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"Cisco Systems Inc., is the biggest maker of equipment that runs the internet". This article highlights the disappointing revenue that Cisco Systems is facing currently. However, the CEO is pushing to have Cisco's networking services to be more cloud based than hardware based. Because their company is known for its hardware, they are taking a hit revenue wise in their transition to a cloud based system. Companies are buying less hardware and are relying on other alternatives to keep their business running efficiently. I believe that Cisco is identifying with the current trends that are apparent in the IT world. As stated in our discussions, a cloud-based software eliminates the use of bulky hardware, eliminates costs, and allows companies to scale up or down depending on their size. So Cisco can use this information to help develop their cloud system. The businesses see value in switching systems and Cisco is in the business of providing them with what they need. Cisco is being recasted as a networking system so it is taking time for companies to switch their view on Cisco. I believe that Cisco should not deter from this transition and be able to reinvent themselves as a cloud based network. Though their revenue is taking a hit, they should continue for now until they are able to establish themselves.

An example of a cyber attack or ransomware, in a manufacturer. Shows some effects of a ransomware and what a consumer may experience.

This article caught my eye because I think we can relate to the hotel projections for Miami this year. It basically states that everyone wants to be in Miami, and I can see why. I also agree with the topic the article touched up on: Miami is a melting pot. It is, as it states, a "...commercial hub linking the United States to Latin America..." I think that the rising tourism in Miami can help increase revenue and can eventually continue to market Miami is such a positive light. Yes, every city has its flaws but I think Miami will continue to bring in tourists and hopeful residents. 

Another interesting article here regarding smart phones and the booking process. How many times have you gone home to your computer to book a flight or a hotel? Well according to this article you are one of the few. Expedia reported that 65% of hotel bookings in a random 24 hour period were booked on the go. With smartphone sales reaching $982 million this year, there are many companies that are now doing "mobile-only" booking. eMarketer indicates that ecommerce sales are going to reach $119 billion this year. With that being said, travel agencies should be bracing themselves for a hit. If people are using sites like Priceline and Expedia more and more everyday, eventually there will be no need for agencies.

The recent cyberattack at Marriott International Inc. has many hoteliers wondering what are the legal and business risks associated with security attacks? The recent breach at Marriott further proves the point that businesses should prepare now or be willing to pay for it later. In November 2018, the Bethesda, MD-based hotel company revealed there had been unauthorized access to the Starwood guest reservation database, which contained guest information relating to reservations at Starwood properties on or before Sept. 10, 2018. Businesses face a multitude of risk when looking at the potential consequences resulting from a cyberattack or breach. As we've seen recently with the Marriott breach, there can be significant impact to brand equity in the marketplace. This impact can be far reaching for publicly traded businesses, resulting in material impacts to businesses and business valuation, and long-term impact to user adoption. In addition to the downside risk from the market, businesses must also mount expensive defenses against litigation that increasingly takes the form of class actions. Reputation is important in every trade but is especially important in the hospitality industry. This, coupled with the fact that consumers are becoming more sensitive to privacy and security related issues, means that businesses in the hospitality industry must manage against these types of risk and allocate appropriate levels of funding toward information security. What should hoteliers learn from the Marriott breach? Pay attention. Marriott was aware that there was a potential issue shortly after it acquired Starwood, but did not, apparently, investigate in detail. Marriott may not have created the problem, but it bought the problem and didn't treat it with the seriousness that was necessary.

this article is about the increasing demands of cloud computing, and is also leading to a rise in dollar spending. Remote working has been the drive for the increasing demands of cloud computing but as the result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the slow down of large business advising led project. The concern is that while the demands are going up, the actual growth of cloud computing is not.

This article talks about the hotel industry and the inside scoop on their efforts to getting back out their and marketing themselves after COVID-19. There are a few things they need to consider while they are beginning to strategize their plan. One of them is timing. If the company remained staff, then they may begin marketing faster than those that furloughed employees. In that case, they may need to get that together before they invest in marketing. Another item to consider are their goals. Companies must think about what they can afford. They need to think about if they are able to have some leeway and able to take things slower, even if it means breaking even for a while or does your company absolutely need to be at the same profitability level pre-pandemic? Another consideration would be regions. Certain regions were hit harder than others. Therefore, recovery will be by a case by case basis. Some regions will be able to market and get back to business faster than others. Yet another consideration is channels. This refers to social media and other types of media in order to market. Travelers follow many travel pages on social media, therefore this should be a priority when trying to ramp up customer traffic again. All-in-all, the travel and hotel industry will make a comeback. Although it will be a slow comeback, the industry will prevail just as it has before.

Cruises are said to be one of those forms of transportation with the highest carbon emissions. "A typical cruise ship with 3,000 passengers generates 1 million gallons of gray water; 210,000 gallons of sewade; 25,000 gallons of oily bilge water; 100 gallons of hazardous or toxic waste; 50 tons of garbage and solid waste…" This expert just proves how non-ecofriendly cruises can actually be. However, regulations set by the government have now pushed cruises into trying to be more environmentally friendly. This article singles out seven green cruises that have found ways in which they can decrease their carbon footprint on the world. One cruise that has taken on the initiative is Holland America Cruises. With tactics such as towel reuse program and the installation of low-flow showerheads this cruise line has been making a conscious effort to operate green. They even ensure the most fuel-efficient means of travelling by studying tide schedules to maximize fuel usage with shorter routes. Another interesting cruise that pushes for the green initiative includes Celebrity Cruises with its solar powered cruise line. Other tactics used by other cruises include reusing waste cooking oil on heavy machinery, ridding of all plastic water bottles, shutting off engines in the winter time and only buying fish that are sustainably harvested are just some ways these 7 cruise lines have taken a stand to become greener. This responsible effort by these cruise lines not only can work in their favor for marketing purposes with consumers but create a sustainable industry for the future of cruises. Something as crucial as waste disposal in the water can greatly affect the future of the industry if not considered by the cruises today. Could you imagine if every cruise were to just dispose of their waste into the ocean with no sort of eco-friendly thought in their mind? I found this article to be extremely interesting, especially since I have been on a cruise. I had no idea ho

Silver Reef Casino in Ferndale, Washington implemented a web based program called Bigfoot computerized maintenance system (CMMS) to solve the challenges such as the lack of a system for managing, tracking and analyzing repairs over time. Now, the casino has a preventive maintenance program in place so they can notice for everything from the glass washers at the bar, dishwashers in the kitchen, to the rolling press ironers because they are all in the PM scheduler. Also, the CMMS provides valuable information after repairs are made to equipment or other system. Another advantage of a CMMS system is that the managers can easily find information, such as the model and serial number of a piece of equipment, without having to sort through spreadsheets or repair manuals. Therefore, the maintenance team can quickly address customer complaints, and maintain the customer experience. Bigfoot PMs for industrial equipment prevent costly repairs and disruption of guest service. 

A new set of standards is coming up for credit card transactions. EMV or Europay, Mastercard, Visa, standards include a chip-and-pin device on the card that requires the card to be inserted into the card processing terminal. While this does not prevent all fraud, it's important that this standard is mandatory by 2015 and business operators should be preparing for changes.

Security is absolutely a big issue for the hospitality, it include a lot of content, not only keeping the guest safe in hotel's room. But also preparing the attached form internet to protect the guests' property. This system is designed to enhance payment card security and compliance across an industry that has been hard hit by hackers. Specifically, the framework provides guidance on implementing tokenization, a technology that substitutes card data with unique identifying symbols.

Moving into the sixth month of the year, this article seems to hold true to the growth of international tourism. In relating articles you will find that tourism has hit an all time high so far this year. With the economies slowly bouncing back from the recession people are starting to jump back into traveling. I must agree with the UNWTO Secretary- General, Taleb Rifai, when he stated that tourism should be supported by all governments around the world for economic growth. Tourism is a business in itself and there is always room for growth and potential money gain.

The hotel is a perfect place for hackers to attack because they have easy access to retrieve thousands of guest information including credit card information, billing addresses, and much more personal information. Nicholas Percoco, senior vice president of Trustwave's SpiderLabs, mentioned that the credit card and debit card information is the most in demand by hackers because it is easiest to turn into cash quickly. There are three main steps in a typical data breach and how attackers mostly operate at each level: initial entry, data harvesting, and exfiltration. Close to half of these attacks occur via remote access applications, of which 90 percent exploit default or weak passwords. Around 42 percent of attacks occurred via third-party connections; 6 percent via SQL injection; 4 percent via exposed services; and 2 percent via remote file inclusion attacks. Interestingly, less than 1 percent began with an email Trojan. As an IT manager of the hotel, it is crucial to recognize how serious the consequences are for the hotel should the data not be protected well. 

Hey all, here is an article I found that talks about hackers taking over the hospitality industry. It mentions how hackers main objective is to gain access to debit accounts and gain access to customer cash. Also, hackers are also able to infiltrate POS systems along with other valuable technology with in the hospitality industry. Nearly half of these attacks occur via remote access applications, of which 90 percent exploit default or weak passwords, according to the report. Around 42 percent of attacks occurred via third-party connections; 6 percent, SQL injection; 4 percent, exposed services; and 2 percent, remote file inclusion attacks. Interestingly, less than 1 percent began with an email Trojan.

hackers are EVERYWHERE!

As close to home as this hits, with a security breach at my hotel recently, I'm happy to see that companies are upgrading their systems. The Black Hat cyber security conference in Vegas had a hacker present how easy it was to gain access into a hotel room. He had less than $50 in equipment that he used to infiltrate the locks on the hotel doors. In response to this, Onity, the company whose locks were tested, came out with a plan for a "two-tier" security upgrade. This makes me feel a little bit better but at the same time, it seems like hotels aren't being proactive about protecting their customers, so maybe more hotels needs to be exploited.

I don't see this how it make anyone feel a little better, all the company is doing is giving price discounts and tightening up some locks, make it harder to pick apart. The problem is the avg their or experienced theif can take a part a lock in minuets if not seconds. Chances are you wouldn't even hear it if you were asleep, on the phone, watching TV. The system isn't very good if it can be hacked with up to 50$ of equipment

The article describes the new IT feature installed in a flagship hotel of Mandarin Oriental Group of hotels - that is a WIFI feature installed into the walls of every guest room. Mandarin oriental New York is known as technologically savvy hotel, which adopts all new technology features, that appear in the market. Capacity, coverage and user density were major problems for the hotel before, but the time to change has come when iPhones and iPads hit the market and the need of new technologies has appeared.

Saudi Arabias national oil company, Aramco, was attacked by a computer virus, Shamoon, and it is suspected that an insider or employee assisted the hackers. The virus spread through the network and infected about 30,000 PC business computers and wiped their hardrives. This is one of the worst attacks against a single business. The hackers who claimed responsibility, The Cutting Sword of Justice, were politically motived. The companies more important documents including plant operating networks were not affected by the virus because they were on a separate and higher security network. Recently, other Middle Eastern natural gas firms with relations to Saudi Arabia have been hit by cyber attacks. Because the Aramco hackers admitted their motives against the Saudi Arabian government income sources, I think that all the cyber attacks may be politically motivated. As a Middle Eastern oil company with relations to Saudi Arabia, this is a major indication to take precautionary measures and increase network security. This attack demonstrates that no matter how much security you have in place, if an insider is willing to assist hackers or provide hackers with necessary information, you are no longer protected. It would seem imperative that employees with this access are chosen carefully or network access is very limited.

Here is something interesting for you Mac users. Did you knew that you are actually being charged more to use websites like Orbitz or Priceline? Don't believe me, well check it out. Over the last year or two Orbitz has been working on what they call "predictive analytics". Meaning they are able to predict where consumers will likely book their reservations based on what computer they are using. The article states that, Mac users are 40% more likely to book a four to five star hotel than PC users. Since companies like Orbitz (who took a 37 million dollar loss in 2011) are taking big hits from the lack of travelling thanks to the economy, they are trying to create any advantage they can in order to turn the market around. One thing to point out, is that Orbitz's competitors like Priceline and Expedia said that they do not base their sales on what computers the consumers are using, Apple had no comment. Orbitz said the effort to incorporate Mac vs. PC distinctions is still in its formative stages and isn't evident across the site. Other factors have more influence over results, Mr. Liew said, including a user's location and history on the site, as well as a hotel's overall popularity and promotions. Still, he said, use of a Mac can influence results.

CHECK THIS OUT MAC USERS

The best part of the article is how it states a good POS system is one that doesn't let you waste time with the POS. Instead your attention can be turned to your customers and staff. The system will do everything for you just by a touch of buttons from the screen. All you would have to do is print out the information and it will tell you everything you need to run a sucessfull establishment.

As the iPad achieves success in the market, there has been increasing interest in using the iPad as POS devices in the restaurant businesses. This article introduces some advantages and disadvantages of an iPad POS system. First of all, with the iPad POS system, restaurant servers could use their time more efficiently because they don't have to go to POS terminal to punch orders or print receipts, saving much time. This may result in enhancing customer satisfaction because servers can spend more time with their customers. Another advantage can be security. Since servers carry POS devices, they are able to swipe customers' credit cards in front of customers. Therefore, customers would not have to worry about their identity theft. Lastly, the iPad POS system is cheaper than the traditional one, so it may be appealing to small restaurants. On the other hand, there are some cons of using the iPad as POS devices. Most of all, the iPad devices are sometimes unreliable since they rely on wireless Internet. Needless to say, there will be huge confusion to not only servers but kitchen staff if there is no wireless connectivity. In addition, the iPad should be handled with care as it is vulnerable to being dropped or hit. Also, restaurant managers and servers should keep their eyes on the devices since they can be stolen sometimes. Overall, the iPad POS system could be an innovative tool that may change the way restaurant businesses are now. However, restaurants should carefully consider the advantages and disadvantages before installing the new POS.

The Amadeus computer system crashed on Monday, Jan 30, 2012 leaving thousands of airline passengers without the opportunity to check-in online, reserve their seats, or buy airplane tickets. For more than 3 hours, customers were very upset and unsatisfied for the delay that this situation caused by having the airline crew members manually put their information instead of usually scanning the ticket or passport.

Luckily this didn't happen during a busy time as the article stated. I can only imagine the bedlam had this happened during say the holiday season such as Christmas or a day following a major event like the Olympics or something similar. What I'd be interested t see is if all staff can react to and handle this as well as the staff of the airlines involved. I guess its a good example of having a back up plan in the instance of network issues such as this. Can't say our staff at work would be able to function as well in the instance of similar downtime.