Cloud Property management System

July 11, 2011 - PRLog -- Cloud PMS are we ready ?

Technology is evolving by the hour and  CLOUD is the word of the hour or should we say need of the hour , SaaS ( Software as a Service) platform has been accepted in several prominent industries recently, and with great success. Hospitality Industry is now all prepped up to move to cloud .


Property management systems (PMSs) have been Basic hotel management tool in every hotel for decades; it’s simply not possible to manage a property of more than a few rooms without one. Over the years PMS’s have been steadily improving by adding more functionality and depth in their original areas of  reservations, room availability, checkin, folio management and checkout.  Not to mention new modules like revenue management, sales and catering, spa/golf/activities and so on, within their own software and/or by interfacing to specialized systems from other vendors. However, hotel complexity has grown to the point where a focus on property-based functions is no longer sufficient. I feel it is high time that we coined a new name for these emerging systems and adopt something more representative of what they actually do. Installing software applications at the property is becoming unmanageably complex.. However, the more applications are required, the greater the amount of computer room hardware needed to run them and the more complex the support requirements become. This is unsustainable.  At the same time, the increased space, power and air conditioning needs of all this hardware run counter to the rise in energy costs and the strong movement toward more green operations.


The answer? Cloud computing that makes it possible.


The Cloud computing takes virtual server tools ( virtualization has been in practice for a while now) one stage further, using them to allocate the resources of vast numbers of servers quickly and flexibly among many different companies’ needs .Solution implementation is a critical factor for any size property or chain,( both financially and operationally) one that’s driving them to insist that vendors move their applications to the cloud.  Asian markets are seeing a explosive growth and two countries are clearly emerging markets  China and India . Many major chains are looking to open (or acquire) new hotels there at a very rapid rate to gain market share.  Given the often challenging infrastructure in these regions, there is simply no other way to equip these properties quickly enough with the chain’s standard systems than by configuring a new instance of each application in the cloud and providing the property with Internet access to it.  Combine this with Web-based video training, and a new property can be brought online much more rapidly, in a matter of week or two instead of the several months it would take to acquire and implement multiple servers and system interfaces on property. Another factor allowing faster implementations is service-fee or transaction-based pricing, which allows systems to be brought online without time-consuming and difficult capital expenditure approvals beforehand.


Centralized support is another advantage that offers a higher level of expertise ..So what does moving all of your systems off-property buy you?  Apart from the maintenance savings and greater system and data security, interfaces also become much simpler to implement and support.  There’s one link between the PMS and the revenue management system, one to S&C, one to the GDSs and Web booking sites, and so on, not one per system per property.  Traditional remotely hosted approaches do outsource the support and security issues but can’t provide the economy-of-scale savings nor the flexibility of clouds.


Most hotels’ operational concerns tend to fall into two main areas: data security and loss of the connection.


Data Security. Many properties are wary about the vulnerability of their critical data if it’s held off-property.  However, that data is very likely more secure in a dedicated data center, which will have more rigorously enforced physical access restrictions, software patch management, anti-virus and other malware protection and data backups. User can always sign a contract for security, non disclosure  and safe keep of data  or download data periodically it’s your data, after all–so that even if the vendor fails or needs to be changed unexpectedly you still have your .


Connection Loss. It is every hotel manager’s nightmare for the system to go down  or communication /Internet line  drop when a line of guests is waiting to check in,.  Given the high reliability and relative affordability of Internet access these days, one obvious solution is to have redundant connections from different vendors .Alternatively, since many cloud-based systems are accessed via Web browsers it’s also possible to use 3G (and soon 4G) high-speed cell phone connections to access them if the Internet or other main communications line goes down.  Apart from above benefits it provides a very critical advantage to Predict IT costs and reduced capital investment through a scalable subscription model.


Hotelogix  is first  true Cloud based hospitality system and  has users spread across 18 counties ,system is CAPEX FREE.. This lower total cost of ownership continues to be of tremendous appeal to prospective Hotels, resorts and hospitality chains that also benefit from being able to access the system from any computer with Internet access. Hotelogix was a star  cloud PMS technology exhibitor at recently held HITEC 2010 at Orlando, Hospitality technology mecca.

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The Hotelogix Management System is an easy-to-adapt and simple-to-use solution that offers everything a hotel might ever need to run your hospitality business smoothly. It is a perfect software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution aimed at businesses that want to reduce overhead costs and use “anytime, anywhere” access to their advantage.