If you are concerned about ITSM implementation but unsure about which framework is best between COBIT vs ITIL, we will help you compare these two top IT governance frameworks for the enterprise by diving into the basics and going through their pros and cons. Before that, let’s briefly learn about these two frameworks.
What is COBIT
COBIT, or Control Objectives for Information and Related Technology, is an IT governance framework that aids businesses in developing, managing, and implementing their IT strategies. Introduced in 1996, COBIT comes with the means that enterprises use to manage their governance in an orderly manner and minimize various business risks. It has all the resources needed to create, monitor, and manage its implementation while decreasing costs and establishing privacy standards. COBIT ensures the quality and reliability of information systems, which is important for any organization today.
What is ITIL
ITIL — short for Information Technology Infrastructure Library — is a series of processes aiming at organizing a company’s IT services across the entire lifecycle. Created by AXELOS, ITIL provides a collection of interconnected best practices offering guidance in building, delivering, and organizing enterprise IT services. ITIL helps in mirroring and managing IT configuration components in a centralized knowledge base. With ITIL, the enterprises can organize their IT services and achieve continuously high operational efficiency while reducing costs and improving decision making.
COBIT Basics
The COBIT framework defines a series of management processes for IT where every process is defined with process inputs and outputs, objectives, performance measures, and a fundamental maturity model. It is the only business framework that incorporates a well thought-out approach to organizational governance and offers globally accepted practices and tools to help increase the value extracted from information systems.
Following are the five core components that will help you understand the basics of COBIT thoroughly:
Framework. The main framework of COBIT guides the enterprises through best practices for IT processes and infrastructure. The objective is to align IT with overall business objectives and help stakeholders understand them better.
Process Descriptions. COBIT uses an intelligible vocabulary to describe processes, enabling a company to establish a clear communication between employees in the IT and employees in other departments.
Control Objectives. This component provides an overview of high-level requirements that can help build and improve all IT processes, allowing businesses to adapt them to their own requirements.
Management Guidelines. COBIT provides best practices for creating objectives, processes, and responsibilities across a company. It also offers guidance on performance measurement and integration with other IT frameworks.
Maturity Models. COBIT maturity models aid businesses in determining the maturity of their company, understanding process growth, and identifying potential issues that might arise in the future.
To have an in-depth understanding of COBIT, see the following slideshow:
COBIT follows a lifecycle approach that offers a way for organizations to utilize the COBIT framework to tackle the challenges that usually arise during different implementations. There are seven phases of COBIT implementation ensuring that the implementation goes smoothly:
Following are the phases of COBIT Implementation:
Analyze drivers of change. This phase begins with the analysis and identification of current pain points, risk scenarios, and triggers to enable the transition to a more efficient organization. The main requirement is to recognize the changes required within the organization, root causes, and success factors.
Determine where the company stands. This phase is focused on determining the implementation scope with the help of COBIT’s mapping of enterprise goals alongside IT-related goals.
Decide where the company has to be. In this phase, a target is set followed by the comprehensive COBIT analysis that helps recognize the gaps and potential solutions in different phases. Some solutions offer win-win situations while others might be more challenging.
Identify the factors that need to be improved. This phase involves planning practical solutions by determining projects supported by real-time business cases to bring about changes in the company.
Formulate plans and visualize them. In this phase, the business plans are formulated according to business objectives and major metrics.
Evaluate results. This phase involves assessing the outcomes and operations of the business plan implemented to drive the transformation by closely checking the success with expected benefits from the plan.
Sustaining momentum. In this phase, the whole progress and overall success are reviewed, further requirements for enterprise management are identified, and the need for constant improvement is reinforced.
ITIL Basics
ITIL is the most extensively used IT service management framework that directs an enterprise and its employees to use available IT services to enable the business change and development. The objective is to enhance performance and efficiency and accomplish certain levels of service. Today, it is used for addressing new service management challenges and unlocking the potential of modern technology in the era of cloud transformation.
Watch the video that explains the basics of ITIL framework:
The ITIL framework utilizes major performance indicators to evaluate the IT department’s performance, outline further stages of its development, identify issues, and improve its level of service. Its framework is built around the service lifecycle. ITIL that gives companies a number of time-tested practice models for the provision of quality IT services. The ITIL framework consists of five parts:
Create high-end software solutions for your company with Intellectsoft
Service Strategy — understanding customer requirements, ensuring continuous improvement of IT operations.
Service Design – services offered by the IT department that support the enterprise
Service Transition – moving from the development phase to the operational phase
Service Operations – ensuring that IT services are delivered according to service level requirements
Continuous Service Improvement – identifying and implementing the means that help to offer better service
ITIL Diagram (Service Lifecycle)
Here is the ITIL diagram explaining the subcategories of the aforementioned components, classifying them as a process or function:
ITIL Methodologies
The ITIL methodology is closely associated with the concept of IT control, defining access hierarchy, responsibilities, and decision making, as well as high customer satisfaction to help a company accomplish its organizational goals. To better serve its goals, ITIL methodology is divided into two main classes of activity in service management processes:
Service Delivery
The goal is to make the organization’s current services better and focus on the analysis and planning of the responses for future service requirements, including the following:
Capacity management
Availability management
Financial management
Service continuity management
Service levels management
Support Services
This class focuses on day-to-day business activities, ensuring that current services are maintained. It includes the following processes:
Incident management
Configuration management
Version management
Change management
Service desk
Take a closer look at the ITIL Methodologies with the following slideshow to gain a deeper understanding of the framework:
Both COBIT vs ITIL are popular choices, but there are some major differences between them. Let’s discuss them below.
Pros and Cons of COBIT
Pros:
Risk Minimization. COBIT is a time-tested framework comes that helps companies to reduce service and infrastructure risks.
Environment Regulation. The increasing effect of technology on people’s daily lives throughout the world has influenced the role of regulation. The latest version of COBIT framework allows proper compliance and makes it much easier for the company to show that it fulfilled the requirements.
Size Independence. With the help of its tools and techniques, COBIT principles improve efficiency and effectiveness. It is applicable in every industry and regardless of business size or growth trajectory.
Efficiency and Productivity. COBIT models and principles are internationally recognized. It helps in addressing stakeholders concerns, defining their roles, achieving strategic goals, and realizing business benefits, thus resulting in enhanced productivity and efficiency in the organization.
Governance. The key benefit of COBIT is implementing an IT governance standard across the enterprise. It ensures that risks associated with IT are mitigated and effective controls are put in place to ensure that all processes are monitored.
Cons:
Not easy to Implement. Many organizations avoid implementing COBIT as it needs a lot of skills and knowledge to be used as a tool to offer IT governance support or assess IT department performance in an organization.
Experienced Analyst Required.The maturity model offers a generic analysis of any given situation; thus, it needs a seasoned analyst to conduct a credible maturity assessment of an IT organization.
Lack of Specifications for Connections. The framework lacks specifications related to its connections between the benefits of the activity and how it is shown in the featured maturity model.
Limitations and Benefits of ITIL
Benefits:
Cost Transparency. By creating metric-based strategies, ITIL helps the organization with budgeting and accounting requirements. The processes established by the ITIL framework allow companies to closely check the costs based on detailed metrics and make difficult cost-cutting decisions.
Better Risk Management. If an enterprise uses ITIL for cost optimization, there is still a need to account for risk factors. Risk management activities come in multiple processes which should be carried out to identify, prioritize, and organize service improvements.
Aligns Business and IT. While ITIL does not help create business strategies, it supports them. ITIL is compatible with business goals and helps to run an IT department as if it is a service provider. It makes IT operations a major part of the business.
Improved Quality of Service. ITIL implementation gives an enterprise every possible damage control measure. It enables employees to understand what should be done and keeps track of every procedure that should be followed. This ultimately improves the quality of service offered by the organization.
Frameworks Integration. ITIL can be smoothly integrated with third-party project management systems to optimize different workflows and improve coordination between different departments.
Limitations:
Extensive Training Required. Implementation of ITIL is a lengthy process that requires extensive training across departments.
Disrupts the Current State of Enterprise. Though ITIL has a number of processes for risk management, the imposing of changes on the enterprise can be disruptive.
Expensive. Implementing ITIL is costly on every level.
For the head-to-head ITIL vs COBIT comparison, watch the following video:
When it comes to ITIL vs COBIT, it is clear that both of these frameworks focus on a single objective: to make IT efficient and stable. Both frameworks have a long list of pros and a number of substantial benefits. If you are confused when it comes to making a choice between COBIT and ITIL, consider going with ITIL in the primary stage of your ITSM implementation. Meanwhile, COBIT is the best choice for large, established enterprises.
The hospitality industry depends a lot on keeping customers happy, but it’s getting harder to attract and keep them. The pandemic hit this industry hard, and now market competition is tougher than ever, with competitive offerings swaying customers. Hospitality businesses are willing to spend big to win customers back. The main questions for many are: how can we stay ahead of the competition, keep our customers, and increase revenue? Keep reading—we’ve got some answers.
Customers today have so many options that getting their attention is a real challenge. It’s not easy to make them choose your business over others. What worked 10 years ago doesn’t work the same way now. Back then, people often chose businesses based on reputation. But with new types of businesses (boutique hotels, craft cafes) popping up or big enterprises getting a new strategy, expectations have changed. The good news is these businesses have shown what works: great customer service. They focus on personalizing the experience, making things easy for customers, offering loyalty programs, and using smart technology.
In this article, we’ll explore these tech strategies and show you how they can help your business grow, and double the revenue. Keep reading to learn more!
The Importance of Customer Satisfaction in the Hospitality Industry
Customer satisfaction, which equals exceptional customer experience, is the backbone of the hospitality industry. It plays a central role in driving revenue and loyalty, as satisfied customers are more likely to return and recommend a hotel, restaurant, or other hospitality business to others. In fact, a study by the Harvard Business Review found that a 1% increase in customer satisfaction can lead to a 0.5% increase in revenue. Moreover, loyal customers are more likely to forgive mistakes and continue doing business with a company, even if they experience a negative encounter.
Let's quickly review the challenges the hospitality industry is facing right now so we can move on to the solutions and our case studies.
Challenges in Hospitality
As businesses navigate the changes in the hospitality industry, there are some key areas where a little improvement can go a long way. From improving customer service to embracing digital transformation and tackling labor shortages, we’ll take a closer look at today’s biggest challenges—and, more importantly, how technology can step in to help. Let’s get started!
Poor Customer Service
Even with strong and high-quality business offerings, poor customer service can drive potential customers and existing customers away. Common issues include:
Long wait times in customer service queues (it is worth remembering that our attention spans 8 seconds, and we live in a very busy world, so quick and efficient responses are more important than ever.)
Poorly trained customer service representatives
Lack of follow-up
Services not being done properly or quickly
Recall issues that require multiple service calls
These problems can frustrate customers. But, at Intellectsoft, we believe that the right approach, combined with technology, can address them effectively.
Digital Transformation Gaps
Approximately 50% of hotels are adopting new technologies, with 43% automating repetitive tasks and 39% upgrading existing systems. Source: workstaff.app
While many businesses are adopting digital solutions, some still struggle with outdated systems and fragmented data. Legacy companies often face chaos when trying to manage their data and create new systems or add features.
Some of the recent examples include clients coming to us to create AI solutions for their services while their data simply was not ready for the advanced tasks. We advise stepping back, communicating with a company objective, and working on keeping the data clean (centralized, structured, and segmented).
When we’re asked to create advanced systems using AI, we always emphasize the importance of organized data. To train AI and build such complicated systems that truly work, you need to start from the very beginning—collecting, storing, centralizing, and organizing it. We encourage our clients to align all departments to work internally on the data so we can create a unified digital system that delivers personalized experiences.
If you’re unsure where to start with your data, we can help. Collecting feedback at various touchpoints along the customer journey is crucial for gaining insights into customer satisfaction and loyalty. Book an IT consultation with us, and our experts will guide you in mapping out a path to get more from your data and build a system that works for your business and team.
Reskilling Staff
The pandemic hit hard in early 2020, especially for the hospitality and travel industries. Even five years later, many businesses are still feeling the impact. Recruiting and retaining skilled staff has become a major challenge post-pandemic.
Reskilling to address technology’s impact is of utmost importance, as about 40% of hotel General Managers place it among their top three workforce challenges.
We strongly believe that adopting the right technology can help. For example, creating an app to train your staff not only saves time but also ensures consistency in learning. AI assistants can also work alongside your team, helping with tasks like recruitment (providing industry insights, crafting emails) and staff training. Imagine having an app dedicated to making your team’s work easier and more efficient!
How Technology Tackles These Challenges and Supports a Customer-Centric Hospitality Culture
Automation, AI, and similar technologies may threaten many. However, the debate about replacing humans isn’t about that—it’s about cooperation and working hand in hand with technology to achieve the highest standards and establish brand-new “golden standards.” Technology is here to assist staff in listening to and collecting customer insights from data.
Let’s review some of our cases to see examples of how technology helps improve customer experience and supports customer service.
Examples of Intellectsoft projects
Property management systems (PMS)
We created a web platform and mobile app that makes managing daily tasks easier and offers extra services to improve residents’ experience. It gives a clear overview of daily activities and helps with managing units and users. Residents can easily book amenities, submit service requests, and report incidents. The platform also includes features for equipment management, key instructions, workflows, and custom permissions. This makes it easier for staff to stay on top of equipment and ensure residents have all the information they need. Plus, tools like announcements, quick votes, a forum, and a community calendar help build a connected and engaged community.
Guest Experience Management App
Our next app helped our client improve their guest experience by replacing printed marketing materials and the need for phone calls with a smart solution. Now, guests can easily order in-room dining, make reservations, and interact with staff— through a simple tablet in their room. The solution includes three parts: a custom in-room tablet with a variety of services, an admin panel for hotel staff and service providers, and a backend system that connects everything together. This approach makes things easier for guests and staff, improving both convenience and efficiency.
Existing Customers First: Building Loyalty with Personalized Touchpoints
Keeping existing customers is not just a strategy; it’s well-known that retaining existing customers is more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. In fact, research shows that it costs five times more to acquire a new customer than to retain an existing one. KPMG named customer retention as the number one revenue driver for the company.
Moreover, a 5% increase in customer retention can lead to a 25% to 95% increase in profits, showing the significant impact loyal customers can have on a business’s bottom line. Retention strategies, like personalized experiences and loyalty programs, can foster long-term relationships and generate recurring revenue, ultimately making them an invaluable part of any business model.
Personalization: How Technology Can Help?
Everyone loves to feel special—it’s part of being human. In hospitality, personalization has evolved from being a luxury to an essential standard. With the right technology to manage your data effectively, you can deliver those “wow” moments that guests won’t forget.
More than half of hotel chains are already using personalization features on their websites, booking platforms, and apps, and another 39% are planning to follow suit soon. They’re tailoring experiences to fit guest preferences perfectly.
Source: Deloitte
How does technology make it happen?
CRM Systems: They help you keep track of guest preferences, booking history, and special requests so you can offer services tailored just for them.
Loyalty Programs: Personalized rewards and offers show your guests that you value them, keeping them coming back for more.
AI Personalization: AI analyzes guest data to predict what they’ll love (from room upgrades to local recommendations) before they even ask.
IoT Gadgets: Smart room features like voice-activated assistants, or temperature controls adjust to your guests’ preferences, making their stay more comfortable.
With tech-powered personalization, you’re building loyalty and maximizing the lifetime value of every customer.
Our Case Study: Smart Hotel Management & Loyalty Program
For one of our clients, we created a smart room solution, complete with a custom IoT system. Guests can use a mobile app to control services, explore amenities, and find resort information-- with a special touch to their suite type. For the client’s entertainment business, we improved their legacy software by running a full IT and code check, fixing issues, and making the system better for customers.
Along with that, we developed a mobile app for the loyalty program, allowing businesses to effortlessly reward their customers and keep them engaged with exclusive benefits.
Our solutions not only helped the client with special experiences for guests; it also improved operations, cutting costs by eliminating inefficiencies. Here's what our experts shared:
"We transitioned away from ESB (Enterprise Service Bus) systems, which previously cost millions, and replaced them with more efficient, self-managed solutions. Similarly, we’ve implemented Device Farms that improved operations and saved resources."
Leveraging Software to Increase Upsell Opportunities
Here are some examples of tech tactics that will help your team sell more and introduce new offerings to existing customers, improve overall efficiency leaving your team grateful:
Dynamic Pricing Algorithms
For finance and marketing teams, manually calculating pricing by segment to introduce your clients can be incredibly challenging. AI-powered tools can strongly optimize these strategies by analyzing your database in detail.
Upselling via Apps
Boosting revenue in the hospitality business often comes down to personalized experiences. Imagine this: a guest books a room, and then your app suggests a spa package or a room upgrade at just the right moment. Later, it nudges them to book a dinner reservation or a guided tour designed to their preferences. With apps offering these personalized recommendations during and after bookings, you’re not just increasing your revenue per guest but also skyrocketing their experience. And you do it in a sustainable way, not by speculating, but by offering what your customers desire based on their previous experiences. It’s a win-win: seamless, helpful, and far from pushy.
Inventory and Resource Management Software
Making every resource count in your hospitality business is key. Inventory and resource management software allows you to effortlessly track everything from linens to room availability, ensuring nothing goes to waste. Having real-time insights to reduce overstock, avoid shortages, and optimize operations assists sustainably keep everything under control and know what you need to focus more. It helps maximize room occupancy by aligning bookings with available resources, ensuring every room and item is used effectively. This approach leads to smarter management, better guest experiences, and a noticeable boost to your bottom line.
Adopting these strategies not only optimizes your operations but also drives business growth. Ready to discover how technology can elevate your goals? We’re here to create a tailored solution for you.
Steps For Implementing a Customer Service Technology Solution
Improving customer service in hospitality doesn’t have to be a daunting task. With the right technology, you can smooth the path of your operations, speed up response times, and elevate the overall guest experience. Here’s where you can make it happen:
1. Understand Your Needs
Start by identifying the challenges your business is facing. Are you struggling to manage high volumes of inquiries, track customer feedback, or personalize the guest experience? Pinpointing your needs will guide you to the best solutions.
2. Pick the Right Tools
Choose technology that aligns with your goals. Look for solutions that are scalable, easy to use, and integrate effortlessly with your current systems. Options like CRM software, live chat tools, or a guest experience app can make a difference.
3. Equip Your Team
Technology is only as effective as the people using it. Train your staff to make the most of the new tools, so they can deliver exceptional service and resolve issues quickly. Confident, well-equipped staff creates happy, loyal customers.
4. Keep Improving
Once implemented, monitor how well the solution works. Are response times improving? Are customers more satisfied? Regular evaluations will help you fine-tune your approach and keep things running harmoniously.
Some Tech Ideas for Hospitality Businesses
CRM Software: Manage customer interactions and preferences.
Guest Experience Apps: Delight guests with personalized experiences right at their fingertips.
Amenity Management Systems: Simplify operations for everything from room service to facility bookings.
Live Chat Tools: Offer instant support and answers.
Social Media Management Tools: Keep customer interactions engaging and organized.
Integrating these strategies will not only improve your customer service but also deliver unforgettable customer satisfaction, loyalty, and, ultimately, your bottom line. Ready to take the next step? Book a consultation with our experts.
Conclusion
To wrap up everything we've discussed, customer satisfaction and experience are at the heart of hospitality. Retaining customers is more than just keeping them around—building strong, long-lasting relationships and consistently meeting their evolving needs. By understanding their pain points and offering personalized solutions, you can inspire loyalty and drive progress. With the right technology and continuous improvement, your business can stay ahead, let go of what no longer serves you, and keep growing.
At Intellectsoft, with over 17 years of experience in software development, our expert team is ready to help. We create everything from mobile apps to full-fledged portals and systems, leveraging the latest technologies like AI, Cloud, and Machine Learning. With deep experience in the hospitality industry, we’re here to craft personalized solutions that bring your business unforgettable customer experience and retain your valuable clients.
Ready to double your revenue and level up your customer retention strategy with personalized technology? Contact our experts, and we look forward to working hand in hand with you to build or revitalize the perfect app or system for you.
We have sent an email to acknowledge receipt of your request. In the event that you have not received our email, we kindly suggest checking your spam folder or alternatively, contacting us directly at info@intellectsoft.net
We will send a short email notifying you that we successfully received your request and started working on it.
Our solution advisor analyzes your requirements and will reach back to you within 3 business days.
We may sign an optional mutual NDA within 1-2 business days to make sure you get the highest confidentiality level.
Our business development manager presents you an initial project estimation, ballpark figures, or our project recommendations within approximately 3-5 days.
Request a Free Quote
4.9
Our rating on Clutch
5
Our rating on Business of Apps
We have offices in:
San FranciscoOsloNew YorkLondon
Contact usRequest a Free Quote
Thank you for your message!
We will get in touch with you regarding your request within one business day.
