Bringing Technology Home – Benefits, Balance and the Bottom Line

As resorts and businesses create their “post-pandemic” organizations, IT departments find themselves at the epicenter of operational strategy and decision-making. I recently had the pleasure of catching up with Suzzi Morrison, an accomplished IT consultant, former CTO for Nordis Technologies and renowned Vacation Ownership/timeshare systems expert. Suzzi blends practical technology advice with visionary wisdom of how she sees companies evolving post-pandemic. Register now to get her advice live on November 6th at 1 PM EST as Resort Trade’s Lunch Bunch speaker.

While most companies had the technology and capabilities pre-COVID to equip associates to work from home (WFH), only a handful of industry leaders were comfortable with employees working remotely. Thus, when statewide health crisis lockdowns went into effect last March, IT departments had to pivot overnight and work 24/7 to send service and corporate teams home with laptops or PC’s configured with the virtual tools (VPN networks, Cloud Support and Software Licenses) to successfully support their roles. The shift also necessitated a new level of cyber-security to protect both customer and employee data and determine how to best support a decentralized workforce. All of a sudden, the IT department became everyone’s best friend with a critical seat at the table for executive decision-making and future organizational structure.

Best Ways To Secure Your Data

To ensure data integrity, companies big and small need to be vigilant with how they manage this new uncertain era. Suzzi recommends the following:

• Issue company-restricted hardware that is locked down and encrypted.
• Don’t allow users to add personal software or apps which could contain a virus or be counterproductive to other business applications.
• Continually run scheduled anti-virus scans no matter what platform you are using.
• Ensure all remote hardware is updated regularly.
• Use a product like Ring Central or another cloud-based PBX system than possible.
• Make sure your teams are using password-protected meetings when using video technologies like Zoom or Go-To-Meeting.
• Consider issuing company cell phones to associates so they can plug directly into their computer to make and receive calls as if they are in the office connected to your cloud PBX-system. This gives reporting capability and functionality that will create a more seamless experience and teleconferencing with clear connections.

Related: Big Data Created One Heck of A Big Problem

Recommendations for Password Security

Password maintenance is more critical than ever to protect your employee and customer data. Not a week goes by that we don’t hear of major corporations battling security breaches when their systems are hacked by unscrupulous characters. Consider implementing “pass phrases” versus “passwords”. A pass phrase leverages something personal to you and works like this:

• You have a dog, Barney, who loves to swim.
• In pass phrase language, this would be: Barneyloves2$wim
• Require upper case, lower case, and special characters.
• Don’t allow the same passphrase to be used again until the associate has utilized others at least 5 times.
• Speaking of hacking, what else can you do to avoid being hacked or personally have your identity stolen?
• Use dual-authentication wherever possible
• Update your passwords every 90 days on all accounts
• For eCommerce sites, consider setting a “not to exceed” limit so the company will reach out if something is ordered above that
• Monitor accounts frequently using a tool like LifeLock to protect yourself against improper use of personal information and the newest craze, medical insurance scams where perpetrators use your account to make false claims to get money back from a medical provider.
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• Everything in today’s pandemic era is negotiable. Cable, phone, and cellular providers, along with video networking, webinar platforms, contractors, and cloud storage suppliers – are all making deals to maintain market share. Compile a list of your vendors – technology and otherwise – and regularly reach out to them to learn of any new specials or opportunities to renegotiate your ongoing fees. For home-schooling families, look deeper at your internet service for maximum speed and device support to make your time at home digital-friendly.
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• As corporate support staff and behind-the-scenes teams return to the office, companies are challenged with how to provide a safe yet productive environment. Office space and staffing schedules will change dramatically — some positions will be permanently “retired” based on new revenue levels and others (like IT support roles) will expand. Even departments like accounting, collections, and HR are now candidates for working from home as companies amp up their cyber-security precautions.
• Some companies are downsizing and moving corporate facilities, others are redesigning interior spaces to be more open but shared. Morrison estimates that for the foreseeable future, up to 50% of staffing could remain remote.
• The new space may be designed so that everyone can spread out more – in some cases having a designated workspace in one location and the ability to store personal effects in another. Break rooms and common areas have to be completely rethought.
• Other companies are using staffing schedules to rotate associates into the office whereby 50% of folks will be working in the office on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with the others on Tuesday and Thursday. Whatever the solution, everyone is thinking creatively about how to “do more with less” and be sensitive to the needs and preferences of their workforce.

Related: Cybersecurity Tips for the Hospitality Industry

How IT Can Help Improve Customer & Associate Experience

As they say, necessity is the mother of all inventions! Morrison sees many resorts and industry firms accelerating their technology investments based on business challenges caused by the pandemic. From the expected advancements with remote notary services to speed up the title closing process to the more bleeding-edge use of VR (Virtual Reality) technology for sales teams to replicate an on-site experience, timesharing is getting more innovative AND efficient.

Picture being able to tour a resort renovation or new property (for rental or purchase) from the comfort of your living room, smelling the cinnamon rolls baking in your villa oven while swaying to the Caribbean dancers inviting you “home”. The mission is to make it easy and appealing to own vacation products, using technology to get people on vacation as soon as possible and enjoy time away together.

Related: Resort renovation planning tips: DO Plan – DON’T wing it!

In the not-so-distant past, IT departments primarily supported more dominant sales and marketing organizations. Today, Morrison is seeing IT leaders being called upon as true executive partners to help solve companywide complex problems. Because IT has an intimate understanding of the inner workings of end-to-end business processes, they are a natural source for ideas to automate or improve operational efficiency. To continually improve your business and customer/employee experiences, engage them early and often to take advantage of their breadth of knowledge and solutions.

Wendy Poe is a Customer Experience executive and recognized timeshare industry expert, honored to have led some of the most celebrated Marketing, Brand Communications & Customer Success teams in America.