Hotel management has always been a grey area for hoteliers. There’s no doubt that ensuring a positive guest experience is every hotel’s priority. However, unlike multi-property chains, independent properties are usually managed by limited staff, where individuals often undertake multiple responsibilities.
The legacy system simplified hotel management by automating tasks and streamlining reservation management, but the hardware required extensive maintenance and upkeep. As a result, the system was beyond the reach of independent hotels.
The introduction of cloud technology was nothing short of a revolution in this area. By providing software providers with a platform on which they could distribute powerful tools housed in their own servers, independent hotels around the world could implement enterprise-level solutions for the first time!
Legacy systems don’t cut it anymore
Cloud-based systems wiped out maintenance and IT expenses for consumers, who could now purchase an off-the-shelf solution. Not only did this lower costs for hoteliers, it also enabled developers to lower their own training and support costs. As a result, cloud-based systems were more affordable than their legacy counterparts.
Hotels even have the option of subscribing to plans that cater to their specific needs, avoiding unnecessary expenses. They can later upgrade their plan to meet their growing requirements as the business scales. Legacy systems were limited by the infrastructure they were housed in, infrastructure that would later become their tomb – making changes and integrating to other systems was a real challenge as the PMS was not compatible with modern software.
Legacy systems managed to maintain their grip on certain sectors of the industry. Large properties continued to stick to these software as their requirements are quite specific and they have the resources to tailor-make systems that can fulfil these needs.
However, it’s only a matter of time before cloud-based systems completely eradicate the legacy PMS – even the international chains are gradually beginning to switch over to the cloud.
The future belongs to the cloud
The landscape of hospitality has drastically changed over the past few decades – guest travelling trends are always evolving and hotels that do not cater to these shifting patterns will risk losing out. For instance, the mobile platform now occupies a critical part of the guest cycle. Hotels need to ensure compatibility and that they have a responsive, mobile optimized booking engine. International travel has also grown rapidly over the past decade, and even property owners are constantly on the move. A cloud PMS addresses all these concerns. With so many benefits to cloud-based management, it’s not surprising to see a number of legacy system providers like HSS disappear altogether – they’ve been pushed out of relevance by their cloud-based counterparts!
It’s not just hospitality, almost every industry in the world will soon be on the cloud. It’s only a matter of time before this gives rise to a highly efficient, cross-industry ecosystem – the scope for simplifying operations such as logistics is massive! Cloud-based systems can also integrate in real-time with other powerful tools like revenue management, distribution, customer relation management and accounting systems.
Hotels that still choose to put-off cloud migration are failing to make the most of their potential in today’s highly competitive marketplace. Things might look great the way they are and managers may not have any overwhelming reason to make the switch, but by the time realization does kick in, it could be too late. If your hotel isn’t on the cloud yet, start planning now – adoption hasn’t peaked yet and the earlier you get your property on the platform, the better!