Surprise Performance Wins Unexpected Comeback
Caduceus had been doing IT support for a local ‘character’ hotel for many years when it was suddenly taken over and they found themselves being made redundant. But part way through the handover transition, things changed.
Naumi Hotels offer 5-star luxury boutique hospitality that challenges the status quo with trend-setting design, inspiration, and bespoke services. In 2019 they transformed a hotel in the heart of Cuba St, Wellington, into an iconic heritage landmark.
In the process of Naumi’s own IT team taking over from Caduceus, Daron Periera, Naumi IT & Projects Manager, tells us how things took a turn beyond his expectations…
The stretch
“I was the newly appointed General Manager on site in 2019, focusing on refurbishment. It was a challenge for our IT team to take over the day-to-day operations here, with the time difference and Covid issues. Plus we’d acquired other new sites in Wellington and Queenstown.”
They always gave us a “yes” without fuss
“We got Caduceus to do a few upgrade projects – which were smooth and successful beyond expectations. Their hard work and commitment impressed us. This included a new server, switches, Wi-Fi access points, and a fibre backbone to accommodate all services including Wifi, Smart TVs in every room and CCTV.
I got to know the guys quite well and found them very flexible. We always found a “yes” from them, which is what we wanted. And no fuss. For example, when I told them we couldn’t afford $5k for an item of technology, they researched our needs and came up with a $2.5k solution.
Damage control by changing hats
“We had the implementation of a new Property Management System (PMS) set for March 2020, but the contracted company suddenly dropped the business. Then our Singapore based IT team who was managing the rollout thinned-out under Covid constraints.
It was a tricky situation, so I spoke to our COO about taking over the IT management, which was in my background, and he agreed.”
One of easiest implementations ever
With the PMS deadline looming I turned to Caduceus to support us through the implementation. They rose to the challenge, and with great collaboration and synergy between all parties the rollout was delivered ahead of schedule. The vendor’s technician even said it was one of the easiest implementations they’d ever done, thanks in no small way to the efforts of Caduceus.
Since this roll out, we have taken out full IT Support Contracts with Caduceus for each of our Australasian Hotels.
IT services befitting our top-of-the-line 5-star brand
“Caduceus now provide a full IT Service, including management of our Firewall, Office 365 tenancy, Wifi, payment gateways, and POS.
During our recent Wellington Hotel upgrade, Caduceus help implement improved Internet with dual fibre feeds to meet the demands of a busy Hotel – even at peak loads.. Guests, who often wish to connect with 3 to 4 devices are all well served. With Caduceus’ help we will continue to upgrade our infrastructure – next will be our booking system.”
A strong foundation for great future possibilities
“As an IT manager, what I really like is that Caduceus serve our agenda and don’t impose their own. And that’s the big thing. We’ve developed a growing synergy together where I can give them ideas and they take them to another level.
We recently took everything we had developed in Wellington over the last year and implemented it in Sydney within a week! Meticulous planning was key. So, now we have a highly-developed ‘template’ and we’re on a roll.”
