The Cloud Five

Issue 31

A quarterly newsletter designed to keep Cloud5 customers and friends in the know, including important company updates, exciting wins and things to come.

CLOUD5 NEWSLETTER – ISSUE 31

A Message from the CEO, Mark Holzberg

Greetings,

I’m writing this at the end of Q1 – one of the most exciting quarters we’ve had in a long time.

First of all, I’m glad to share that in late February, we officially launched our first Managed Service Provider client, HEI Hotels & Resorts. We’re now handling IT support for roughly 90 of HEI’s properties, through our new managed service desk in Chesterfield, Missouri. To HEI, I’d like to extend a special welcome! We look forward to a long and productive partnership.

While we’ve long delivered some MSP services in relation to our network management and monitoring, our MSP division offers a full suite of IT Managed Services – including device management; security; backup and recovery; vendor managment; and project management. Additionally, we provide complete asset lifecycle management and Service Now as a Service, which is supported by our internal MSP and Service Now development teams. For properties that might be interested in these services or outsourcing their IT workload, let’s connect; we look forward to chatting with you.

As we look at the major trends affecting hotels across the country, one of the things we’re noticing is that group travel is looking strong for the rest of the year and into 2025. With all this new group activity, you might find that your property needs enhanced Wi-Fi support. That’s something our team can help with. We work with clients to adjust and scale up their networks to support the needs of incoming groups, and then help them scale back down once the event is over. We also have a conference scheduling tool that allows onsite IT teams to control and customize their network internally. We’ll highlight this more in the product section of our newsletter below, but I wanted to remind you of this specific capability as we head into the year’s busy “event season”.

In my last message, I also talked about how equipment is becoming more readily available. Over the last few months, our install teams have been working at a breakneck pace to close out our installation backlog. In fact, since the start of the new year, we’ve completed almost 100 new installations. We’re also excited to announce we’ve welcomed 57 new customers to our TECH business unit, and our Contact Center business unit is ramping up for a return to growth with one of our long-time clients – by adding 13 new training classes to support one of the world’s major global travel and financial services companies.

Finally, I’d like to touch briefly on where Cloud5 is headed in 2024.

Over the past year or more, we’ve been asking clients how we can better serve them. What we’ve heard consistently is that our clients don’t just want another solutions provider – in fact, they’d like to work with far fewer vendors. Instead, they’re looking for a true partner – one that can dive deeply into their business and help them think strategically, plan for the future and fill their gaps – both technical and operational – as needed.

Our MSP is a part of this effort, but we’re also making other changes. For example, going forward, many of our clients will have a strategic account manager dedicated to their account. Don’t worry – you probably already know these folks well. This will give you a single point of contact at Cloud5 who knows your business and your team and can work with you to help you achieve the connectivity and technical goals of your business.

We’ll also be hosting quarterly business reviews to gather better feedback about your properties – what’s working, what’s not, and how we can plug in to help.

And finally, we’re committed to continuing to develop solutions and services that meet the needs of the industry and address the pain points of our customers.

Helping lead this effort, we’re excited to welcome Fred Reeder to the team as our new SVP of Sales and Commercial Development. Fred brings deep experience in sales management as well as strong industry knowledge from his days at Nomadix, where he served as President. He’ll be supporting our pivot to more consultative, strategic sales engagements, and we’re excited to see all the growth he’ll help us develop.

As always, I want to thank you for your continued support – you’re the reason we do what we do. Until next quarter, be safe and be well.

Mark Holzberg

Join Us at HITEC 2024

Join us at HITEC

Booth #3240

Make sure to schedule some time with our team to discuss your IT needs and staffing gaps, and get ahead of budget planning for 2025.

We can’t wait to see you there!

Have you Downloaded our MSP eGuide?

This helpful guide explores the most pressing challenges confronting hospitality IT departments, and provides practical solutions for boosting efficiency & productivity.

Recent Installs

We’re proud to partner with properties all over the US and North America for their technology and telecommunications needs. In Q2, we’ve added 40 new customers to the Cloud5 family and completed 88 new installs to date.

See some recent installs and new clients below:

WELCOME TO THE CLOUD5 FAMILY!

The Hotel

The Hotel at the University of Maryland is an escape from the norm. It’s a hotel but also an experience. Whether you are visiting for a weekend away, a conference or meeting, a wedding, or the opportunity to see the heart of our country’s government, this AAA Four-Diamond hotel and conference center in College Park, Maryland, has amenities to make your stay as unique as you are.

The Hotel at Arundel Preserve welcome’s guests with a unique design true to its location in Hanover, MD, near BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport, Fort Meade, Annapolis, and Baltimore. As the area’s premier independent boutique hotel, Hotel Arundel’s 150 guest rooms are designed with a residential feel, upgraded amenities, and highly personalized service.

Thank you to The Hotel team for trusting Cloud5 with your business!

WELCOME TO THE CLOUD5 FAMILY!

New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge

Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort is a contemporary beachfront retreat rooted in Hawaiian music, food & culture. The 18-story building offers 180 degree views of the Pacific Ocean, city scenes of Waikiki, and majestic views of Diamond Head. Cloud5 provided the property with Mitel Hosted PBX. We thank the Outrigger Reef Waikiki team for trusting Cloud5 with your business!

WELCOME TO THE CLOUD5 FAMILY!

New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge

Our Contact Center division is thrilled to announce its new partnership with LivAway Suites®, the innovative economy-extended stay hotel brand created “for developers, by developers.”

We are excited to embark on this journey with LivAway Suites and look forward to elevating guest service experiences together. Thank you for choosing Cloud5 as your trusted partner for voice reservations and guest relations.

IT

NICE Communications Platform Migration

Frank providing details.

Product

Cloud5 ECO

In support of the sustainability initiatives undertaken by many of our clients, Cloud5 is proud to launch its new IT asset disposal service. This program offers hotels a way to securely and sustainably recycle old network, voice, workstation and server equipment. Cloud5 will repack old equipment, ship it off to our accredited recycling partner, and provide hotels with a Data Destruction Certificate complete with a $5 million insurance policy on the data. This not only helps properties be more eco-friendly and score “sustainability” points with brands, but also mitigate against data breach risks inherent in non-secure equipment removal.

Q2 Hospitality Trends

Read about the top five trends set to impact hospitality this quarter.

In the Press

Cloud5 Appoints Frank Ziller as Chief Technology Officer

Cloud5 Communications, a leading provider of IT solutions and services for more than 5,000 hotels across the Americas, has announced the appointment of technology expert and managed IT veteran, Frank Ziller, as its Chief Technology Officer (CTO).

Ziller brings more than 25 years of experience leading global IT organizations in the business services, financial services, and legal industries. Prior to joining Cloud5, Ziller served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Frontline Managed Services, a Managed Service Provider (MSP) that specializes in IT and financial managed services for midsize to large firms globally. At Frontline, Ziller led the deployment of Service Now as a Service, established a global central service desk and implemented several technologies specific to the world of MSP – driving efficiencies and strong KPIs across a varied client base.

“As Cloud5 continues its pivot toward more strategic, consultative service offerings, we’re continuing our investment in best-in-class technologies that support the needs of our increasingly complex industry,” said Mark Holzberg, President and CEO of Cloud5 Communications. “With his strong background in MSP and proven expertise building out effective, impacting technology teams and solutions, I know Frank will make a great addition to our leadership team.”

Ziller’s professional background also includes serving as Senior Director, Global IT Infrastructure Services at Elavon, Inc., where he led a global team providing a broad range of systems infrastructure technologies and services. Ziller additionally previously held the role of Director, System Engineering and Administration at Ricoh Americas, a provider of workplace solutions and digital transformation services.

“I am thrilled to join Cloud5 in this exciting stage, where it’s expanding to offer new technologies and services designed to help properties and hospitality IT teams operate more effectively,” said Ziller. “I look forward to building on Cloud5’s impressive track record and ensuring that our customers have the resources required to run more competitive, IT-forward businesses.”

Ziller holds a B.S. degree in computer science from Kennesaw State University.