The Hospitality Tech Boom

The hospitality tech space is booming with innovation, from both a software and hardware perspective. Owners, GMs and property managers have the ability to leverage technology to solve pain points and problems which were previous seen as “necessary evils” of day to day operations.

With that being said, the hospitality tech space can be overwhelming with so many offerings and point solutions geared towards solving very specific needs. So how do you know if it’s the right time to introduce technology to your business?

Questions to Ask Before Buying

Before you commit to purchasing new technology for your property, take a second to walk yourself through the following steps and questions:

1. What is the problem you need to solve, and what are the causes of this problem. Finally ask, what would happen if the problem is not addressed and you make no changes to your existing people process or technology? Answering these questions will help define the urgency of the problem, and whether the problem needs to be addressed in the short, intermediate and longterm.
   
2. Does my current workforce have the skills, and capacity to solve this problem, and if not, is there training available to them? Can this problem be solved by hiring more people? Will the marginal addition of people have exponential impact on the bottom line, guest experience, etc.
3. This could be a great moment to empower your staff, however, assigning more responsibilities to your workforce could lead to burnout and impact employee morale if they are already working at full capacity.
   
4. How well do my current processes address this problem, if at all? Can my current processes be refined to address this problem or can new processes help solve this problem?
5. There is a fine balance when refining, adding or re-engineering processes. While this can yield positive outcomes, more process could overcomplicate your business operations, and expose you to human error.
   
6. Do I currently leverage technology which could solve this problem?
7. Often times businesses are already leveraging software or hardware, however, only leverage a portion of the full capabilities of their tech stack. It’s great to evaluate what new features and capabilities may exist in the software or hardware you already use. Furthermore, sometimes it’s easier to pay more for additional products or capabilities from an existing vendor, versus introducing a completely new vendor.

The Time May Be Now

At the end of the day, technology, either software or hardware, can expedite the process of solving the pain or problems you business needs to address. Regardless, answering the questions above will also help if you decide on acquiring hospitality technology, as your people and processes will play a big role in the adoption of a new technology solution.

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