McLean Xavier is vice president of information technology at InnVest Hotels, the largest owner and operator of hotels in Canada. The company’s portfolio includes more than 80 properties, ranging from small roadside inns to luxury urban hotels. He joined InnVest in early 2019 after serving as director of information technology at Westmont Hospitality Group and controller at Chartwell Hotels. For the past three years, he has served on the Hospitality Financial and Technology Professional’s (HFTP) HITEC North America Advisory Council.

Xavier always takes a long-term approach to challenges. “Taking a short-term view means you’ll just be facing the same issuesin future years,” he said. One of his initiatives at InnVest has been to move many of the company’s solutions to the cloud. “It makes no sense to stay on premise; cloud options provide the adaptivity and agility needed in our constantly changing environment.”

His most recent project, which took place during the pandemic, was to migrate more than 80 percent of hotel phone PSTN services to the cloud. Hosted PBX solutions are now being deployed as phone services come due for replacement. He also migrated corporate office systems to hosted environments, which not only enabled an easy transition to remote and hybrid work but also increased team collaboration.

Additionally, Xavier has tackled cybersecurity. To complement InnVest’s IT staff, he partners with companies that specialize in risk management, incident response and systems monitoring. “It’s an ongoing process,” he said, noting that staff education is critical. “With the right training, employees can detect and mitigate problems quickly and easily.”

Another major initiative spearheaded by Xavier was the building of a data science discipline mindset among his peers at InnVest Hotels. “Data can be a competitive advantage, and I want to make sure our decisions are based on data and the use of science,” he said. In the past, the company looked at data merely from a reporting perspective; now, it is investing in a framework that enables managers to operate in a predictive analysis space.

Finally, Xavier is looking at automation as a way to augment hotel staff and is testing robotics at one of the company’s Toronto properties. “The industry is facing a major challenge around labor availability, and we think robotics can help,” he said, particularly with repetitive and highly manual tasks. “Automation frees employees from tedious tasks and allows them to address guest needs more readily. At the end of the day, our mission is to enhance the guest experience and we should adopt the best available tools that help us reach that goal.”

McLEAN’S BEST:

• Family: Wife, two daughters and a brother-in-law in Canada, as well as a large extended family in the Caribbean, the United States and Europe.
• Hobbies: Golf. “My wife, brother-in-law and I are out every weekend from May through November. It’s wonderful to share this hobby with my spouse.”
• Go-To Periodical or Website: Technology newsfeeds. “I spend about two hours every day getting updates on what’s going on in the world of technology.”
• Book: Bright Spots by John Greene. “It’s a thought-provoking book about not giving up, even when you’re facing terrible hardships.”
• Music: Pop, R&B, rock and Caribbean Soca. “My playlist is quite diverse.”
• Travel Destination: Paris. “The food, history and culture are wonderful.”
• Advice to Young People: “Always take a long-term view, whether you’re looking at something personal or business related. When you take a short-term view, you’re in a reactionary mode and you won’t achieve your best result.”
• Dinner With: "My maternal grandmother. I never met her, and I would love to have even five minutes to talk with her."