Optimizing Email Infrastructure for a More Hospitable Customer Experience

by Rackspace Technology Staff

Two guests checking at the front desk of a hotel by entering in their info on a tablet

 

Looking only at technology, how do you boost revenue and customer satisfaction in a unique IT industry sector?

Hospitality is a $133 billion annual industry in the United States. IT services and management in hospitality differ from many traditional IT models. In addition to typical daily operations, hospitality IT brings many additional challenges related to guest engagement and services.

The way a property communicates and responds when troubleshooting, for example, is handled differently than in other industries. By investing in technology applications at touchpoints throughout the customer journey, hoteliers have the opportunity to increase revenue and increase guest retention.

So, when five-star, California resort Rancho Valencia needed to improve their communications and troubleshooting, they turned to Rackspace Technology®.

 

Optimizing Guest Relations

Rancho Valencia is a Forbes Travel Guide five-star resort and spa on 45 acres north of San Diego. Founded in 2001, the privately held company employs 350 people and has annual sales of $25 million.

Keeping the organization’s emails and, more importantly, resort guest emails running smoothly is high on the list of primary responsibilities for the resort’s small IT staff.

Management needed a solution when the resort’s local Microsoft® Exchange server became too limited to meet their email needs.

The resort sought the help of Rackspace experts to migrate its email server from on-premises to Office 365 to strengthen customer service standards, streamline infrastructure and further integrate Microsoft® 365™ into day-to-day operations.

The resort wanted to get the most out of its environment to optimize revenue and customer satisfaction. According to Omid Arjomand, InfoTech Director, Rancho Valencia, Rancho Valencia was referred to Rackspace Technology primarily because of the availability of support.

“When it comes to maintaining our email platform, we needed to be able to handle guest-related issues more efficiently and with less anxiety,” Arjomand said. “The Rackspace Technology team took the time to understand our existing email environment and provided a plan for migrating our email server from on-prem to Office 365.”

 

30% Performance Boost

Rancho Valencia also relied on Rackspace Technology to help it take advantage of the many Office 365 tools at its disposal that management had yet to implement.

With our help, Rancho Valencia was able to reduce costs, improve performance and strengthen security while providing guests with a five-star digital experience.

The upgraded Rancho Valencia email platform has given users a 30% faster and more secure experience than before.

“The team took the time to understand our existing email environment, provide a plan and timeline for migrating our email server from on-prem to Rackspace exchange, and then to Office 365,” said Omid Arjomand, InfoTech Director, Rancho Valencia.

Where email had been a source of concern in the past, Rancho Valencia and Rackspace Technology worked together to configure and migrate the legacy email to the M365 environment.

The resort is also taking fuller advantage of Office 365 applications since the new email platform is now in the same Office 365 ecosystem with applications.

 

Solving Together™

Rancho Valencia leveraged the Microsoft 365 environment and platform by taking full advantage of the Microsoft 365 ecosystem combined with Rackspace Technology applications and tools. The improved platform saves money and frees up resources for app development. Stability, security, and the ease of addressing compliance all increased.

The dedication of our support team is ensuring the resort’s email environment is consistent, available and fast. Management also cited the promptness and reliability to effectively resolve tickets as a plus working together with Rackspace Technology.

“Working with Rackspace Technology team produced organized, transparent and clear direct communication. It was a worry-free transition,” said Arjomand. “The Rackspace team went above and beyond our expectations when it comes to customer service and professionalism, which we really appreciated. You can count on the Rackspace Technology team to deliver on their word.”

There’s never been a better time to achieve more with Microsoft 365. You can improve productivity and reduce your IT burden with innovative Office applications, intelligent cloud services and world-class security for your business.

Here’s how we can get you up and running:

  1. Our Microsoft Certified Professionals will configure and manage your solution to help you get the most out of your investment.
  2. Our advisors can help you identify the appropriate Office 365 or Microsoft 365 licenses for your business needs.
  3. Simplify administrative tasks using a premium admin portal designed for easy and efficient management.
  4. Get 24x7x365 access to award-winning support with unlimited requests and no per-incident charges.

Since 2001, Rackspace Technology and Microsoft have worked together to cultivate a global relationship focused on helping businesses make the most of Microsoft technologies. Learn more about how we can transform your business with Office 365.

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