Is Your HSIA Budget Ready?

Budgeting for HSIA upgrades or new equipment can become daunting if not prepared for properly. When it comes to delivering a great guest connectivity experience, here are a few simple tips to help get you started with budgeting for HSIA in 2020:

  1. Stay Up to Date

    • Replacing older hardware or equipment can lead to unexpected costs and challenges. If you are up to date and meeting your network standards you can avoid these challenges and incremental costs that appear with outdated network equipment. Need more information on network standards? We’ll walk you through it. 

  2. Make Sure Your Bandwidth Requirements Are Met

    • With several applications running across a network and even more IoT devices coming online every day, guest experience can suffer if adequate bandwidth isn’t available. With iOS and Android phones, tablets and computers all in the bags of the guests checking in, your HSIA service being optimized for a full range of devices must be a priority. With an increase in video and streaming services, your bandwidth should account for how your guests are browsing, searching, streaming and working.
    • Ask your HSIA provider for strategies that keep you ahead of the bandwidth game:
      • Load balancing
      • SD-WAN bandwidth orchestration
      • Network management tools
      • Quality of Service (QoS) traffic prioritization

  3. Go with a Network Design that Fits the Future

    • When designing your network, go with a design that allocates needs for at least 3 years rather than a plan that only fits your needs right now. This could require more updates more often and add to your overall cost. Technology and guest experience expectations evolve on a cycle no longer than three years and should be considered when designing the plan for your property.

  4. Identify Your Top 3 Issues

    • What are the top issues that you are currently dealing with in your technology? Making sure those aspects are identified and accounted for in your tech needs will help plan ahead. Are there parts of your property that have lower WiFi speeds or dead spots? Are these issues that need immediate attention or will require a more complex solution in the future? Running an assessment before planning for the year ahead or renewing your contract can identify spaces for attention.

When looking ahead to the new year, considering your hotel technology and the upgrades or installs required will help piece together not only your 2020 budget, but your 3+ year technology plan.

If you’d like more information on Cloud5 as an HSIA provider or to schedule a site survey, please email info@cloud5.com – we’d love to hear from you!

 

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