Premier Inn's IT Strategy: A Business Development Report

Desklib provides past papers and solved assignments. This report analyzes Premier Inn's use of IT for business development.

INTRODUCTION TO INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
LITERATURE REVIEW................................................................................................................4
ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION...................................................................................................5
FINDINGS.......................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
Information technology has revolutionized all the major industries in the UK. The hospitality
industry uses different tools provided by the information technology to create a differentiation in
the services provided. The current assignment will highlight the role of information technology
in increasing the business prospects of Premier Inn which is the largest hospitality sector
organisation in the UK. Managers need to possess a basic knowledge of information technology
so that they can effectively manage the e-commerce functions of the company which forms a
major portion of the total business of the company. The report will also discuss different
networking technologies used in the hospitality industry and the ways in which private data of
the service users can be secured for unauthorised access. Various social and ethical issues
associated with the use of technology are also discussed in the report.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
According to Crespo, et al. (2010), information technology is affecting different spheres of the
hospitality industry and has completely changed the way customers book a taxi, check-in at
airports and book hotel rooms. There are separate apps on the smart phones of users for all these
activities and customers can have access to these apps while travelling or resting on their bed.
Smart phones, tablets and apps are playing an important role in planning and booking a holiday.
Customers are using the internet to compare the rate of hotel rooms and find the best deal that
suits their budget. Laudon and Traver, (2013), explain that a major portion of the room bookings
of hotels is done online using smart phones, tablets and personal computers. Service sector
organisations use technology to access different social media platforms so that the services of the
company can be advertised. The Facebook and Twitter pages of the company are used to provide
the latest information regarding offers and schemes by the company. The customers use these
channels to post their quarries and complaints. It has been seen that the complaints posted on the
social media platforms are resolved more quickly as compared to the traditional channels; it
happens so because the complaints are in public domain and any negligence in the matter can
cause negative publicity to the company. The leading hotel groups in the UK are heavily
investing in leveraging their basic IT infrastructure so that people can use different applications
of technology seamlessly. According to Narayanan (2013), hotels need to store a large amount of
data related to the sales figures and customer information. This data is stored on remote servers
by using cloud storage systems. These cloud storage systems also enable customers to access the
facility of the hotel booking on their smart phones using a login Id and password systems.
Service industry organisation also uses digital marketing techniques such as search engine
optimisation (SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) which is used to optimise the websites of the
company so that it can be searched on Google quickly.
Near field technology (NFC) is a kind of wireless technology which is used to enable data
exchange between two devices, this technology is also used for online payments and to provide
self-check-in facilities to the customers by using smart room keys. Taylor (2012), states that the
use of modern technology also has some drawbacks; unauthorised access to the personal data of
customers by hackers is a threat which needs to be addressed by the organisation by using strong
firewall systems and antivirus software. The private data of the customers need to be stored in a
password-protected system to ensure that the data is accessed only by the authorised person.
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ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
ROLE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT PREMIER INN
The technology helps Premier Inn to manage the different function of the hotel efficiently. The
information such as room availability and occupancy rates are available to the management
through a centralised server system. This facility allows managers to save time and use this data
to form different strategies (Premier Inn, 2018). Such technological solutions help Premier Inn to
provide a consistent customer experience across all its units which increases customer retention
rate and enhances the brand loyalty. As premier Inn has more than 700 hotels around the UK, a
large amount of data is generated on daily basis, this data is stored by the company on the cloud-
based platforms which provide ease of access and the data can also be retrieved in case of system
failure. These integrated technologies also make the services fast and reliable for customers and
they can access these services from different platforms (O'Neill, 2018). Fast payment services
also help in enhancing the customer experience. The online payment facilities provided by
Premier Inn are secured against debit card fraud and ensure compliance with all the regulations
of payment card security authorities.
‘Hub’ is a mobile app launched by Premier Inn which provides the facility of online booking of
hotel rooms to the customers. After checking on the customers can use this app to change to
adjust the temperature of the AC, change television channels, adjust lighting or order breakfast.
The app works as a hotel room key and the menu for food items along with all the other
facilities. The app is GPS enabled and automatically provides a suggestion regarding available
hotels, restaurants, pubs in the nearby area (Henderson, 2018). A 40 inch smart TV can be found
in every room of Premier Inn, the TV is called Smart because it provides internet access and
movies on demand. The customers can also surf on the internet on smart TV by accessing the
free 24 Wi-Fi facilities available in the hotel premise. The walls are fitted with digital control
panels in case the customer wants to operate the Lights and AC manually.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF NETWORKS
A network is a system of interconnected computers which enables the exchange of information at
different geographic locations. Premier Inn group has around 700 hotels in the UK and the
communication between these hotel branches is ensured with the help of networking
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technologies. Different types of networking technologies used at Premier Inn hotels are
explained below:
Local area networks (LAN)
This type of network connects devices in a small physical area such as a room, building or a
factory. These are private networks which are restricted to a certain geographical area. LAN
facilitates connecting different computer resources such as printers, modems and hard disk drives
(Ljunggren, et al. 2015). Through this interconnection, data can be easily shared between
different computers in the same hotel building which helps in improving the speed of services
offered to the customers.
Wireless local area network (WLAN)
This is the most useful technology for Premier Inn hotels which allows customers to access the
internet by using their smart phones or laptops. WLAN allows different devices to connect
wirelessly. A wireless router is a key device which allows Wi-Fi enabled devices such as tablets,
laptops and smart phones get internet access(Turban, et al. 2011).
Metropolitan area Network (MAN)
This type of network is used to connect different LANs within the geographical area of a town or
city. The network can be maintained by private companies or by public companies. Fibre optic
cables are used for MAN which provides fast communication facilities. The conferencing facility
is also made possible with the help of this technology (Nyheim and Connolly, 2011).
Wide area network (WAN)
WAN connects different states, countries and continents. Different branches of Premier Inn are
connected to the headquarters through WAN. The Internet is a type of WAN which helps in
communicating information across the globe. Wide area networks are maintained with the
contribution of member nations (Verma, et al. 2012).
ETHICAL AND SOCIAL ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH TECHNOLOGY
Advanced communication technologies have increased the speed of services and enabled the
storage of a large amount of data. The ethical issue related to information technology is the safe
storage of private data of service users. Premier Inn stores a large amount of user data to provide
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better services and uses this data to manage the complaints more efficiently, but this data
contains personal information of customers which can be misused if an outsider is able to get
access to this data, therefore, it is necessary for Premier Inn to protect the private data of service
users with the help of login and password systems. In addition, firewalls can also be installed to
get secured against internet fraud in the case of online payments (Mo Kwon, et al. 2013). A large
number of customers are using payment gateways to pay for the room bookings and these
transactions should be made safe and secure by the use of secured payment gateway protocols.
The wireless systems provided by the hotels should also be kept protected with the help of
password.
The social issues of information technology are associated with round the clock connectivity
through the internet. The hotel employees suffer in their personal lives with this 24-hour
connectivity as they are not able to rest or sleep, disturbed by constant messages and calls from
the work (Law, et al. 2013). This makes a negative impact on their health and ultimately
decreases their work efficiency. Identity theft is a new kind of internet fraud where criminals
impersonate the digital identity of the user by accessing his confidential information. The
personal detail of users such as date of birth, credit card number and social security number is
used by criminals to make purchases and withdraw money from ATM’s.
FINDINGS
The use of technology has enabled Premier Inn hotels to connect with a large number of
customers. These customers are using their smart phones to do research about the quality of
rooms, the cheapest available rooms and the geographic location of the hotel. Premier Inn is
using technology to improve the management of its different branches; these different branches
are connected to the central server which makes it easy to manage such a large number of hotels
(Bilgihan, et al. 2011). The available data can be sued by the managers to understand the
customers demand patterns and form better policy to increase the brand awareness or to improve
the service quality. The wireless local area network (WLAN) is one of the most widely used
technologies in hotels and it is used to provide free Wi-Fi facility to the customers. The
customers can also connect their smart phones with the Wi-Fi services. Another type of networks
such as Wide area network (WAN) is used by Premier Inn to connect the different hotel with the
central headquarters.
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The use of technology is also associated with some ethical issues such as inappropriate use of the
private data of users. The data provided by the customers during check-ins or online payments
have much sensitive information which needs to be kept in a secured manner by the hotel
management. The data which is stored in the digital format needs protection from hackers. These
hackers can use this confidential data to pursue internet frauds and identity theft which can cause
monetary loss to the customer (Neuhofer, et al. 2015). Therefore a robust data security
arrangement should be a place to ensure that the data of the customers is safe and is not used for
some malicious purpose. Round the clock access to technology has also created disturbance in
the personal life of hotel employees which need to be regulated so that they can have a better
work-life balance.
CONCLUSION
The above discussion has provided detailed information regarding the use of modern
technologies and the internet in improving the service quality in the Premier Inn hotel. Premier
Inn hotel maintains a central cloud storage system where all the information regarding room
occupancy, housekeeping and guest request are available. The customers can also enjoy the
facility of automated controls with the help of a mobile app which can be used to control the
temperature of the room, lighting and the operations of television. Use of technology has also
simplified the process of room booking and payment. Customers can get information regarding
the current occupancy of rooms at the hotel by accessing the website of the organisation. The
report also discussed the need to protect the confidential information of users so that they access
these services in a safe and secure way.
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REFERENCES
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4. Laudon, K.C. and Traver, C.G., 2013. E-commerce. Pearson.
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6. Ljunggren, A., Lind, M., Lind, H. and Smith, O., Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson,
2015. Dynamic payment methods and devices. U.S. Patent 9,098,869.
7. Mo Kwon, J., Bae, J.I. and Blum, S.C., 2013. Mobile applications in the hospitality
industry. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, 4(1), pp.81-92.
8. Narayanan, A., Infosys Ltd, 2013. Financial transfers from mobile devices. U.S. Patent
Application 13/418,318.
9. Neuhofer, B., Buhalis, D. and Ladkin, A., 2015. Smart technologies for personalized
experiences: a case study in the hospitality domain. Electronic Markets, 25(3), pp.243-
254.
10. Nyheim, P. and Connolly, D., 2011. Technology strategies for the hospitality industry.
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11. O'Neill, S., 2018. Online available at: https://skift.com/2017/11/06/amadeus-signs-
premier-inn-for-hotel-services-while-a-key-rollout-gets-delayed/ [last accessed on 2 Jan
2019]
12. Premier Inn, 2018. Online available at: http://premierinn.com/ [last accessed on 2 Jan
2019]
13. Taylor, P., 2012. Hackers: Crime and the digital sublime. Routledge.
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14. Turban, E., King, D.R. and Lang, J., 2011. Introduction to electronic commerce. Pearson
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15. Verma, R., Stock, D. and McCarthy, L., 2012. Customer preferences for online, social
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53(3), pp.183-186.
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