Lijeesh Rajan, director of information technology, Al Murooj Rotana Dubai
ABOUT LIJEESH
Lijeesh Rajan, director of information technology at Al Murooj Rotana attained his bachelor’s degree in Computer Engineering from Sree Rama Govt. Polytechnic, Valapad in Kerala, India in 2002 with an grade of 85%. Shortly after, he joined the hospitality industry back in 2003 as System Administrator at Le Meridien Cochin Resort & Convention Centre in Cochin, India. He joined Al Murooj Rotana in July 2011 and in-between his career in hotel IT took him from information systems manager at Le Meridien Al Aqah Beach Resort to director of information technology at The Cove Rotana Resort & Spa as part of the pre-opening team, before joining the, Al Murooj Rotana Dubai in 2008.
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WHY WAS HE NOMINATED?
Since beginning his role Lijeesh has decreased guest complaints about the Internet in the hotel by 60%, by analyzing the system and isolating any connectivity issues. He and his team also worked strategically on the hotel’s network optimization project to be able to provide all guests with 24 Mbps internet speed (16 Mbps originally) for three months, With the team working an average of 16 hour days to ensure the project is completed at the earliest.
WHAT DID HIS TEAM SAY?
“One of a kind, organized, reliable, productive, possesses a beautiful mind and definitely presents a lot of potential – these are the words I can use to describe Lijeesh and the list can get much longer. He delivers his projects in an excellent and clear-cut way and is an IT specialist for the Non-IT person. He communicates and educates his colleagues regardless of their levels, and he does it effectively. I have the pleasure of working with Lijeesh on different projects like the Central HSIA system, Central Digital Signage system, Information Security, and his excellent performance on these initiatives is a clear manifestation of his high project management capacity. For example, he single handedly worked on the Centralized HSIA system and got it enrolled in the 40+ Rotana hotels in only 2 months. I wish him the very best in his career and sincerely hope he wins this Hotelier Middle East Award.” Carlos Abou-Diwan, director of projects & IT services, Rotana Hotels.
WHAT DID HIS SUPPLIERS SAY?
“Lijeesh is definitely the best IT Project Manager - which is part of his IT Director role within the Corporate structure of Rotana - I have seen in the UAE in the Hospitality sector. There are many good IT guys but none of them combines like Lijeesh - Hospitality knowledge, deep IT expertise and a very structured approach in terms of Project Management. His documentation is always outstanding and he is able through his capabilities to think very strategic and in addition does bring this to “paper”. Another very rare soft skill for people who work in a technical environment is his social competence – I have never experienced him being a different person under pressure or when having technical issues resulting from the vendor site. I can definitely say he is a role model for your Hotel, the Rotana organisation and the industry.” Julian Kraft, managing director, Entiretec Middle East.
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