Systems Associates, Inc. Update for Summer 2020

“Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore ...”

I suppose many of us in hospitality feel a bit like that lately. For those of us who were around during 9/11, it's an eerily familiar feeling, but the impact of the current disruption we're experiencing is of an unprecedented magnitude. And to be sure, much of the change we're now experiencing in how we do business isn't going away soon, if at all. However, like so many challenges our industry has faced in the past, we'll get through this.

At SAI, we decided the best thing we could do is to anticipate and prepare for the “new normal” of our market. For our employees, that means working remotely, where possible, and restructuring our onboarding and support processes to the virtual realm. With that comes the need to audit progress. We've spent many weeks creating new processes and implementing new technologies that will allow our customers to engage with us completely and safely via virtual channels.

We've also created new product features that help our customers implement PPE requirements, disinfectant protocols, and added inspections along with data mining tools that create accountability and compliance visibility both within and above properties. In some cases, processes haven't been added but removed, reduced, or revised due to COVID-19. One example is how, how often, and when hotel rooms are cleaned. Housekeeping has the greatest burden when it comes to this pandemic as their daily routines are changing dramatically. In some situations, guestrooms no longer get daily service unless requested by the guest. In others, a checkout service is delayed for several days to reduce the risk of exposure to surface contaminants for employees. In all circumstances, PPE is required and housekeepers no longer simply clean rooms, but must also disinfect them.

The final project we've implemented in the past few weeks is a certification program to help introduce or refamiliarize our products to properties as they begin to reopen. No doubt there will be significant turnover – much more than usual – and we developed our program to make help uses master our software basics in a self-paced environment without the high cost of traditional training.

None of us welcomes this crisis, but it is here, and we must deal with it. For our part, we decided to take inventory of the situation and find ways to continue to help our partner properties maximize their operational efficiency while helping ensure the safety of the hotel and everyone within it. That is our mission, and, although circumstances have changed, our mission has not. We live to serve.

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