Will Berrey, Sr. Director of Product Management, iHospitality, IBS Software
Innovation is at the core of IBS Software and fundamental to our vision and mission. In this blog series, we hear from colleagues on how they personally engage with the topic of innovation.
What does innovation mean to you?
It's grasping onto the unseen or unacknowledgedopportunity, shifting the focus from problems and solutions.
Where's the biggest opportunity for innovation in the travel industry?
Hospitality is the most personal part of the travel experience – it's where you make your home for a day, a week, or a month. It has the greatest scope for personalization, online and onsite.
This hasn't materialized to date; most hotels are selling consistency instead of a bespoke hotel product.
How do you approach innovation in your team?
Working with our skilled engineering teams to use the power of technology to create unique experiences for guests and hotel operators.
Innovation exists at the shore of necessity (what our partners need) and capability (what tech can do).
It's matching those needs with our extraordinary capabilities.
How is the company supporting you in being innovative?
It's about empowerment. My manager and the executive team enable me to create a direction for best-in-class solutions, even when the ideas are new and untested. Resources are applied consistently; I have what I need to drive success through unchartered waters.
It's a rare and precious opportunity.
How is the company taking innovation ideas forward?
It's a great innovation engine; we collect ideas from our partners, customers, employees at every level, and from the market. We cultivate those ideas, deploying our technological assets to create solutions that set the benchmark others in the industry will follow.