I went to this year’s HITEC in Toronto in search of three main things: Wi-Fi providers offering personal area networks (PAN), TV providers showcasing casting capabilities, and vendors working in the guest experience and personalization space. On all three accounts, this HITEC delivered.

There were more than 68 vendors touting Wi-Fi on the floor and pretty much all of them have some form of PAN solution. Of all of the companies I visited I would say that the folks at Ruckus continue to lead the industry. The company has a very wide array of product sets that can meet most any brand requirements and owner’s budgets and always work hard on new developments.
 
Interactive TV boasted over 45 exhibitors, and, pretty much all of them tout a method for casting. I found InnSpire to have one of the more seamless solutions, and a neat new way to replace the set top box. Another interesting development in casting was provided by TeleAdapt.
 
For the last few years, my passion has been guest experience and personalization. From my perspective, HITEC this year might have been a coming-out party for experience as every vendor was screaming “experience” in every marketing slick at their disposal. Leveraging off of another of my passions, Lord of the Rings, I’d like to steal the outline: Nine rings for men, seven rings for dwarves, three rings for elves and one ring to rule them all.
 
My nine rings go to newcomers in this space, many of which were in E20X. Though these might be thought of lesser entities at this point in time – just like men – one or more of these vendors might eventually rule the industry. This list includes Angie Hospitality, Arrivedo, GEMtouch, GuestFolder, iPalapa Corporation, Kognitiv, OnceThere Inc., Stay Wanderful and Zootle Inc.
 
The seven rings title goes to companies that have been around for a while, and have begun to make their reputations in this niche. This group is made up of ALICE, Cendyn, Crave Interactive, Guestware, HeBS Digital, Listrak and NAVIS.
 
To be in the three-ring category a company must have established itself as an industry leader, and therefore, Agilysys, Infor and Springer-Miller Systems are recognized.
 
But for me, the one ring that rules them all, is Protel hotelsoftware GmbH. What the industry is sorely lacking is an agnostic service bus. Not only does Protel have this, but the solution also has a very feature rich PMS that it may work with. Protel can be a one-stop shop, but they also sell components, meaning you can buy some of the tools and add them to what you already have. If you haven’t looked at Protel yet, I strongly urge you to set up a demo. I think that they have a strong chance to replace many of the “top” vendors in the PMS space.