ICEbreaker, January 2019

Hello and welcome to our monthly newsletter, ICEbreaker from ICE, the travel technology IT consultants.

This month’s highlights include why your storage might be safer in the clouds, eight cruise trends, five security trends and how to dump a work friend without drama. We’ve also got five ways to get more work done in less time.

We’re looking forward to exhibiting at Stand T32 at TTE at London Olympia on the 20^th and 21^st February. While we’re there, we’ll be showcasing three important services from TheICEway. Travel Systems Selection and Consultancy Services to help you navigate the choppy waters of finding a new travel booking system, CMS or CRM. A state of the art Disaster Recovery Service following our significant investment in Tier 4 data hardware and specialist engineering teams in 2018. And third, our Managed Breach Identification Service to empower you to fulfill the statutory requirement of identifying and reporting data breaches within 72 hours, following GDPR.

None of these issues have to be a headache – that’s what we’re here for. Whether you’re an existing client or someone who’d like an independent professional opinion on all things travel tech – we’d love to see you there. You can set up a one-to-one appointment here [link] so we can make sure you meet the right people at the right time.

Until then, 

Ian Richardson (Richie) and Conor Byrne
(ICE's founders)

Quote Of The Month

  “A lot of people are also turning to a trusted travel expert to make sure they get their perfect holiday experience.”

Victoria Bacon, Abta’s director of brand and business development as last year, 40% of Brits booked a holiday through a travel agent.

Source: TravelWeekly

Number Of The Month

85%

Articles Of The Month

Eight cruise industry trends

In 2019, we’ll see 24 new ships, 42,488 berths, an expedition boom and technology enhancing passenger experiences. From Royal Caribbean Cruises facial recognition to upgraded connectivity and the tech arms race to lower environmental impact.

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Building virtual cities

Simulation software is empowering architects, designers and engineers to create digital twins of future cities. This 3D tech combined with smart data enables planners to tweak designs before construction begins, saving money in the long term.

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Tech tailored trips

With McKinsey confirming that 69% of people are more loyal to a company that personalizes online and offline experiences, breaking out of the travel template and offering personalised experiences is essential for competitive edge in travel.

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US consumer privacy threatened by location data

As the US watches the impact of Europe’s GDPR from across the Atlantic, the New York Times reported that selling location data from mobiles is lucrative, with sales reaching $21bn in the US in 2018. This location data is often updated 14,000 times a day.

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Safer in the clouds

Trying to boost your organisation’s security? It’s safer to host your IT assets in the cloud, rather than hosting them onsite. Cloud hosting companies have bigger IT budgets to splash out on security measures and more experienced security IT staff.

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Make projects more strategic with AI

With intelligent AI assistants reducing workload and tools, such as Slack, facilitating group communication, a new wave of AI systems from data visualisation to chatbots is freeing up project managers from the minutiae so they can focus on strategy.

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Five ways to get more work done in less time

It’s the Holy Grail. Some time management tips from the power of copying and pasting, developing templates, to having conversations and managing expectations. You’re welcome.

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How to dump a work friend

Being happy at work is important. But what to do when a work friendship becomes too draining? How do you re-establish boundaries without hurting your colleague’s feelings? The good news is you can make it happen without drama and without having to leave your job.