proven tactics for a successful business intelligence strategy), Hospitality Technology, June 2007
Hospitality gets smart
Summary
In today's thriving environment business intelligence and performance management has climbed to $23.8 billion, up 3.6% from the precious year. Hospitality Technology has identified eight key points in any success full business intelligence (BI) strategy starting with "knowing what you want to do and starting simple." Essentially this means beginning your operation with a POS, PMS, or labor system and then gradually adding more pertinent information. Next is "selecting a tool that fits those needs," meaning that because BI is such a rapidly growing and changing tool the "infrastructure" must be prepared for future demands. Next is "making sure data is clean and accessible, " meaning that all data entails a common data dictionary so new and old data meets the same standards. Forth is "standardizing data" by way of similar names of items on its menus because BI is more efficient when data is able to be accessed quickly. Fifth is being able to "work closely with operations and other users" by allowing the users to become accustomed to the colors and graphics of the program. Next is the ability to "set expectations appropriately" by realizing that despite ones best efforts to tweak all imperfections that everything is prone to change. Next is remembering to always, "keep it simple." It is often hard to change everything at once, but if you take it in phases and remember to uphold the organizations goals then nothing is impossible. Finally "don't ignore cultural issues." BI atmospheres are half technology and half philosophy/culture. By only addressing one of the issues management can lead to failure and create below average results.
Reflection
I felt that this article was helpful for a basic start-up company or a franchise with a new management company. These guidelines are very essential and necessary in today's growing and changing hospitality industry. The steps that I found to be extremely relevant were to "keep it simple," "standardizing data," and "work closely with operations and other users." Companies did not always start at the top, they initially begin small and work their way up. It is always important to be prone to change and stay alert towards future advancement for the company. Also if you standardize everything then there is less room for error in the future. From my experience in the hospitality industry I know that when the PMS (micros) system is failing it can cause major delays, disappointment and frustration of customers, and give the company a bad reputation. I would recommend this article for many hospitality professionals because it provides them with a simple breakdown of a successful business intelligence strategy.
2 comments:
I agree that this article would be beneficial to people in the hospitality industry. Technology can be very confusing and overwhelming, especially when first starting a business. This article breaks down and simplifies the process of forming a business intelligence strategy that best suits your company. I think the most important point made was the last one: “don’t ignore cultural issues”. For any business to be successful they need to not only address the technological issues, but they also need to remember what the goal and purpose is of their organization. When choosing a business intelligence strategy, management needs to make sure they are still tending to the philosophical side of their business.
I do agree with the eight key points to a successful business intelligence strategy that Hospitality Technology has put together. I believe that a business should start small with core technology equipment. Get to know that equipment well and when the business grows, add on more equipment/accessories. Furthermore, I also believe that standardization in key. Not much is standardized on the POS system at the restaurant I currently work at. This leaves trainees and employees with conflicting commands which usually cause problems for the customers and the staff. A little thought and preplanning goes a long way.
Post a Comment