HT Roadmap: 4 Steps to Creating a Network of the Future

Hospitality organizations’ networks are under pressure from all sides – fast-rising guest bandwidth use, a growing roster of cloud applications and more and more mobile apps required to run the business. In addition, many of today’s hospitality networks have been built for simple, site server-to-data center traffic. To accommodate these radically different demands, hospitality operators must redesign networks for the new demands of today’s – and tomorrow’s – reality. According to Hospitality Technology’s 2018 Customer Engagement Study, 21% of restaurants and 41% of hotels are investing in networks to support strategic goals concerning guest experience. To get networks where they need to be, hotels, restaurants and other hospitality organizations need to chart a path from today’s outdated infrastructure to tomorrow’s agile, scalable platform. To provide guidance and best practices for doing so, HT talks to operators, industry consultants and technology providers to provide a blueprint for successful execution of the network of the future. 1. Assess current gaps and capabilities For years, hospitality companies have regularly revisited bandwidth and network capacity as demand increased. Today, it’s not just the volume that’s changing, but the nature of that traffic. With growing public and operations uses – including IoT – as well as increasing numbers of cloud-based apps, operators need networks that can orchestrate all the different types of traffic, automatically adapt on the fly, and feature robust, multi-layer security. Another key consideration in scoping the current network is the varying levels of connectivity available across properties; 500 Mbps throughput over fiber might be available downtown, but in a rural area 20 Mbps over DSL may be the best option. As brands increasingly include technology as part of the guest experience, it’s the job of the network to ensure that experience is consistent across locations by making optimal use of what’s available. Operators must measure current networks according to those new, higher standards so they can consider not just how much network is needed, but how that additional capacity can be managed and adapted as needs constantly evolve. At Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, the needs assessment has to cover a lot of ground: its sprawling campus features more than 600 buildings including museums, restaurants, retail locations and six hotels. In 2017 they upgraded the network at two hotels with a solution from Avaya to boost bandwidth, among other improvements. The Foundation’s goals are much bigger, however, including an upgraded contact center application suite, new in-room devices, more mobile devices for associates and increasing reliance on cloud-delivered apps, enhancements that will impact the network. What’s tying the transition process together is the need to deeply understand and cater to individual guest needs, getting data in real-time to where it needs to be. “We need to be more intelligent about our guest,” says Sam Rucker, CIO at Colonial Williamsburg. “We will be improving the efficiency of our agents and our frontline-facing staff,” with a goal of personalizing each guest’s experience at every touchpoint, from booking through checkout. That’s a tricky proposition in a setting where some guests are seeking an authentic, 18th century experience, while other want a fully 21st century, tech-fueled, digitally enhanced stay. To find the way forward through this dichotomy, Rucker has three guiding principles: First, look at everything from a guest perspective. Second, ensure decisions are data-driven, such as data on guest behaviors. Third, take an agile approach, working in small phases. “We'd rather fail fast in small chunks than commit ourselves to large multimillion-dollar initiatives that fail after a long period of time,” Rucker says. 2. Project current and future needs Network experts project that growth in demand will be geometric, not linear. In addition to projecting volume increases, operators also need to consider how that new traffic will behave. A guest interacting with a loyalty app, for example, will have a lot of back-and-forth interaction between her smartphone and the cloud database, and that transaction may also involve several other apps to exchange data, such as integrating with a payment app to reorder a favorite dish and kitchen controls to provide order status. A business that increasingly depends on digital also means the network must always be on and available 24/7, and requires a dual path so there are options in the optimal way to route any given data transaction. In addition, as more mobile, IoT and other devices access the network, security risks multiply. An upgraded network must account for these changes. Royal Park Hotel (https://www.royalparkhotel.net/) saw a need to considerably increase bandwidth while also paving the way for innovation. The property upgraded its bandwidth to achieve 500 Mbps upload and download speeds, and at the same time replaced 32 Ruckus access points with 160 new APs, including one per guestroom with built-in IoT capability. This has provided the property with the capacity to roll out myriad innovations including: Assa Abloy keyless locks, to be tied into a new hotel app TracknProtect asset and staff app Alice hotel operations platform and New smart TVs, planned for next year Upgrade to Opera Cloud version 9, which also impacts network capacity and performance requirements. Royal Park’s IT provider physically checks the network weekly and a network management company handles daily tasks. “We are able to accommodate anything that comes our way at this point” with plenty of capacity, says Scott Rhodes, director of engineering. Currently four door locks can run off of one AP, for example, leaving the others wide open. “You hear nothing from guests as far as complaints. That's how I judge satisfaction.” 3. Consider options to address gaps Creating the network of the future requires considering not just additional capacity, but ensuring the network is flexible, intelligent, actively managed and secure. For example, quick service restaurant Jack in the Box (jackinthebox.com) and its Qdoba Mexican Grill (qdoba.com) subsidiary, which it sold in December 2017, chose the cloud-friendly HughesON Next-Generation Network, including fully managed, high-speed primary and backup networks securely connecting approximately 3,000 restaurants across North America. Hughes is also providing managed network support for guest and employee enterprise WiFi. A HR4700 Branch Gateway at each restaurant ensures robust security, routing and WAN optimization in a single device. “The Hughes solution gives us the throughput and security we need to support our customers’ growing digital demands,” says Drew Martin, CIO at Jack in the Box. “It also makes us better prepared for the future as we expand our applications to support our guests.” A growing number of operators are turning to software-defined networks (SD-WAN), actively addressed by managed network service providers, to handle increasingly complex network demands. SD-WANs are application-aware, with built-in intelligence on how applications perform. Meanwhile, a managed network services provider shields hospitality operators from the tasks of ensuring optimal performance by automating routine tasks such as installing and configuring, adding or changing applications, adjusting to changing traffic demand or priorities, adapting to different types of circuit, operating the help desk, and managing the many partners and service plans required to bring service to locations spread across a region. Experts working in network operations centers (NOC) can focus on key metrics, like successful end-user app performance and compliance with service level agreements. According to IHL Group, a research firm addressing the adjacent retail industry, SD-WAN networks enable next-gen applications to perform as desired and deliver the critical guest experience that helps drive loyalty. “You can have the most available and reliable network, but still have lousy application performance due to congestion, latency and other issues,” according to IHL’s Prime Challenge: How Amazon has Changed Retailing. “More often than not, the hidden key to that optimized network and customer experience is the implementation of SD-WAN technology that is application-aware and has built-in intelligence on how applications perform.” 4. Ensure robust security and redundancy Hospitality networks process payment data, and as a result, must be compliant with PCI. A good network provider adopts PCI guidelines as they are released and helps operators with annual assessment tasks such as FAQs, security posture verification, testing and log archive/review. Most security experts, however, consider PCI the bare minimum. All those new devices accessing the network – staff-facing as well as guest devices -- mean advanced multi-layer security is essential to ensure corporate and guest data is fully protected. Must-have features include unified threat management, next-gen firewalls, antivirus and malware, and services such as AI-based review of security lots and incident response/remediation. Many operators are choosing vendor partners with actively managed security operations centers (SOC) to ensure top level expertise is always monitoring and protecting network activity. Contact: 888-390-6052 https://business.hughes.com/

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