Hospitality IT opening checklist

Record the venue, service period and person responsible for the check. Identify what staff must be able to do, such as read a booking, send an order to the right destination or reach the supplier portal. Select a manageable set of checks for the systems your venue actually uses.

Agree when the check happens and who receives the result. Leave enough time to report an issue through the relevant support route. This is an operational record, not a promise that every device or security control has been assessed.

Check the approved staff account or role on the device normally used for the task. Confirm the required application opens and the person can reach the relevant screen. Record the result and any access that needs a manager or vendor to approve it.

Follow the product's supported access model. Do not share an administrator account to get a shift moving or reset several staff accounts without understanding the effect. The action list should identify the account or role involved, without recording passwords or customer information.

Use a vendor approved test mode or an agreed safe test record to check the handover between the booking, counter and preparation tasks that matter to your venue. Confirm the intended staff can see the result. Avoid creating a live customer booking or order that somebody could mistake for a genuine request.

Record the system, time and outcome, including which screen received the information. If the task fails, capture the exact error without customer details. An application fault may need its vendor; the surrounding device or network may need a separate investigation.

Confirm the relevant receipt or preparation printer is available through an approved test. Note which device or app sends to it and whether other destinations work. Record paper, power and any obvious error indicator before changing software settings.

Repeatedly restarting equipment or moving cables can make an intermittent issue harder to understand. Follow the supplier's instructions and record what was tried. A hardware fault, connection issue and application routing fault have different owners.

Record the connection used by essential venue devices and the provider responsible for it. Check an approved business task on that connection rather than relying on a guest phone showing internet access. Guest WiFi working does not confirm that the counter device can reach its service.

Keep router and network configuration changes outside this routine check unless they are specifically approved. Before a change, identify connected equipment and the recovery plan. A provider managed device, damaged cable or carrier outage may need a different support route.

Record the payment provider and its support route, along with the status or test that it permits for your terminal. Follow that instruction. Do not make a customer charge, alter payment settings or assume an offline transaction will succeed just to complete an IT worksheet.

Keep the provider's agreed fallback and reconciliation instructions available to the authorised manager. If those instructions are missing, record an action to obtain them. General IT support and the payment provider have different responsibilities.

Use a labelled website enquiry test when delivery is in scope and confirm the destination inbox. Record who monitors group bookings or catering requests and how they reach the person who can respond. An external booking platform may have a separate notification path to verify.

Identify the venue manager who can activate an approved fallback when an essential service fails. Record where the procedure is kept and who confirms recovery. The worksheet should point to that procedure, without collecting customer records or inventing a workaround for a payment or booking system.

For each issue, record the time, affected task, device or application, person notified and next action. Note the evidence that will confirm recovery. If another shift takes over, identify who now owns the follow up so the same fault is not quietly treated as resolved.

A Dark Cloud Creative can discuss a scoped IT investigation from Perth, with remote support across Australia where the task suits it. Provide the symptoms and vendor details. Support hours, urgent handling and physical work need an agreed arrangement rather than an assumption based on the next service time.

No. It records the venue tasks and tests you selected for that service period. Security assurance, maintenance and application support have separate scopes.

Use the provider's support route and the fallback approved for that system. Record the time, error and person notified. Do not create a live charge or change payment settings as an improvised diagnostic test.

Yes. Choose checks supported by your actual applications and providers, and remove tasks that do not apply. Keep the responsible person, evidence and escalation route with each remaining check.