IT fear factor: RFI document addresses hardware/software vendor selection concerns.

For over 30 years HFTP has produced HITEC, now one of the largest hospitality technology shows of its kind. The yearly event has become an important gathering for the industry, bringing hospitality technology professionals, educators, and vendors together to showcase the latest industry developments. HFTP does not stop at HITEC, though. The association is always working towards contributing to the progress of the hospitality technology industry, and spent this past year creating a highly-useful guide to help clubs start the process of implementing new technology.

From listening to our members, both HFTP and CMAA realized that one of the roadblocks to acquiring a management system that fit right with a specific club was that the possibilities were almost overwhelming. Knowing that, we combined our resources to research and create a valuable tool that helps both the club and the possible providers focus on particular needs best-suited for a specific club.

At HITEC in June, and past CMAA and HFTP meetings and conferences, members of HFTP and CMAA, interested vendors, and others met to review and discuss the new jointly developed Club Request for Information (RFI) document. Now available on both associations' websites, the RFI document can be used as a reference and guideline in developing requests for information from technology vendors. The template helps reduce difficulties for both clubs and vendors. For club professionals, it provides a research starting point and ensures that they gather the right information for a knowledgeable decision. It also helps clubs make apples-to-apples comparisons with the information they receive back from vendors. For vendors, once they are familiar with the template, it will help them be prepared in advance with the type of information that will be requested.

The RFI document is a template that lists hundreds of prompts designed to help clubs hi selecting integrated club management systems.

The prompts were identified by various constituencies--club managers, club financial and technical professionals, software and hardware vendors, and others. The RFI document was created from the perspective of an all-inclusive club to anticipate as many operating elements as possible. Where elements of the template RFI are not applicable to your club, simply mark them as "not applicable" (N/A).

Key sections of the RFI document include:

Background information about the club--everything from address, phone, and e-mail to number of clubhouses, number of employees, club activities, and current IT systems in place.

Defining the purpose of the RFI--namely, establishing a relationship with a vendor to provide IT products and/or services for specific areas of the club.

Present and Planned Inventory--a detailed listing of all hardware devices and programs currently in place, and an equally-detailed listing of all programs and devices that the club plans to add.

Information Conditions--the manner and format in which the final proposal should be presented, the club's legal requirements on the uses of any proprietary information or data, and the form and conditions surrounding any proposal submitted.

Vendor Information--including primary contacts, competitive advantage, primary business, number of employees in various areas of the company, number of customers, and number of installations in the past three years.

General and Technical Requirements--detailing everything from operating system to hardware that the system runs on, cross-platform functionality of software, supported databases, standard and custom report capabilities, historical record capabilities, and security.

Applications Overview--covers virtually every possible scenario in all system areas from member files, to accounts payable, to fixed assets, fitness, sports, human resources, and point-of-sale. By simply responding with the appropriate code, a vendor can indicate whether his or her system provides the particular function/ information in the base program through reports, changes, or enhancements to the program, or not at all.

Customer Service and Support--addresses support services, training/education, system installation/implementation, documentation, and online help.

Investment Considerations--asks for detailed costs for everything from licensing fees and data conversions to ongoing maintenance fees over the next three to five years. This section also requests such cost-related information as the rationale used for hardware sizing, the warranty spelled out in layman's terms, and a schedule of fees for additional services.

Just from my brief outline you can see that this RFI document represents the best efforts of hundreds of hours of work by some of our industry's very brightest general managers, financial professionals, and vendors. If making this kind of difference on the financial and IT side of the club industry is important to you, please consider membership in HFTP for yourself and/or a key person on your management team.

HFTP provides numerous benefits for hospitality technology professionals. Besides the education at HITEC, HFTP offers hospitality technology education sessions at other events. Upcoming is HFTP's Annual Convention & Tradeshow, October 26th-29th at the Radisson Plaza Hotel & Myrtle Beach Convention Center in Myrtle Beach, SC. The convention will offer a complete track focused on technology. Following the Annual Convention is HFTP's Hospitality Technology Professionals Forum, which will be Nov. 12 at the Penn Club in New York City.

There are many other print and online publications that can help you and your team members with the financial and technical aspects of your club operation. Find out more about HFTP and what it can mean for your club at www.hftp.org.

Frank Agnello, Jr., CMA, CHAE, is controller at the Wyndgate Country Club in Rochester Hills, MI.