Cloud Computing Case Study
Outrigger
Hotels & Resorts
An intelligent cloud infrastructure that
has laid the foundations for growth.
When Outrigger Hotels & Resorts began a program of expansion,
they sought to centralise their operations through an infrastructure
quick to scale and deploy.
The Situation
The Summary
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts is an international chain of hotels
and vacation properties. Based in Honolulu, the company’s
operations extend from the Hawaiian Islands to Guam, Fiji,
Thailand, Bali and Queensland.
Industry Hospitality
In Australia, Outrigger once owned a sizable portfolio
of hotel properties, but sold these holdings to take full
advantage of excellent market conditions. Recently, however,
Outrigger has again entered the local market, making a
series of strategic acquisitions and re-establishing the
Outrigger brand.
“With new properties in Noosa, Airlie Beach and the Gold
Coast, we are embarking on an exciting expansion plan
– it’s a real growth stage,” says Grant James, Outrigger’s
Regional General Manager.
To support this growth strategy, Outrigger wanted a
centralised IT infrastructure that would lower operational
overheads while delivering rapid roll-out capabilities to new
locations anywhere in Australia.
“Re-entering the market, we had an almost blank slate,”
says James. “We knew we wanted to do things differently,
and that meant a single system to track guests, reservations,
finances and operations across each of our hotels.”
Country Australia
Business Challenge
Deploy a centralised IT, infrastructure
unifying the delivery of IT services to a
growing portfolio of hotels
Solution
A business-wide cloud system
combining Infrastructure-as-a-Service,
Private IP WAN and 24/7 support
Services
•
Infastructure, network and data,
technical support and strategic
advice
Results
•
Improved business efficiency and
performance
•
Reduced capital expenditure costs
on new acquisitions
•
Increased business agility via rapid
new location deployments
1300 500 000
|
www.brennanit.com.au
Cloud Computing Case Study
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts
“As we continue to look for opportunities to expand, we take confidence from
the fact that our infrastructure is designed to grow. The cloud system we’ve
implemented with Brennan IT is helping to drive productivity at the same time
as providing new levels of insight into our daily operations.”
Grant James, Regional General Manager
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts
The Solutions
Outrigger approached Brennan
IT for advice. “Brennan IT have
delivered our IT needs for almost
a decade,” James explains, “and
we were eager to investigate how
cloud computing could help us
expand.”
Having examined Outrigger’s
requirements, Brennan IT
recommended that the company
deploy a three-pronged
solution: using a combination of
Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS),
Private IP WAN and Managed IT
Services to create a flexible cloud
platform.
Now available at each of
Outrigger’s hotels and its
head office, Outrigger’s cloud
infrastructure is delivering 100 per
cent of the company’s IT services.
In addition to shared email, file and
data solutions, the infrastructure
also plays host to Outrigger’s
Property Management System
(PMS). This allows Outrigger to
deliver uniform reservation, frontoffice, point-of-sale, housekeeping,
accounts and check-in functionality
across its operations.
Microsoft Terminal Services
delivers client services where
and as needed, while strict
Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
guarantee Outrigger the highest
levels of up-time and connectivity,
with redundant wireless links
servers before the first guest had
booked – Outrigger can now ‘bolt
on’ a new property with relative
ease.
in place to ensure network
availability. A Managed IT Services
agreement offers 24/7 support and
monitoring.
“Physically, we only require
network connectivity and terminal
clients to be placed on site,” he
says. “As a result, the cloud has
actually altered the cost equation
when it comes to acquisitions. It’s
an important advantage as we
continue to grow.”
The Benefits
Grant James says that hotel
operators can sometimes be
late adopters of new technology,
but through a forward-thinking
approach Outrigger has been able
to leverage the potential of the
cloud in their business.
Asked about Outrigger’s
relationship with Brennan IT, James
says that the relationship has
lasted so long for good reason.
“We’ve built an outstanding rapport
with Brennan IT. They are proactive
and reliable, and because they
manage everything for us we
rarely have issues. We also trust
their strategic advice. The fact that
they’ve gained experience serving
others in the industry means they
bring an informed perspective.”
Many of the benefits of the
solution, he says, stem from the
power of centralisation. “In the
past, our hotels have operated
more or less independently, with
separate infrastructures in each
location,” he says. “Now, each
Outrigger property is part of the
same system. That has unified our
financial services, allowed us to
implement business-wide changes
with minimal fuss, and provided
real-time reservation and other
data tracking across the group.”
James adds that he would
“absolutely” recommend Brennan
IT to anyone seeking a cloudbased infrastructure. “I know
that some organisations can be
nervous about outsourcing their
systems, despite the fact that they
want the benefits of the cloud. But
with Brennan IT, we haven’t looked
back,” he says.
James says that Outrigger’s
customer service has also
improved. “Our guests now
register once to be recognised
wherever they stay across
the group. For us, that’s an
important way to strengthen guest
relationships.”
James also points to the cloud’s
rapid deployment capabilities,
saying that – where adding a new
hotel to the chain once meant
investing in, configuring and
deploying database and PMS
1300 500 000
For more information on how
Brennan IT cloud computing
can benefit your business,
call1300 500 000 or visit
brennanit.com.au.
|
www.brennanit.com.au