Rich Siegel

11.3.2023

Siegel Sez 11/03/23

In my world, it’s all about the technology – the technology that exists today and what is coming. At our annual Executive Vendor Summit which brings together senior leaders of those that supply technology solutions to the industry this is always a hot topic as many vendors need to work together. A highlight at the EVS, our CIO panel mostly agreed that how technology evolves is more often in the hands of the vendor community versus the hoteliers. Douglas Rice in his column below highlights many of the changes that are coming or should be coming in the PMS world. Doug always has strong opinions, and it is my guess that many might not agree with him this week. It makes for an interesting read, and we thank Doug for sharing his industry vision.

I love attending industry technology shows and am always honored when asked to speak. Next week I will be attending the HSMAI Sales Leader Forum which brings together off-property industry sales leaders and will be held in Long Beach, Calif., at the Hilton Hotel Long Beach. Last year I attended the second annual Nevada Hotel and Lodging Association Technology Conference held in Las Vegas. I thought NHLA was a great event. After all, the state of Nevada has some very impressive hotels, right? This year I am honored to be asked to moderate a panel at the conference with a focus on Real Time Data. Since the data that hotels collect is always a bit controversial this should make for an interesting session. If you would like to join us at the NHLA Technology Conference here is where you can find the details, NHLA Technology Conference (nvhotels.com). We all need another excuse to visit Las Vegas during football season, right? The conference starts on Wednesday, Nov. 29, and the next evening (Nov. 30) is the HFTP Happy Hour for the Las Vegas chapter along with those who are interested in joining HFTP. We always have a fun night at the Blue Martini Lounge — we haven’t gotten thrown out yet! I hope to see you at one or both events!

Here now is the latest news from the technology world along with this week’s Definitely Doug. I will see you at the end with this week’s you-know-what. I can’t believe it’s November already. This year has flown by! Our fall issue of Hospitality Upgrade is out, and the feedback has truly been amazing! If you would like to read the current issue of HU please click here. Please don’t hesitate to share your feedback.

Rich

‍rich@hospitalityupgrade.com

Property management systems (PMSs) fundamentally have changed very little since the 1980s.

Property management systems (PMSs) fundamentally have changed very little since the 1980s. And many hotels still use systems that were built in the eighties, nineties, or aughts. Since then, massive technology changes have occurred: the mobile revolution, cloud computing, distributed ledgers, AI-based large language models, Web 3.0, and other innovations have fundamentally changed both the technological capabilities of software, the way it is designed and built, and expectations for user experience.

And yet, most PMSs still do the same things they did in the 1980s, and mostly in the same way. They support hotel staff in managing rates, allocating rooms, tracking housekeeping status, checking guests in and out, managing folios, and providing daily financial and operating summaries. Some may include light- or medium-weight functionality for point-of-sale, housekeeping, group sales, revenue management, or other hotel departments. Many include guest profile management capabilities, although these are limited compared with true Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems. Most PMSs of all ages interface with guest-facing systems such as door locks, televisions, telephones, and thermostats; in recent years, some have added captive Wi-Fi portals and mobile apps to the list.

The only significant change in PMSs from the 1990s is that most have added support for various elements of electronic distribution, such as central reservation systems, web booking engines and channel managers.

PMSs support hotel staff through various user interfaces (UIs) designed for the front desk, reservations, back office, and other functions. In more recent years, many PMSs have opened up Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to enable guests to interact via web or mobile apps, but only for limited purposes and often with significant restrictions.

It the above describes your PMS, it is obsolete. And PMSs are only just starting to change, in fits and starts.

‍Is Your PMS Obsolete?

‍To be sure, many newer PMSs follow the software design principles of MACH architecture, which is considered state-of-the-art. For these, it is not the architecture that is obsolete; it is the application itself.

In our mobile-enabled world, more and more guests want self-service options. Some (notably many millennials) may prefer self-service every time; most people want the option at least sometimes. Many hotels, particularly in the economy segment, also want to embrace self-service because it can reduce labor requirements.

The back-end business processes of a PMS are mostly the same whether they are initiated by a hotel staff member or by a guest using self-service. The UI cannot be the same, however; guests’ needs for simplicity and clarity are greater than those of hotel staff, and we do not want guests overriding hotel policies without staff approval. Security settings will also differ; guests using mobile check-in need to be prevented from actions like upgrading themselves to a suite or comping their stay, which staff may sometimes need to do.

Certain steps might need to be added in the guest-facing version, such as verifying identification at check-in (something handled manually in staff-assisted check-ins). But these kinds of variations are easily handled by modern software design; the underlying process (verify payment, select and assign a room, create a folio, encode a room key, and activate in-room devices) is the same in the self-service vs. colleague-assisted cases.

Despite the common underlying business processes, very few PMSs support guest-facing interfaces directly. There are many exceptions for booking engines, but otherwise, most PMSs leave it to third parties (such as mobile app developers) to provide guest-facing capabilities via APIs.

This works to a degree, but often fails with edge use cases that the API was not designed to handle, that the mobile app developer did not contemplate, or where the compromises were dictated by the mobile app’s need to maintain a single code base while interfacing to multiple PMSs with different underlying data models and business processes.

Additionally, APIs (especially those for cloud-native systems) can break when one of the connected systems undergoes a version upgrade. This is rarely a problem when the API and both connected systems come from the same vendor and upgrades are coordinated. But it is unfortunately too common when multiple vendors are involved.

Virtually all modern software maintains the code that controls UIs separately from code that manages business logic, data storage, connectivity, and other functions. And it is common for PMSs to provide different UIs for different staff roles or tasks. Yet despite this, and even with the massive shift towards self-service, few PMSs provide even a single guest-facing UI beyond the booking engine.

The right design for today’s need is a core set of underlying functionalities, but with separate UIs and (where needed) workflow variations for staff vs. guests. These should be optimized for the appropriate devices, from PCs at the front desk to tablets for roving staff to mobile phones and kiosks for guests. With this design, the process can be seamless even as a guest moves from one mode to another: perhaps starting their check-in via mobile, getting sidetracked and finishing the process at a kiosk or with a hotel colleague at the front desk. There should be no need, ever, to re-enter information previously provided, even if a transaction is only half-completed in one environment and then picked up in another. And changes made anywhere should be reflected instantly everywhere.

None of this is rocket science.

‍Who Represents the Next Generation of PMS?

‍I looked through the websites of about twenty of the leading PMS platforms, including all the commercial ones used by major brands, to see which of them highlighted native (not third-party) guest-facing as well as staff-facing functionality (other than a booking engine, which most modern PMSs now support). These could include self-service check-in and check-out, upselling, room controls, food and beverage ordering, activity scheduling, guest requests, surveys, chat, and other functions. While websites do not cover every capability of these systems, one can assume that the functionality highlighted on the website generally correlates to the underlying product design (or if it doesn’t, it should!).

A few of the websites mentioned one or two native guest-facing capabilities, such as self check-in and check-out via a kiosk, or a mobile food and beverage ordering module. Most, however, focused exclusively on staff-facing functionality, except for the booking engine.

Only four products (three younger companies – Mews, Shiji, and Stayntouch, plus one more established one – Maestro PMS) stood out as having rethought the process to recognize the growing importance of fully integrated self-service for all or most hotel functions. I cannot say for sure that their underlying code follows the principles as completely as the websites suggest; there are always compromises. But if I were in the market for a PMS today, I would be looking for a company that has fully internalized self-service. Not many meet this criterion today; I hope to see many more in the coming months and years.

I only reviewed the websites of the larger PMS companies. There are at least 1000 PMS products in the market globally, more than anyone can look at in detail. Among all of these are certainly others that share this design. Some of these products are quite good and are viable for certain hotels now. But they typically support only limited geographic regions or market segments, and consequently have not achieved the scale that would make them a credible solution for mainstream companies with multiple hotels scattered across multiple locations. There are undoubtedly a few undiscovered diamonds in the rough, but unfortunately the number is small.

‍Conclusion

‍As an industry, we talk about the need to embrace the digital guest, but that does not simply mean putting an app on their phone that communicates (often imperfectly or erratically) with your PMS via APIs. A truly connected experience requires a truly connected architecture, where the staff and guest use the same underlying systems and logic, just with different UIs and security parameters. As you start to think about YOUR next PMS, try looking at it from the guest standpoint, not just your staff’s.

Click here to read more of Doug's column:

Definitely Doug 11/3/23: The Next Generation of Property Management Systems

Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas

Unifocus Celebrates 25 Years of Hospitality Innovation

Unifocus, the global leader in workforce management solutions for the hotel and hospitality industry, proudly marks its 25th anniversary. With a culture of innovation, Unifocus remains at the forefront of shaping workforce technology for hotels, setting industry standards.

unifocus.com

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Mews Welcomes Hospitality Innovator Wouter Geerts as new Director of Market Research & Intelligence

Mews, an industry-leading hospitality cloud, has announced that Wouter Geerts has joined its team in the role of Director of Market Research & Intelligence. www.mews.com

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UrVenue Adds Director of Partnerships Position with the Hiring of Nicole Navitsky

To support its rapid growth and streamline integrations among the vendor community, UrVenue has hired Nicole Navitsky as Director of Partnerships. In this newly created position, Navitsky is responsible for driving sustainable growth and ensuring that UrVenue – pioneer of the hospitality industry’s first official Property Experience Management System (PXMS) – delivers an exceptional product for its hotel customers and technology partners.

urvenue.com

Maestro Seeing Growth in the U.K. Hotel Market Due to All-In-One PMS, Unified Guest Experiences

Coming off the heels of the Independent Hotel Show in London last week, Maestro PMS is seeing a surge of new business across the United Kingdom. Already the global provider of Web Browser based cloud and on-premises all-in-one property-management system for independent hotels is signing deals post event and the outlook for growth in this region shows no signs of slowing. www.maestropms.com

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The Gotham Hotel Switches to Mews to Unlock More Revenue and Personalized Stays

Mews, a leader in hospitality technology, has been selected by The Gotham Hotel to manage their upscale rooms and suites while catering to the needs of the luxury traveler. www.mews.com

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Mews Adds Expedia Group to its Collection of Direct OTA Integrations

Mews, an industry-leading hospitality cloud, has released a bespoke integration to Expedia Group that allows properties to connect the leading Online Travel Agencies (OTA) directly to Mews PMS. www.mews.com

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GauVendi’s feature-based Inventory Management Platform now available on Oracle Cloud Marketplace

GauVendi, a leading provider of an AI driven, feature-based inventory management platform and a member of Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), announced its solution is available on Oracle Cloud Marketplace and integrates with OPERA Cloud Platform via Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP). Oracle Cloud Marketplace is a centralized repository of enterprise applications offered by Oracle and Oracle partners.www.oracle.com/partnernetwork

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Amadeus Extends Partnership Agreement with Hilton for Business Intelligence Solutions

For hoteliers, having a clear picture of performance for the coming months is essential to understand booking trends and stay ahead in a competitive industry. To address this need, Amadeus and Hilton have extended their partnership agreement to provide Hilton access to Amadeus’ comprehensive hospitality industry data, including historical and 12 months of forward-looking market insights to power revenue management strategies.www.amadeus-hospitality.com

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Katathani Collection Grows Resort Revenue by 15 Percent with IDeaS G3 RMS

IDeaS, a SAS company, the world’s leading provider of hotel revenue management software and services, today announced that Katathani Collection has grown revenues across two of its resort properties by 15 percent with IDeaS G3 Revenue Management System (RMS.) Katathani Collection adopted IDeaS G3 RMS across two properties: Katathani Phuket Beach Resort and The Shore.

ideas.com

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H-Hotels.com Maximizes Revenue by Joining Amadeus’ Demand360 Business Intelligence Program

One of Germany’s largest hotel operators, the H-Hotels Group, based in Hessen, Germany, has expanded its existing partnership with Amadeus and added the use of Amadeus’ Demand360 business intelligence solution for its properties. www.amadeus-hospitality.com

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The Best Just Got Bigger: PPDS Launches New ‘Sized Up’ 32” Philips Tableaux ePaper Display Including Latest E Ink Spectra 6 Technology for Hospitality Environments

PPDS, an exclusive global provider of Philips Professional Displays and complementary solutions, is delighted to announce the latest evolution of its multi-award-winning ePaper signage range, with the launch of the new 32” (16:9) Philips Tableaux 5150I for hotel and other hospitality environments. www.ppds.com

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Travel Outlook's Annette, The Virtual Hotel Agent™ Revolutionizes the Caller Experience at Camelback Resort

Because of the high call volume it receives throughout the resort, the team at Camelback Resort turned to Travel Outlook to find ways to support its team to allow them to work more closely with in-house guests and focus their attention to day-to-day operations. To address this challenge, Camelback asked Travel Outlook to install Annette, The Virtual Hotel Agent™ to answer many of the more frequently asked guest questions.

traveloutlook.com

Juniper Preserve Resort Selects INTELITY Platform to Enhance Digital Guest Experience

INTELITY, provider of hospitality’s leading guest experience and staff management platform, has announced today a deal with Juniper Preserve Resort in Bend, Oregon. www.intelity.com

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Onyx CenterSource Announces GroupPay Product Integration and Partnership with Cvent, to Launch in Late 2023

Onyx CenterSource, a leading global provider of B2B payments and business intelligence to the hospitality industry, has announced a new integration between its GroupPay payment platform and Cvent, an industry-leading meetings, events and hospitality technology provider. In addition, Onyx announced a Cvent partnership. www.OnyxCenterSource.com

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Knowland's Market Segmentation Analysis Feature Now Available for Property-Level Hotel Sales Teams

Knowland, the world’s leading provider of data-as-a-service insights on meetings and events for hospitality, announced an add-on feature explicitly designed to help on-property sales teams better understand and target the right group segments booking in their market. www.knowland.com

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M3 Unleashes Cutting-Edge, Next-Generation Accounting Platform

M3 Accounting Services, Inc. (“M3”), the pioneer of hospitality-specific accounting software and the hospitality industry's #1 rated cloud-based accounting, financial reporting, and data management platform, has announced the launch of its new and intuitive, web-based accounting platform, M3 CoreSelect. www.m3as.com

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Comfort Inn St Petersburg North Partners with Hotel Internet Services for Advanced Content Streaming Technology

Hotel Internet Services (HIS), a full-service provider of internet services and solutions for the hospitality industry, has announced the successful deployment of its GuestCast streaming solution by Comfort Inn St Petersburg North. www.hotelwifi.com

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PropTech Leader Allbridge Welcomes the 6,000th Property to the Skyway Platform

Allbridge, a leader in property technology solutions, today announced the 6,000th property to adopt the Skyway PropTech platform. Allbridge's Skyway is tailored to the needs of hospitality and multifamily industries, providing a single pane of glass to manage one property, an ownership group or an entire brand. www.allbridge.com

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Kickapoo Lucky Eagle Casino • Hotel Chooses Agilysys to Elevate Guest and Staff Experiences at Food & Beverage Outlets

Texas casino and hotel bets on leading hospitality technology provider for real-time reporting and analytics to optimize gaming, dining activities and more.www.agilysys.com

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HFTP Announces 2023-2024 Global Executive Committee and Board of Directors

‍Hospitality Financial and Technology Professionals (HFTP) has announced its 2023-2024 Global Executive Committee and Board of Directors. With the addition of four new directors and the progression of Executive Committee roles, these leaders represent a multitude of hospitality segments and disciplines including research, operations, clubs and B2B technology. www.hftp.org

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AHLA Adds Oracle to List of 2023 Technology Acceleration Award Recipients

‍Today, the American Hotel & Lodging Association and its technology committee, HTNG, announced that Oracle Hospitality, in collaboration with PolyAPI, a start-up that brings together the power of GenAI and APIs, received AHLA’s Technology Acceleration Award. www.ahla.com

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HSMAI South Florida Continued the Awarding of its Annual Dr. Peter Ricci Scholarship at the 2023 Annual GALA

‍HSMAI South Florida continued the awarding of its annual Dr. Peter Ricci Scholarship at the 2023 Annual GALA held at the Margaritaville Resort in Hollywood, Florida on October 30, 2023.hsmai.org

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‍HFTP Accepting Proposals for 2024 HITEC North America Education Program

‍HFTP is inviting well-informed hospitality technology professionals to share their expertise and submit a presentation proposal as part of the program development process. The proposal submission period will run through January 10, 2024. HITEC 2024 is scheduled for June 24–27 in Charlotte, N.C. USA. www.hftp.org

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HSMAI and HEDNA Collaborate to Broaden Knowledge Resources and Distribution Opportunities‍

he Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) and the Hotel Electronic Distribution Networking Association (HEDNA) announce a partnership for the mutual benefit of their members and the hospitality industry. hsmai.org

IATA Tests End-to-End Digital Airline Trip‍

‍How to Adopt a Mobile-First Hospitality Experience‍

‍Five Ways Technology Can Ease Staffing Pressure

‍‍How Tours and Activities Can Drive Revenue for Travel Brands

Definitely Doug 11/3/23: The Next Generation of Property Management Systems

It the above describes your PMS, it is obsolete. And PMSs are only just starting to change, in fits and starts.

‍

It the above describes your PMS, it is obsolete. And PMSs are only just starting to change, in fits and starts.

‍Is Your PMS Obsolete?

None of this is rocket science.

‍Who Represents the Next Generation of PMS?

‍Conclusion

Click here to read more of Doug's column:

Definitely Doug 11/3/23: The Next Generation of Property Management Systems

Douglas Rice
Email: douglas.rice@hosptech.net
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ricedouglas

Rich

‍rich@hospitalityupgrade.com