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Is there an ongoing thread about the shortcomings of the MVC website?

Quilter

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if not I'd like to propose one.

Here's what I'm thinking...

It could be something like the MF's thread where people compose their suggestion/complaint and it gets copied into an ongoing list. Then when interest tapers off (if that ever happens), it gets copied and forwarded to Marriott.

Last week an agent told me they were told to send an email to the IT department asking for rearrangement of DC points for individual reservations. E.g., transferred trust, transferred elected, banked elected or elected. The agent said her prior request took about an hour. It was over 24 hrs. to get mine done so I called back the next day to ask why. Since then I've had same conversation and there was no mention of having to email IT. The agent put me on hold, went right to IT and asked.

I simply think that a corporation as large as Marriott should have a great IT dept.

Thoughts?
 

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I simply think that a corporation as large as Marriott should have a great IT dept.

Thoughts?

Just remember that while still a large company, Marriott Vacations Worldwide (timeshare company) is a much smaller company than Marriott International (hotel company). Total 2015 revenue at Marriott International was about $14.5 billion and they had over 127,000 employees. By contrast, Marriott Vacations Worldwide has only 10,000 employees and 2015 revenues were only $1.8 billion. Marriott International is #195 on the Fortune 500, but Marriott Vacations Worldwide is not in that league at all. Still a good sized company, but not a Fortune 500 level company.

Of course, any company these days should have a competent IT infrastructure, but MVW is really just a typical mid-sized American corporation.
 

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I simply think that a corporation as large as Marriott should have a great IT dept.
Of course, any company these days should have a competent IT infrastructure, but MVW is really just a typical mid-sized American corporation.
The thing is, MVW is not a big IT company. The truly great IT professionals are attracted to the big IT giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and the like. Marriott Vacations Worldwide and even its big brother Marriott International simply can't compete when going after top tier IT professionals and have to settle for middle of the road and thus cheaper talent. The same would be true for any mid-sized US company.
 

Quilter

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The thing is, MVW is not a big IT company. The truly great IT professionals are attracted to the big IT giants like Amazon, Google, Microsoft and the like. Marriott Vacations Worldwide and even its big brother Marriott International simply can't compete when going after top tier IT professionals and have to settle for middle of the road and thus cheaper talent. The same would be true for any mid-sized US company.
I'm no techie and I don't have ability to compare other systems but doing a quick glance through the thread noted above Hyatt and Disney have abilities beyond what MVC offers.

I hope being on the team of a mid-sized company doesn't mean MVC techs are too dense to improve the website to the point it offers everything other systems offer.
 

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I'm no techie and I don't have ability to compare other systems but doing a quick glance through the thread noted above Hyatt and Disney have abilities beyond what MVC offers.

I hope being on the team of a mid-sized company doesn't mean MVC techs are too dense to improve the website to the point it offers everything other systems offer.
I would put Disney up there with the top tech companies. They can easily attract top tier talent. Not sure about Hilton.
 

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The other thread hasn't had a post in 2 years. Looks like some of the suggestions have actually been incorporated in the website. It would be nice if the improvements keep coming.

As to the idea that the best of the best has been gobbled up by big IT companies. . . I don't buy that one. There are lots of reasons why some of the bright ones would start or move to smaller work atmosphere. Three reasons would be the desire to stay close to their hometown and family, or the difficulty finding an open spot at the "right" time or not being the right personality that meshes with the interviewing team.

I worked with the partner heading the interviewing team at a large law firm in Chicago.

First round of the process was selecting students who were top 10%. If their school was not on "the list" they has to be first in their class. Being part of the law review group was also important.

When they came in for their interviews their charisma played a big part whether they would be asked back or given an offer.

My own dear husband went through this process. Painfully. Great skills but not great interviewing. He listens more than talks. But all he needed was that 1 first job. Once he was in the door he was appreciated. This year is 40 years later. He's on list of Best Lawyers in America and Michigan Super Lawyers.

I just can't believe the big IT companies have gobbled up all the best and brightest.
 

JIMinNC

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I just can't believe the big IT companies have gobbled up all the best and brightest.

They haven't, but I know from being the father of a senior computer science (CS) major at one of the top CS universities in the country, many if not most CS majors aspire to work in a tech firm or a start-up. Those are the sexy jobs. Working in IT for a mid-sized hospitality company like MVW is not their dream job. But having said that, you are correct that there are still plenty of smart IT folks that slip through the grasp of the big tech companies. Plenty of good programmers are out there in all types of companies. Also, companies like MVW frequently outsource some or all of their IT work to tech companies. So MVW should be able to produce a web site that works for their customers/owners. But as the experiences the largest airlines like United, Delta, and Southwest have had recently with systems problems attest, running complex database-driven systems can be complex in any environment, regardless of the size and sophistication of the company.

But the reality is, there IS a major shortage of computer programming talent in the country, across all industries. That is why so many tech jobs have to be filled with talent from outside the U.S. through the H1B Visa program - the U.S. education system is not generating enough kids interested in STEM careers like computer science. Countries in Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere are producing lots of kids interested in those fields.
 

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The problem of poor website design isn't limited to just MVW. Look at Vistana and Interval International have similarly buggy websites. They certainly aren't the only ones out there. Sure there is talent, but there are definitely reasons that these companies can't create outstanding websites. One issue could also simply be resources. Google, Amazon and Apple have billions of dollars in reserves and revenue that dwarfs these mid range companies that simply can't afford the same level of technology and servers that can support the demand on the system.
 

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But the reality is, there IS a major shortage of computer programming talent in the country, across all industries. That is why so many tech jobs have to be filled with talent from outside the U.S. through the H1B Visa program - the U.S. education system is not generating enough kids interested in STEM careers like computer science. Countries in Asia, the Middle East, and elsewhere are producing lots of kids interested in those fields.
Are they bringing in foreign talent because there is a shortage of US employees to fill those same jobs or is it because they can hire those same foreign employees for far less than what they would have to pay a US based worker?
 

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Are they bringing in foreign talent because there is a shortage of US employees to fill those same jobs or is it because they can hire those same foreign employees for far less than what they would have to pay a US based worker?

It may be some of the latter issue as well, but there is definitely a shortage of tech talent in the United States. Even at Georgia Tech where my son attends, there are a lot a international students coming here for the GT computer science program. Places like MIT and Stanford also have a high international component in their STEM-majors. A lot of the work I do in aviation media is working to try to excite American kids about aviation and space to spur more kids to want to go into STEM fields like engineering and computer science. The rest of the world is kicking our butt on K-12 STEM education. We still have the best STEM universities, but at K-12, American kids don't want to do the math and science those fields require. They all want to be lawyers or investment bankers, or they don't have a strong education/career focus yet. The rest of the world is doing a better job.
 
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The system does have some crazy workings that are unlike how anybody else in the IT world does things. One frustrating example is the "Remember me" checkbox. Every other site I have ever been on that offers the "Remember me" selection actually remembers you as long as that checkbox remains checked, and once you check it, the only way to have it become unchecked is to uncheck it yourself....so once you check it, it does what it is supposed to do...it remembers you, basically forever.

But the good old MVC IT system remembers you only once, because the next time you go to the site, the "Remember me" checkbox is unchecked, so if you enter without checking the box during that 2nd sign in, then next time you arrive....you are forgotten. They should change the wording to "Remember me once".

So many stupid things like that, that even B talented IT folks should be able to figure out.
 
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JIMinNC

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The system does have some crazy workings that are unlike how anybody else in the IT world does things. One frustrating example is the "Remember me" checkbox. Every other site I have ever been on that offers the "Remember me" selection actually remembers you as long as that checkbox remains checked, and once you check it, the only way to have it become unchecked is to uncheck it yourself....so once you check it, it does what it is supposed to do...it remembers you, basically forever.

But the good old MVC IT system remembers you only once, because the next time you go to the site, the "Remember me" checkbox is unchecked, so if you enter without checking the box during that 2nd sign in, then next time you arrive....you are forgotten. They should change the wording to "Remember me once".

So many stupid things like that, that even B talented IT folks should be able to figure out.

Could your issue be browser related? My Username and Password are pre-filled every time I log in to the Owners website. I just have to click on "Login". I have it all set up in my browser (Safari 10 on a Mac) to work that way.
 

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Could your issue be browser related? My Username and Password are pre-filled every time I log in to the Owners website. I just have to click on "Login". I have it all set up in my browser (Safari 10 on a Mac) to work that way.
That's entirely possible, but every other site apparently has figured how to make it work with my browser.
 

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The box explaining that I was knocked off from lack of activity drives me nuts. Chase and American Express do the same but I expect it from them as they are consoling me that they are keeping my info secure. With the MVC site it's just another annoying click to get to booking with my DC points.

I'd rather have a box pop up that gives me a shortcut to booking with my DC points.
 

Quilter

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Could your issue be browser related? My Username and Password are pre-filled every time I log in to the Owners website. I just have to click on "Login". I have it all set up in my browser (Safari 10 on a Mac) to work that way.

Me too. But not on my iPhone.

As a side note spg.com messes with me on Safari but works ok with Firefox.
 

JIMinNC

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I'll add one other thing about the seemingly poorly designed, unstable systems...a lot of these issues stem from the legacy of the systems that have preceded them over the years. Back when I worked in banking, I was in product management, so I often worked with our Technology team to design product enhancements - to things like our ATMs and online banking, etc. Frequently, these systems are built on top of database structures and overall system architectures that have been around for decades. Corporate systems evolve over time and its more like a building block of old systems and new systems, all trying to work together. I remember when we installed a whole shiny new system to drive our ATMs - both software and mid-range computers - it was a great system, but all the issues came in where it needed to interface with legacy account databases and systems to pass balance information back and forth between the ATMs and the main customer account management systems. Some of those legacy systems had their roots in systems designed decades ago. It would have been financially impossible to rebuild all of the systems every time new technology came along, so our Tech team had to figure out the best way to get the old and the new to play well together. We used to call it "patched together."

So companies like banks, airlines, hospitality companies, etc that have large legacy systems built over decades are faced with these kinds of issues. It's virtually impossible to rebuild everything from the ground up when new stuff comes along, so it gets built on top of the old stuff, and that is where a lot of the "issues" get introduced. I suspect Marriott Vacations Worldwide started out with systems and system designs held over from Marriott International, and have subsequently tried to build new on top of some of those old architectures. And since their system still has to interface to the main Marriott International systems for some things, that may add additional complexity.

Some of the newer tech companies we all deal with now, and from whom we've come to expect such well-designed and smoothly functioning systems, have the advantage of not having all these old legacy system issues to deal with. They can design great systems for today from the ground up. And yes, it's easier for these new, sexy tech companies to attract the top programming talent from around the world, but that's only part of the story. Don't underestimate the issues companies like Marriott face from legacy systems that can't easily be replaced.
 

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But the good old MVC IT system remembers you only once, because the next time you go to the site, the "Remember me" checkbox is unchecked, so if you enter without checking the box during that 2nd sign in, then next time you arrive....you are forgotten. They should change the wording to "Remember me once".
I have the exact same problem. For whatever reason, Chrome remembers the password but won't save the user ID. Checking the Remember Me box does keep the User ID in there, but it is unchecked every time I go back to the site. So I have to check it again each time in order to Remember Me for the next time.
 

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I have the exact same problem. For whatever reason, Chrome remembers the password but won't save the user ID. Checking the Remember Me box does keep the User ID in there, but it is unchecked every time I go back to the site. So I have to check it again each time in order to Remember Me for the next time.
Mine is intermittent and seemingly random. Sometimes it remembers me and sometimes not. I can not find anything that causes that.
 

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All I want to do is be able to book my week at 12 months out! Every time that I have to do that, the system crashes or is down for maintenance!! it does not take a team of the brightest nerds in the industry to fix that!
 

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Agree both MVC and II websites could be better from a user experience and resiliency perspective. Being in IT, it wouldn't surprise me if MVC and/or II outsource some of their IT to another large service provider. I'm not sure IT is their bread and butter.
 
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