“If your business is the victim of an attack, early discovery can limit the extent of the damage,

are performance.

Malware attacks often leave indicators or evidence through diminished softw

Mobility is now absolutely essential in POS systems,

From a food-and-beverage perspective, hoteliers, with the help of tablets, can expand the footprint of their restaurant by extending service to outdoor patios and poolside.

The consumer’s expectation is to lower transaction time and increase self-sufficiency when purchasing in any environment

The world produces about 53 million tons of e-waste annually and that volume is expected to double by 2050, according to the United Nations Institute for Training and Research and the International Telecommunication Union.

But he says Mount Recyclemore "forces viewers to consider e-waste as something that's local, immediate and very much theirs. Addressing questions of electronic refuse will in part require consumers in developed countries to tell manufacturers to make more durable and repairable devices. Artworks like this one are a starting point for the discussion.

iBeacons are a super effective source for gathering customer insight

By leveraging iBeacons, hotels can catch guests at the exact time and place where they’ll most likely pay for an upgrade.

Once a guest has checked-in, a digital room key can be activated on his or her smartphone via the hotel app.

Through a series of iBeacons around a geo-fenced property, guests can be directed to their rooms or other indoor locations in the hotel, such as restaurants, shops, meeting rooms, spas, etc

By sensing that a guest is in his or her room and signaling the user’s proximity to Bluetooth enabled devices that control lighting, temperature, TV, etc, the iBeacon could trigger a message to the app which lets users control these settings from their own smartphones or tablets.

An iBeacon hotel app can keep track of the guest’s food preferences.

By providing the right offer at the right place and the right time, location-based mobile marketing can yield exceptionally high conversion rates with precise ad targeting

To achieve this, hotels can use iBeacons to present "location-specific offers" to their guests.

In the case of loyalty customers, predictive analytics of data compiled from previous stays allows highly personalized marketing.

Hotels can send guests a push notification at the end of their stay to either check-out digitally or extend their stay

requirements of the guests themselves are beginning to change

customers have come to expect second-to-none levels of service during their stay

“guest ambassadors“, these robots are placed at strategic points within a property in order to answer common questions

Other robots can cook meals for guests

Another robot design focuses upon generalised services such as providing bins of fresh linen to the appropriate floors.

Floor-cleaning hotel robots are also quite popular, as they can enter rooms once the guests have departed in order to ensure a clean environment for new arrivals.

Some robots have likewise been designed to provide bespoke room service options to guests

Hotel robots can even double as waiters

One type of robot has been specifically engineered to clean and disinfect services that might have been exposed to germs or bacteria

One of the main advantages involves a second-to-none level of in-house automation; freeing up staff members to perform other guest-related tasks. Additionally, hotel robots can perform around-the-clock functions that might be impossible for employees to achieve. Many requirements can be completed with a higher level of precision when compared to human counterparts. Finally, the presence of robots provides a hotel with a genuinely cutting-edge appeal.

some tasks (such as addressing a question that has not been pre-programmed by staff) will need to be addressed by a human. Another pitfall is that many guests still wish to enjoy the human touch during their stay. A handful of patrons may not appreciate the somewhat “cold” nature of even the most advanced hotel robots. To put it simply, the majority of robots are incapable of providing a truly personal touch.

Contactless payments offer guests with a streamlined means to confirm reservations, to pay for services, and to expedite the entire check-in process.

Providing a quick and easy method to access information, QR codes offer great opportunities for hotels to drive revenue, record guest preferences (read further here on smart tips to capture guests information and emails) as well improving guest experience by providing useful information to guests throughout the property.

The key in using QR codes comes down to added value.

QR codes in various ways including on: Cards in the rooms Announcements in elevators At the concierge desk and message boards in the lobby (inspiring guests with tips on where to dine or ideas for which activities to do)

Upon scanning the QR code, they will be diverted to the hotel website’s blog which contains the latest events, restaurant tips, attractions and activity recommendations, our favorite shops, etc. From here the guest can also navigate to any social media pages.

Being creative and thoughtful about the use and placement is important

be careful not to make it feel like a generic discount with no boundaries set to time or without a “real” discount that makes it worthwhile.

The benefits include: Cost saving and better for the environment with less paper waste More customizable and more frequent updates possible Higher degree of available information with “hover over” effects as a tool to have a clean design. Great for showing allergenic information for example, which usually gathers up quite the list to be able to fully show on a traditional menu.

Loyalty programs and call to action for downloading the Hotel App

ontactless payment is a hot ticket right now everywhere

In summary, it can be said that QR codes offer great ways especially for driving revenue and improving guest experiences. 

, how it’s hosted, and who has access to it.

A completely on-premises cloud may be the preferred solution for businesses with very tight regulatory requirements,

The great advantage of a public cloud is its versatility and “pay as you go” structure that allows customers to provision more capacity on demand.

On the downside, the essential infrastructure and operating system of the public cloud remain under full control of the cloud provider

Public clouds typically have massive amounts of available space, which translates into easy scalability

A cloudbursting model uses the public cloud’s computing resources to supplement the private cloud, allowing the company to handle increased traffic without having to purchase new servers or other infrastructure.

less economical model than the public cloud

private clouds lack the versatility of public clouds

Simply put, hybrid clouds combine public clouds with private clouds

The primary advantage of a hybrid cloud model is its ability to provide the scalable computing power of a public cloud with the security and control of a private cloud

A misconception about both colocation and the cloud is that they’re an “either-or” investment. As mentioned, the two can be deployed together as part of a hybrid cloud model, enabling more streamlined application management

it can be cost effective, though the initial expenditure for the private cloud should be considered

work with a service provider who has significant experience in the the hybrid cloud model as there are potential performance and security risk inherent to the need for the two different servers (public and private) to communicate and share data.

Although not as commonly used as the other three models, community clouds are a collaborative, multi-tenant platform used by several distinct organizations to share the same applications.

scalability is a benefit

system remains highly flexible,

The shared storage and bandwidth can create issues with prioritization and performance as servers adjust to demands

In some cases, a single public cloud isn’t enough to meet an organization’s computing needs. They turn instead to multi-clouds, a more complex hybrid cloud example that combines a private cloud with multiple public cloud services

IaaS is the most comprehensive and flexible type of cloud service available. Essentially, it provides a completely virtualized computing infrastructure that is provisioned and managed over the internet.

Situated a bit higher up the cloud computing pyramid is PaaS

PaaS provides the framework needed to build, test, deploy, manage, and update software products

SaaS is a fully-developed software solution ready for purchase and use over the internet on a subscription basis

If controlling the environment is essential, as are tight security regulations because of your industry, private cloud solutions offer both security and control.

when looking for a cloud services provider, you want to choose a company that not only knows, but understands your business or industry

The bottom line is this: if you are in the market for a colocation partner, you want to make your research process as exhaustive as possible. Consider all possible scenarios, all possible needs, and how your provider can meet or exceed your service expectations while partnering with you for succes

These occur when guests reflexively turn to a device (often, their smartphone) to learn something, do something, discover something, watch something, or buy something. These are intent-rich moments when guests will share their preferences, and make decisions. And as you might imagine, these micro-moments can influence almost every stage of the new guest journey.

From the ‘research’ stage to guest bookings, check-in, digital keys, mobile concierge and more, hoteliers now have an abundance of opportunity to better engage with guests, while guests can interact with the hotel in the manner of their choosing.

When 76% of travelers say their smartphone is the most important travel companion, hotels had better take note: over one-third of smartphone users regardless of market will view a brand negatively if their mobile experience is slow, and even a “short,” 5-minute wait at check-in can lower a hotel guest’s satisfaction by 50%. Fortunately, implementing a mobile check-in/out system can decrease front desk wait times by 20%.

Is your app easy to navigate, does it offer guests push notifications and customizable settings? Does it streamline communications, along with the check-in, key retrieval, and check-out process? Does it offer targeted advertisements for room upgrades and amenities? Does it offer guests self-service options to ensure they are in complete control of their journey? Does it inform continued guest personalization for a more relevant and intuitive on-property experience? If a guest encounters a problem, are they able to text a staff member or concierge for quick resolution? As a hotelier, these are some of the questions that should be driving your selection of mobile solutions.

Ultimately, the key to reimagining the guest journey, is to develop a technological infrastructure that is proactive, responsive, and personalized to each individual guest’s needs.