Has your hotel property management system moved to the cloud yet? Hotels of all sizes are migrating «above property» to gain a myriad of benefits, including greater reliability, cost savings, mobility, and a reduction of IT support staff. Cloud hotel property management systems such as the SkyTouch Hotel OS® enable hoteliers to manage their properties more effectively and efficiently from anywhere with an internet connection, while simultaneously offering better experiences for their guests.
This shift to the cloud signals an exciting new era in hotel property management, but it also brings about the need to educate the industry on how to embrace the influx of new technologies and changes. SkyTouch Technology and other hospitality industry organizations are partnering with Hotel Technology Next Generation (HTNG) to do just that. The HTNG Above Property Systems Workgroup has dedicated itself to guiding and educating hotels and vendors as they migrate to above property management solutions. The workgroup hopes its efforts will instill confidence in hotels during the transition process while minimizing risk and disruption.
While many industries are adapting cloud-based solutions, the hospitality industry has much to gain by embracing the cloud. Above property systems are hosted and maintained off-site, eliminating the extra stress and costs associated with purchasing and storing equipment on the hotel property. A cloud hotel PMS gives the hotelier the freedom and flexibility to manage offsite, multi-task, and focus more time and attention on addressing guests’ needs. Yet, the transition to above property management also requires a plan in place to ensure seamless updating of outdated legacy systems with newer ones and interoperability between any on-premise and above property systems. Before making the move, hotel managers need to have a thorough understanding of the criteria for selecting a cloud-based vendor, potential impact on their financial model, compliance and regulatory considerations, and the various technical considerations they may encounter.
The goal of SkyTouch Technology and other industry players within the HTNG Above Property Systems Workgroup, is to introduce a common framework and understanding of the expectations among parties around critical issues such as data ownership, security, termination rights, and support. The workgroup’s efforts will result in a list of materials and best practices for selecting and implementing an above property system, architecting interoperability between hotel property management systems, and a checklist of considerations that hotels can utilize to safely, confidently, and effectively take their legacy hotel PMS above property.
Hotels interested in learning more about the route to going above property can visit the HTNG Above Property Systems Workgroup online at http://wiki.htng.org/mediawiki/?title=Above_Property_Systems
