Strawberry's Head of Hotel Systems on Switching and Piloting New Tech
In this episode of Hotel Tech Insider, we had the pleasure of speaking with Sven Ephithite, the head of hotel systems at Strawberry, one of the largest hotel companies in Scandinavia. With over 240 hotels and nearly 17,000 employees, Sven shared his expertise on hotel technology and the ongoing systems migrations within his organization.
Sven discussed the challenges of integrating various systems within the hotel industry, emphasizing the importance of seamless integration to meet the needs of the business.
The conversation explores Strawberry's recent tech initiatives, including migrating their PMS to the cloud, adopting a new spa software, piloting a housekeeping software, and implementing a new point of sale system. Sven provided insights into the process of transitioning from legacy systems to modern solutions, such as Mews for PMS and Event Temple for meeting and events management.
The discussion also touched on the importance of leadership buy-in and change management during system migrations, with Sven emphasizing the role of hotel managers in driving successful technology adoption. He shared details about the team structure at Strawberry, highlighting the collaboration between different departments to ensure smooth transitions and effective utilization of new technologies.
Sven shed light on the evaluation process for new software solutions, emphasizing the importance of user feedback, partnership with vendors, and alignment with business goals. He discussed the pilot programs for new systems like Flexkeeping for housekeeping and the meticulous planning involved in rolling out these solutions across multiple properties.
The conversation also touched on the evolving guest experience at Strawberry hotels, with a focus on leveraging technology to enhance the guest journey. Sven shared insights into the data warehouse project at Strawberry, highlighting the challenges and benefits of centralizing data from over 100 software tools.
As the episode concluded, Sven shared his contrarian view on hotel technology, emphasizing the underestimated potential of modern tech stacks in driving operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. The episode provided valuable insights into the complexities of hotel technology management and the strategic initiatives driving innovation at Strawberry.
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