Best Western Plus Windjammer Inn: Managed IT for a Vermont Hotel and Restaurant

The Best Western Plus Windjammer Inn & Conference Center in South Burlington, Vermont, is a hotel, conference center, and restaurant that never closes. Its servers were outdated with no failover, and staff were left coordinating a long list of technology vendors because the previous IT provider was not owning problems. The Windjammer brought in simpleroute, a managed IT firm in Colchester, to run IT for the hotel and the restaurant as one environment. simpleroute became the single point of contact for every technology vendor, replaced the servers with new hardware and a failover setup, and runs the regular vulnerability scans and penetration testing behind the hotel’s PCI DSS work. Any employee can call and reach a technician, 24/7.

The hotel sits close to Burlington International Airport and downtown Burlington. Guests have an indoor heated saltwater pool, a cocktail lounge, complimentary breakfast, and meeting and banquet space. The Windjammer Restaurant, a Burlington institution for over 35 years, is part of the same property. The locally owned and operated steak and seafood restaurant is known for its salad bar and specialty cocktails, and it serves hotel guests and locals alike.

What IT problems was the Windjammer facing?

Before simpleroute, the Windjammer’s technology was spread across many vendors, and no one owned the whole picture:

• Many systems, many vendors: The hotel and restaurant run on a property management system (PMS), restaurant point of sale (POS), key card door locks, Wi-Fi, phones, and online reservations. Each has its own vendor, and the hotel and restaurant systems have to talk to each other. The previous IT provider was not taking ownership of how it all fit together.
• Support that only reacted: The previous provider fixed problems after they happened instead of preventing them. It also left hotel staff to work through technical issues and coordinate between vendors on their own. No one fully understood the systems or the processes behind them.
• Old servers with no failover: The hotel’s servers were outdated and had no failover. One server outage could stop daily operations, cause booking problems, lose data, and affect guests.
• A business that never closes: As a 24/7 operation, the Windjammer needed fast support at any hour, on any day.
• Payment card security: The hotel and restaurant take guest payment cards, so the systems that handle them have to meet PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements. With this many systems in play, keeping that work current was hard.

The Windjammer needed one IT firm that would own the whole environment, manage the vendors, and keep the payment systems maintained.

Why did the Windjammer choose simpleroute?

The Windjammer wanted one IT firm to own its technology, deal with its vendors, and plan ahead. simpleroute is local, responds quickly, and has worked with hotel and restaurant systems before.

Fast support was a major draw, with technicians who come on site when they are needed. Any employee can call and reach a knowledgeable technician, so issues get handled right away with as little disruption to the hotel as possible.

“We are a 365, 24/7 business,” explains Armando Vilaseca, General Manager of the Best Western Plus Windjammer Inn & Conference Center. “In my role, having the trust that we have the support regardless of the date or time is a huge stress reliever on my side because we know that we have the support if something were to go wrong.”

The Windjammer also wanted help planning ahead. simpleroute’s virtual CIO (vCIO) works with the hotel’s leadership on their business goals and recommends what the technology should look like next, with security and PCI DSS requirements built into that plan.

What did simpleroute do for the Windjammer?

simpleroute took over IT for the hotel and the restaurant as one environment:

• Vendor management: simpleroute manages all of the Windjammer’s technology vendors, including the restaurant POS. We are the single point of contact, so hotel and restaurant staff no longer chase vendors. We find and fix issues, often working directly with the vendors to resolve them without pulling in hotel staff. We also consolidated services to simplify the hotel’s processes.
• New servers with failover: We replaced the hotel’s servers with modern hardware and set up server failover, so a server outage has far less impact on operations and guest services.
• Maintenance and updates: simpleroute runs regular audits and keeps hardware and software up to date, so problems are caught before they reach guests.
• Payment card security: simpleroute runs regular vulnerability scans and penetration testing to find security gaps, then works with the Windjammer to fix what they turn up. We help keep the payment systems separated from the rest of the network and maintained in line with PCI DSS requirements. The Windjammer remains responsible for its own PCI compliance.
• Support at any hour: Staff call and reach a technician. When a problem needs hands on site, a technician is dispatched after remote troubleshooting.

What were the results for the Windjammer?

The Windjammer’s staff now spend their time on guests instead of on IT:

• One point of contact for every technology vendor, including the restaurant POS
• Hotel and restaurant systems supported as one environment
• New servers with failover in place
• Regular audits, updates, vulnerability scans, and penetration testing
• Payment systems kept separate and maintained in line with PCI DSS requirements
• Any employee can reach a technician, 24/7
• A vCIO planning technology with the hotel’s leadership

How does simpleroute support a hotel with a restaurant?

A hotel with a restaurant runs a lot of systems that never get a day off: property management, point of sale, door locks, phones, Wi-Fi, and reservations. At the Windjammer, simpleroute owns all of it as one environment. We work the vendors to a fix instead of handing problems back to staff, keep the servers and software current, and run the security testing behind the hotel’s PCI DSS work. That lets the Windjammer focus on its guests, with IT in the background instead of in the way.

What is simpleroute responsible for at the Windjammer?

The hotel and the restaurant as one environment. That covers the property management system, door locks, phones, point of sale, Wi-Fi, and servers, plus network segmentation and the security testing behind PCI DSS. simpleroute is the desk those vendors come through, so staff are not stuck between them.

How does support work if the hotel never closes?

Employees can call and reach a technician at any hour. When a problem needs someone on site, a technician is dispatched once remote troubleshooting is done, not instead of it.

How does PCI fit?

simpleroute helps keep the payment systems separated from the rest of the network and maintained in line with PCI DSS requirements. That separation reduces how much of the environment is in scope for PCI DSS. Regular audits, vulnerability scans, and penetration testing turn up gaps, and simpleroute handles remediation for the hotel when it is needed. The Windjammer remains responsible for its own PCI compliance.