Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport #27

Starwood has the hospitality's industry first robotic butler
travel. They want a combination of hightech
and high-touch to enhance their stay
experience. With the growing presence of
digital technology and social media, they also
expect real-time information and interactive
two-way communication. Many of our guests
are also tech-savvy and like to share their
experience with their friends. For example,
when we launched SPG Keyless check-in at
W Singapore-Sentosa Cove, we had guests
booking and checking into our hotels just to
try out the technology!
we had guests
booking and checking
into our hotels just to try
out the technology!
How is your work changing today
compared to the past?
The job of IT has steadily progressed over the
years from a technical support function that
was not understood but liked for its general
helpfulness, to a compliance enforcement
function that may not always have gotten full
appreciation for the important task it fulfilled,
to the current business partnership with the
operational teams. Our IT managers report
directly to the General Managers in recognition
of the importance of IT as operations partners.
Operations teams have realised the value of
IT in recent years and request our input in the
many decisions that need to be made. At the
same time IT threats continue to evolve and
with that requirements for compliance and
skill levels. These often exceed what can be
expected of an IT Manager so more and more
often IT is not only a business partner but also
a vendor manager. This shift from technician
to business manager has made the job
much more exciting and we are finding nontraditional
applicants from operations starting
to be interested in joining the world of IT.
CONTACT
Starwood Hotels and Resorts
Phone: +32 (0)2 207 5000
www.starwoodhotels.com
www.cleverhotel.org
Hotel & Tourism SMARTreport / Worldwide Edition N°27 / September - November 2015 27