Cloud5 Communications has launched a new vendor-management solution, leveraging Cloud5's Project Management Office to help properties:
- Streamline, centralize and manage multivendor projects, keeping them on time, on budget and within scope. It can be applied to bespoke on-property projects as well as repeatable multiproperty initiatives across a range of activities from IT investments to property renovations and development.
- Manage the full life cycle of vendor relationships—from contract negotiations and day-to-day management to issue escalation and resolution. Cloud5’s PMO serves as a single resource for all vendor interactions.
This approach to vendor management is based on feedback from Cloud5’s clients and partners as well as ongoing macro trends impacting the industry, according to the company.
“As staffing shortages continue to impact hospitality, and open positions are increasingly filled by workers that have little prior experience in the industry, we’re finding that many properties lack the internal expertise and resources to effectively manage projects,” Cloud5 President and CEO Mark Holzberg said in a statement. “Our vendor management solution can reduce this friction, helping hotels and hotel management companies operate more efficiently and pursue transformational initiatives that keep them relevant, fresh and compliant with brand standards, while reducing the burden on their workforce and mitigating labor costs.”
The project management team at Cloud5 has developed consistent processes to standardize and scale initiatives. The company’s team of project managers leverages built-in failsafes and redundant checks to ensure that all project details have the necessary attention and emphasis. Additionally, it uses proprietary documents and Smartsheets to track and record all project details, so it can provide customized dashboards that empower stakeholders to review where a project stands within the lifecycle.
Earlier this year, Cloud5’s PMO delivered its first major vendor management project with long-time partner, Highgate.
“Cloud5’s PMO team helped us integrate a new company and its disparate technologies and systems into our existing portfolio,” said Richard Tudgay, chief technology officer at Highgate. “As a long-time client of Cloud5, Highgate has successfully engaged with the Cloud5 PMO team on network installations for many years, so when we found ourselves needing project management expertise, we knew where to turn.”