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December 14, 2012
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SaaS For Hotels: Going From In-House Software To The Cloud
A cloud based PMS offers hotels all the benefits of a comprehensive management system without any of the huge infrastructural investments.
—Justin DeRise
Adoption of SaaS is growing exponentially in most every industry with SaaS cloud hardware and infrastructure software spending projected to reach $55B in 2026. For a long time, hospitality technology has been old, cumbersome, and expensive but SaaS is starting to become a popular model in the hospitality industry. The industry has reached a point where operators are beginning to realize the benefits of switching from in-house enterprise software to cloud based systems.
The hospitality industry is a fast-paced, 24/7/365 business that is dependent on a plethora of systems.
SaaS has the ability easily link systems and offers substantial paybacks. Not only does SaaS create a lot of efficiency, flexibility, scalability, employee productivity, and improve guest service but also it’s a much cheaper alternative to traditional on-premise technology and replaces the need for hotel companies to maintain dozens of proprietary, back-end IT systems.
Below we look at some of the hotel systems leading the pack when it comes to migrating to the cloud and being delivered via SaaS.
(1)
The PMS
A cloud based PMS offers hotels all the benefits of a comprehensive management system without any of the huge infrastructural investments. There is no need to install and configure software, no need to maintain additional equipment, it simplifies front desk management allowing you to manage all operations using a single hotel PMS, employees are no longer tied down to their workplace and can control workflow wherever they may be. With a cloud PMS hoteliers can manage guest communication and have the ability to provide greater personalization through customized upselling, upgrades and promotion of ancillary services.
A cloud PMS system can also be your hotel’s channel manager meaning the system can distribute all of your available rooms across all channels and inventory is automatically updated across all sites when a booking is made from any site; there’s no manual work involved, errors are reduced and revenue opportunities are maximized.
Basically a cloud based PMS enables the total automation of all business processes, including room sales. With a cloud solution you can add users with different access levels, manage finances, access reports, monitor employee productivity etc. from any device at any time.
When it comes to cloud based PMS solutions we couldn’t not mention our own StayNTouch Cloud PMS and as for a channel manager, Siteminder is one of the hotel industry’s leading online distribution platforms helping hotels to attract, reach and convert guests across the globe. As partners, we share sophisticated two-way integration allowing clients to link our PMS and channel management solutions. Hotels can further simplify their business by integrating their PMS with their revenue management software – which leads us nicely to our next point.
(2)
Revenue Management
A decade ago, revenue management systems were exclusively the province of large hotels with high average daily rates but with a cloud based RMS, hoteliers big and small can now avail of the same technology. With a cloud RMS solution hoteliers can hugely benefit from automation, predictive data analytics and a more holistic revenue management strategy. i.e.
Hotels typically have multiple revenue streams, but team members within those streams often function in individual silos. Cloud based RMS solutions consider all revenue streams in relation to one another and help provide a more holistic revenue management strategy.
Automation gives hoteliers access to more usable data making revenue analysis and accurate decision-making an easier task enabling hoteliers to set dynamic pricing, sell more rooms at the optimal rate, every day, increasing occupancy and revenue! Revenue managers working without the benefit of an automated revenue management system commonly find themselves doomed to manual data entry processes with higher risks of human error, meetings spent focused less on strategy and more on basic logistics, and relying on limited data insights to make pricing and strategy decisions.
Using a predictive analytics platform such as Duetto’s can help hotel management predict demand, map out consumer patterns and maximize on revenue, while IDeaS optimizes revenue performance and forecasting empowering revenue managers worldwide to book the right guest at the right time at the right rate.
By moving critical business systems to the cloud hoteliers create a flexible technology environment that is streamlined, has the ability easily integrate and share data seamlessly across systems, is adaptable and more cost effective. It ensures hoteliers are prepared for the next wave of IT trends while allow them to remain competitive, maximizing productivity, revenue opportunities while simultaneously improving guest service.
