As we all know, the property management system (PMS) has become and continues to be at the core of all hotel operations. Along the way a multitude of other tech pieces have been “integrated” to the PMS such as channel management, revenue management, reservations software, CRMs, mobile technology etc. But in a recent article by Margaret Ady, Head of Marketing at SnapShot, hotel technology integration is described as more like a spaghetti monster where “tech pieces swirl around the PMS haphazardly” and has resulted in multiple applications working in silos. The biggest challenge with this is the incapability to utilize data to its fullest potential, impacting business directly and indirectly. As the article highlights, “technology silos are holding us back… Making good sense of highly valuable data buried deep in the spaghetti is virtually impossible.”
The travel and hospitality industries are data rich and earlier this year, Skift even projected that hotels would begin interpreting their data usefully; that it is the “ultimate intelligence.” Because, data can be continually added, to, to develop a more comprehensive view of the customer, the market and pricing points and can influences revenue management decisions, key distribution strategies, and customer relationship information because the ecosystem gives it context and makes it instantly more usable.
Data is the ultimate intelligence – and I don’t think there is any denying that but as Ady points out, one key, important step is often overlooked, and that is, integration. “Data organization must come first, and data organization begins with technology integration.” And when we say “integration”, really it’s about having one “platform that brings the spaghetti into one well-organized strand of information… an ecosystem such as this has one point of entry rather than 20 different log-ins.” Syncing all data sources into a single database allows information to flow freely, hotels are able to interpret data and innovate and when this happens businesses can flourish.
Check out the full article here: Putting an End to Silos: How To Wow with Integrated Technology
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