Summary
My second article is entitled “An IT Team of One” from Hospitality Technology magazine. This article discusses the shortage of IT personnel in the hospitality industry. Often times there is only one IT manager per hospitality company. According to a 2007 Global Security Survey, only those companies with upwards of five thousand employees had more than three IT professionals on staff. “An IT Team of One” provides four suggestions for IT managers dealing with this lack of support.
The first suggestion is to remember that you are working in the hospitality industry, meaning that no matter how frustrating your job may be, you must always be hospitable. Secondly, unified security solutions are much easier to deal with than systems that have multiple independent security solutions. This will allow you to have better control. Another suggestion was to consider outsourcing certain IT needs to IT service providers and Software as a Service vendors. This will provide some relief from the overwhelming work load of an IT manager. Lastly, the article states that it is simply impossible for an individual to keep up with all of the latest IT trends, so you should put trust in your vendors and follow their advice.
Rinell, George. An IT Team of One. Retrieved March 15, 2008 from http://www.htmagazine.com.
URL:
http://www.htmagazine.com/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=MultiPublishing&mod=PublishingTitles&mid=3E19674330734FF1BBDA3D67B50C82F1&tier=4&id=FA11AEE2B58242CD98BC285AEC11FF77
Reflection
This article certainly made me sympathize with IT managers in the hospitality industry. It must be very difficult to be basically entirely on your own. I can’t imagine the level of stress that these managers deal with on a day to day basis. Not only that, but they must also then be able to compose themselves and treat people in a hospitable manner. Under such circumstances, I can certainly see that the provided suggestions would be very useful. Outsourcing and the use of unified security solutions are great ways to lift some of the responsibility off the shoulders of IT managers.
Anyone interested in the hospitality IT field should read this article for two reasons: to be aware of what they are getting themselves into, and to receive some advice about how to deal with this lack of resources. Personally, this article scared me a little, considering that I am studying to enter the hospitality industry.
2 comments:
I think a shortage of IT personnel in the hospitality industry is very risky for any business. It must be nearly impossible for an IT manger to have control over the entire company. Being an IT manager is clearly a very important job and can be very stressful, especially if working alone. I agree that anyone interested in becoming an IT manager should read this article to realize the challenges they will face. In addition the article will give him or her good tips on becoming a well trained IT manager. An important tip they give to future managers is to have vendors you can trust because they will help you with advice.
I don't think there should ever be just one IT Manager working by himself/herself in the hospitality industry no matter how many employees the entire company has. There is way too many different types of systems that can have problems occur at any moment. It's just too much stress to put on just one person. Having other IT professionals on the staff is great because all the work should never be entirely on the IT Manager's shoulders. I think the four suggestions for IT Managers provided by the article are a great deal of help. Remaining hospitable in a stressful situation must be hard to do. I think the two most important suggestions are to outsource come IT needs to provide relief to the work load and to make sure that you put trust in your vendors.
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