The Pellucid Perspective - December 2022 - 9

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DOES IT MATTER?
Are you old enough to remember the old Abbott and
Costello comedy bit... " Who's On First? "
The golf variation is " Does it matter " ?
" Does what matter? " , you ask.
" Does it matter? " , I repeat.
Before you get as frustrated as Lou Costello in Who's On
First?, let's clarify... " it " is " IT " ... " Information Technology " .
The longer version of the question is " Does the quality
of a golf course operator's information technology systems
have a significant impact on the bottom-line results of the
golf course business? "
We live in a business world that is deeply infused with
information technology... most of it connected via the
Internet to those supercomputers called cell phones that
95% of adults aged 18 to 49 in the US carry everywhere
they go.
As someone who has spent almost 50 years spending
most of my waking minutes helping companies use
software and information technology to be more
successful, you can probably guess my opinion on whether
IT matters.
But what do golf course operators think?
In a recent survey of US golf course operators
conducted by Apparation, 74% of the course operators
surveyed said YES... the quality of their IT did have a
significant impact on their profitability... 9% said NOT
SURE... and only 17% said NO.
We also asked what the operators' satisfaction level was
with their golf course, their facility, their staff and their IT
systems. 60% gave their IT systems the lowest score...
either tied for lowest (29%) or outright lowest (31%).
That last result shouldn't surprise us. Many golf
course operators readily acknowledge that they struggle
to effectively manage their IT capabilities. IT isn't in their
wheelhouse of expertise, new IT capabilities are being
regularly introduced and there is a dearth of IT educational
tools and consulting services in the golf industry.
Even if a golf course operator feels confident that
(s)he can manage IT effectively today, there is a neverending
need to refresh and enhance IT skills to stay abreast
of the market.
In 2021, 3,000+ public golf courses in the US and
Canada made a change in their website or tee time booking
software. How did they decide that they needed a change
and how did they decide what new software to select? The
pace of change is accelerating. Five of the top six golf
course management software vendors have changed hands
in the past few years, several new entrants have entered
the market and sea changes are occurring in payment
platforms, tournament management systems, golfer apps
and many other facets of golf IT. Are you and your team in
the loop on these changes?
Here's a prediction... just as golf course operators
routinely associate with golf course architects to build or
renovate their courses and with golf course superintendents
to maintain their courses in tip top condition... in the future
www.PellucidcorP.com
we'll see the roles of IT systems architect and IT systems
superintendent becoming more and more prominent in the
golf industry.
The IT Systems Architects will have deep expertise on
the capabilities of the software products available for golf
course managers and on how to design effective, efficient,
easy-to-use systems. They'll understand which products
integrate easily and which features will have the most
bottom-line impact for a course like yours. You won't
necessarily need an IT System Architect on your staff
full-time, but when you're considering making a major
renovation their help will be invaluable.
The IT Systems Administrators will meticulously provide
expert care and feeding for your systems. They'll focus
on availability, response times, customer support, staying
current with upgrades, customer support, hardware
maintenance and usability. They'll focus on making sure
that your customers and your staff are delighted with the
experiences that they have when they interact with your
golf course through technology. Even your best customers
may only interact with you in person at your course once or
twice a week... but you can use information technology to
connect with them every day.
If you haven't done so already, start thinking now about
how you're going to fill the roles of IT Systems Architect
and IT Systems Administrator.
Because IT MATTERS.
Mike Dickoff is the founder and CEO of Apparation
LLC, a company founded in 2011 and focused on helping
the golf industry use information technology to be more
successful.
Mike has been developing software for over 45 years
in industries as diverse as radio, health care, financial
services, airlines... and now golf. His experience includes
28 years at Accenture as it grew from 3k to 180k
employees and leadership of Navitaire from start-up to a
$1B valuation and airline customers in over 30 countries.
Mike is a golf nomad who plays 50+ different golf courses
every year and may be the only person who has personally
visited the website of every golf course in the world. He's
on a quest to help every golfer play at least one more round
every year.
If you liked this article, how would you like to get a
weekly podcast with similar content to help you sharpen
your IT skills and knowledge? Apparation offers an IT
Matters Premium subscription service for $250 year
that you can buy online at https://www.grouplooper.
com/register/id/it-matters-premium.
If you sign up
before 12/31/22 and use (case-sensitive) coupon code
PELLUCID22, your association with Pellucid can get you
a savings of $50 off the normal price. Podcast links are
delivered weekly via email.
The Pellucid PersPecTive
9
PHOTO BY JOSHUA SORTINO ON UNSPLASH
https://www.grouplooper.com/register/id/it-matters-premium https://www.grouplooper.com/register/id/it-matters-premium http://www.PellucidcorP.com
The Pellucid Perspective - December 2022

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