Anna Ransom
Have you ever considered running a race? Perhaps you have completed a few 5k races and wanted to participate in a marathon. Would you step out your door one day and just run the full 26.2 mile distance? Perhaps, but if you did, you’d likely encounter some significant challenges along the way.
Without a proper incremental training plan, you cannot gain the physical ability you need to overcome the challenges you will face. Without proper equipment, you will risk injury as your body slowly breaks down over the distance.
A properly prepared athlete will focus on building strength, endurance, and skill to sustain them over their race. They will actually protect their body with strong, durable equipment. They will establish a strategy for fuel and hydration to complete the race.
The same holds true for business. Think of how the training plan and quality equipment correlate your business critical systems.
How long has it been since you updated your business critical technology?
How old are the solutions your team is using to complete their daily tasks?
Does your team have access to the most relevant tools to win against the competition?
Forrester Research outlines five key areas to consider when upgrading:
- The benefit of feature enhancements
- Ability to migrate to future releases
- Technology obsolescence risks
- Additional costs for maintaining older releases
- Customization reduction
Consider your ability to migrate to future releases.
Waiting long spans of time between upgrades is much like taking a leap from running a 5k to then instantly running 26.2 miles. Is it possible? Yes, but the impact to your business is less disruptive when you follow a training plan and take advantage of upgrades at more frequent intervals. These incremental enhancements result in fewer technology challenges, less business disruption, increased user adoption, and more manageable process improvements.
Are you maintaining older releases and customization?
Technology companies continually innovate. New functionality is added to solutions based on customer feedback. Some of your current system modifications may now be standard functionality in the latest release.
Is there a cost to skipping releases?
It is estimated that when skipping releases the hard cost to the business, in time and expense, could be 1.5 to 2 times a normal upgrade. Further costs incurred by potential latency in older solutions, security vulnerabilities, process modifications, and struggles with user adoption create a formula for slowing down of your business growth.
But does this all really matter?
In today’s highly competitive market, the answer is a resounding YES!
Hospitality organizations need every slight edge to win against their competition. 72% of organizations that respond first to a RFP win the business. How are you empowering your team to check availability and then promptly and accurately respond to RFPs with accurate, detailed proposals?
[bctt tweet=”72% of organizations that respond first to a RFP win the business.” username=”@amadeushosp”]Changing markets bring changing business needs. Innovative new technology solutions are designed to help you meet your business goals. Leveraging these solutions empowers your organization to adapt to changing market needs, differentiate your offering from the competition, and share success with your customers as you flawlessly deliver exceptional guest experiences to keep customers coming back.
Have you seen the latest version of the Advanced Amadeus Sales & Event Management solution (formerly known was Delphi.fdc)? Over the last year we’ve been working hard to improve performance, resolve any bugs that were impacting usability, and add in over 35 new features to help your more effectively manage your business. If you haven’t seen the Advanced solution today, you haven’t seen the true potential for how you can grow your business.
