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Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

The company is in prototype on a social media integration project that would, among other things, let guests book a room through Facebook and then send a confirmation text to their mobile device.

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

The company is in prototype on a social media integration project that would, among other things, let guests book a room through Facebook and then send a confirmation text to their mobile device.

The company is in prototype on a social media integration project that would, among other things, let guests book a room through Facebook and then send a confirmation text to their mobile device.

The company is in prototype on a social media integration project that would, among other things, let guests book a room through Facebook and then send a confirmation text to their mobile device.

What’s still not clear is the extent to which social media can and should be integrated into formal property systems, so that user-generated content can be stored, mined, analyzed and tracked.

What’s still not clear is the extent to which social media can and should be integrated into formal property systems, so that user-generated content can be stored, mined, analyzed and tracked.

“One of the promises of the cloud is that it becomes easier to integrate, so you can go more best-of-breed in your solution choice, but you still have issues with data structure and architecture.”

What’s still not clear is the extent to which social media can and should be integrated into formal property systems, so that user-generated content can be stored, mined, analyzed and tracked.

What’s still not clear is the extent to which social media can and should be integrated into formal property systems, so that user-generated content can be stored, mined, analyzed and tracked.

“One of the promises of the cloud is that it becomes easier to integrate, so you can go more best-of-breed in your solution choice, but you still have issues with data structure and architecture.”

“One of the promises of the cloud is that it becomes easier to integrate, so you can go more best-of-breed in your solution choice, but you still have issues with data structure and architecture.”

If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

next year.

next year.

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,” says Nickelson, whose 2,000 acre property is located in North Carolina’s rural heartland. “If I look at it from a city hotel perspective, absolutely; there’d be no downfall to cloud.”

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

Over the long-term, the result is the same: a massive, impending re-architecting of how properties are managed.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

The industry is also mid-stream in a massive replacement cycle, with 40% planning to upgrade their PMS by the end of next year.

Hotel management systems are shifting from on-property to cloud-based, from tethered to mobile, from data-heavy to insight-rich.

A significant chunk of hotel IT budgets -- 19% -- is spent on property management systems (PMS)

Some are ready to embrace cloud-based solutions; others want to expand their mobile capabilities; and others are excited about the possibilities rich data can provide in personalizing the guest experience

I think it’s really about the ability of the PMS to grow with the changing need. What we need today isn’t what we needed just two years ago

Both Nickelson and Yelley are experiencing different symptoms stemming from the same challenge: better integration between systems.

Every vendor and most of the hoteliers HT spoke to predicted that property management systems would eventually migrate to the cloud.

“We’re an hour and a half from a major metropolitan area. There are enough providers selling the bandwidth we’d need for redundancy in a true web-based cloud environment,”

“Just because they’re in the cloud doesn’t make it easier to integrate,

I agree, from a PMS standpoint, that I want to know everything about a guest when they show up at the front desk. I should be able to see that you’ve stayed with me, and if you posted about our hotel in our social space, and if it was a complaint.

By making use of cloud computing, as a hotelier, you pay only for what you demand. It specifies that your upfront costs are kept low as you are only paying for the computing power and cloud storage which your hotel actually needs.

The need for hardware overload in your hotel is brought down, because of which your electricity bills are also reduced by a huge margin.

also shortens the project time resulting in costs cutting and higher productivity.

An added advantage of cloud computing is that it frees your staff from their otherwise fixed terminals and lets them work independently and even more efficiently.

increased in the speed at which the guests access the products and services, thus only creating seamless hotel experiences for them.

Also, one of the major benefits is the real-time update — it makes the process much smoother and cheaper, and saves a lot of time.

However, when you put your hotel process and management on the cloud, it provides you with the flexibility to access it and work on it from any part of the world — all you need is a steady internet connection and a smart device (a laptop, or a computer, or mobile phone or tablet.)

When it comes to the benefits of cloud computing in the hospitality industry, the list includes enhanced guest experiences, massive reduction in costs, faster services and their seamless access, software and service security, and more flexibility.

cloud computing has transformed businesses

hospitality industry, cloud computing has done wonders

reshaped the structure of the industry

from increasing operational efficiency to lowering the management costs.

better guest experience and increase the revenue of the property.

ringing down costs like energy, hardware and operations

increasing inclination towards the use of cloud computing in the hospitality industry, they don’t need to always rely on travel agents all the time

hotel check-ins can be done from smartphones or tablets

cloud computing has transformed businesses

cloud-based services are now replacing the old and traditional systems at all levels. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Software as a service (SaaS), and platform as a service (PaaS) have all become the first choice of cloud computing services for many hospitality businesses. And they are all charged up with the amazing benefits of cloud computing.

Over the past few years, cloud computing has transformed businesses from across the world, irrespective of their industry. Today, the demand anytime, anywhere access has skyrocketed, and cloud computing is delivering just that — all you need is an internet connection with good bandwidth.

businesses don’t have to burden themselves by storing data in traditional in-house servers; rather, they can opt for a cloud service that would store their data in secured data centres.

There are several benefits of using the cloud and they have helped several hotels across the world to strengthen up their business — from increasing operational efficiency to lowering the management costs.

Advantages Of Cloud Computing For Hotel Industry

In the hospitality industry, Cloud Computing is a mixture of PaaS, SaaS and IaaS. It operates on the model of Use, Builds, and Migrate.

By making use of cloud computing, as a hotelier, you pay only for what you demand. It specifies that your upfront costs are kept low as you are only paying for the computing power and cloud storage which your hotel actually needs.

Hoteliers Can Cut Huge Business Costs With Cloud Computing

cloud computing can benefit hoteliers by bringing down costs like energy, hardware and operations. The need for hardware overload in your hotel is brought down, because of which your electricity bills are also reduced by a huge margin. Cloud computing in the hospitality industry also shortens the project time resulting in costs cutting and higher productivity. Hence, if you shift your software services to the cloud, your hotel business would witness a significant number of opportunities.

Cloud Computing Leads To Improved & Enhanced Guest Experiences

The two main purposes of an efficient and effective hotel PMS are: offer the hotel staff the best set of management tools assist you to ensure the top-notch guest experience

An added advantage of cloud computing is that it frees your staff from their otherwise fixed terminals and lets them work independently and even more efficiently.

Being on the cloud also means that hotel check-ins can be done from smartphones or tablets and not only through the hotel front desk.

Direct Bookings Are Made Easy With Cloud Computing

There was a time when hotels used to payout huge commissions for bookings to the online as well as offline travel agencies. However, with the increasing inclination towards the use of cloud computing in the hospitality industry, they don’t need to always rely on travel agents all the time. Hotels can upgrade their hotel website with cloud-powered services such as web booking engine that can be integrated to the hotel PMS. Also, one of the major benefits is the real-time update — it makes the process much smoother and cheaper, and saves a lot of time.

Cloud Computing In Hospitality Industry Makes Working Remotely Possible When you as a hotelier is not present in the property, managing the operations gets a little tougher. However, when you put your hotel process and management on the cloud, it provides you with the flexibility to access it and work on it from any part of the world — all you need is a steady internet connection and a smart device (a laptop, or a computer, or mobile phone or tablet.)

Cloud-based hotel software has been shown to boost productivity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness

Additionally, through the centralization of operations, hoteliers can eliminate the need for on-premise servers at each property

In fact, the hotel group, Triple C Hotels and Resorts, reported a 60% savings on software costs when they switched to Cloudbeds’ cloud-based hospitality software

For example, Cloudbeds hospitality software implements periodic auto-logoff features that require users to re-enter their password, two-factor authentication for an added level of user verification, and automatic removal of guest credit card data after 14 days

The high-level security standards followed by cloud-based hotel software is due in part to its rigid compliance with PCI requirements.

Unlike locally installed software, one of the more attractive elements of using a cloud-based hotel software system is the ability to adapt, grow, and integrate with future trends

Unlike conventional hotel software models that require hoteliers to purchase licenses and hardware, cloud-based hotel software is sold as a service that enables clients to add on as many or as few tools and features as needed.

In fact, a study by Frost and Sullivan showed that businesses can cut IT costs in half by implementing cloud-based computing solutions to customer support.

ability to host a property management system (PMS) from a remote location, allowing hoteliers to access property data from anywhere in the world with an internet connection. This feature is unique to cloud-based software and eliminates the need for hoteliers to be physically present at their property to be able to check in on daily management operations.

Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing

Give staff more mobility and accessibility around the property

next two to three years hoteliers are expected to invest 7-8% more on cloud technology

an spend more time attending to guests

ransitioning to a cloud-based hotel software solution can seem like a daunting task at first

Accelerate hotel check-in / out

Eliminate the need for manual data sharing and processing

customizable

In an industry that is always changing, this kind of flexibility is priceless.

across multiple properties simultaneously

faster for operations, online booking and customer service.  

frequent security updates t

Cyber attacks and tighter regulations on privacy policies have made the need to protect guest information more important than ever. This topic is a main concern for those considering switching to a cloud-based PMS system since data servers are hosted off premises.

Switching to the cloud from a client server platform pays off with a big drop in both the initial capital outlay and the ongoing operating costs for the property management and other systems.

pects of a franchisee’s business, from guest check-ins and housekeeping services to billing and finances. Over time new features have been rolled into the software platform making it more robust and useful for hotel owners—it’s currently distributed in eight countries and available in four languages. And while plenty of cloud-based PMS packages are now available from third-party vendors like Micros, Maestro, and RoomKey, Choice’s internal solution has garnered its fair share of attention. “We had been getting knocks on the door from IT vendors at other hotel companies and individual Choice franchisees that own other brands, saying they were interested in our product,” says Pacious, “So we set up a new division so we could take a look at other opportunities we could develop.” This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles attachment-3

his led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system. Pages: 1 2 3 4 2013-06-18 Sean Downey !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); (function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); (function() { var po = document.createElement('script'); po.type = 'text/javascript'; po.async = true; po.src = 'https://apis.google.com/js/plusone.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(po, s); })(); (function() { var li = document.createElement('script'); li.type = 'text/javascript'; li.async = true; li.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https:' : 'http:') + '//platform.stumbleupon.com/1/widgets.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(li, s); })(); inShare0 Related Articles Hotel Market Insight: Cleveland a

This led the company to launch SkyTouch last year, a new division that develops and markets cloud-based software solutions to hotels inside and outside the Choice system.

When an application is “cloud based” it means that it lives on third party servers.

Avoids costly and painful installations

Eliminates negative depreciation (in fact, the software gets better with age, since updates can be made at any time) 

Pushes software companies to consistently earn customer loyalty with innovation and great service

No discussion of cloud computing in the hotel industry would be complete without mentioning Cloudbeds, the first property management system startup in years to serve 1 million beds with its software.

Hotels that use Cloudbeds log into it directly in a web browser like Internet Explorer or Chrome. This is a big advantage for hotels because you can access the application on any device.

When a system is cloud-based, it can innovate faster because changes can take effect immediately.

Implementing cloud-based software can make your operations more efficient, save time for your employees, and create more positive guest experiences.

Another reason for Cloudbeds’ rapid growth is that their software can easily integrate with other tools. Cloudbeds has an extensive marketplace of integration partners, including Whistle, TrustYou, and Oaky, that it can connect to via an API. Because everything is located in the cloud, a hotel doesn’t need to download any programs or plug-ins to add a new integration. These add-ons can offer upgrades and analyze reviews, among other things, so you can improve guest service and even earn incremental revenue.

if you want a more efficient, streamlined back office and happier guests, then “the cloud” can help you meet your goals

if you want a more efficient, streamlined back office and happier guests, then “the cloud” can help you meet your goals

Implementing cloud-based software can make your operations more efficient, save time for your employees, and create more positive guest experiences.

“The cloud” wasn’t created overnight; instead, decades of technological evolution led to cloud computing.

It is crucial for tourism and hospitality practitioners to proactively incorporate new technologies into their businesses as these will improve service quality and differentiate their products and services.

In order to be able to follow the increasing guests' requests for qualitative services, it is mandatory for hotel management to constantly work on improving its functions and operations. For this it is necessary to keep track of innovations in sectors outside the hospitality, like IT sector that works on creating, developing and introducing new technologies

Hospitality is one of targeted sector that is considered appropriate for application of cloud technologies and services. Hotel Management System or widely known as Property Management System (PMS) is one of the system where IT practitioners saw the chance for improvement by ''moving it to the cloud''.

Hotels will be forced to upgrade their current systems so that they can respond to various and changeable guests' habits and requirements. However, until today, there was not enough academic papers related to usage of cloud technology in hospitality industry even though this sector is under continuous changes caused by usage of new technologies which made search, evaluation and payment of the hotel rooms easier than ever.

After comparing the two groups of hotels, from which one was using desktop PMS and other group cloud- based PMS, the results of the research were derived and presented. In conclusion of the paper, challenges with which the hotels are facing and which affect their decision of starting to use cloud- based technology as well as recommendation for future work will be discussed.

As stated by the Sharif (2010), cloud computing is the latest technology that is being introduced by the IT industry as the next (potential) revolution to change how the internet and information systems operate. The term “cloud” was probably inspired by IT text books’ illustrations which depicted remote environments (the Internet) as cloud images in order to conceal the complexity that lies behind them (Sultan,2010).

The goal of a new computing world is to develop software for millions to consume by easily accessing it over a network. Cloud service providers are making profit by charging consumers for accessing these services.

Products offered via this mode include the remote delivery (through the Internet) of a full computer infrastructure (e.g., virtual computers, servers, storage devices, etc.); the building blocks of an IT enterprise.

Services provided in this category include CPU processing on demand, virtual Web hosting, and storage on demand. The most notable vendors are Amazon’s EC2, GoGrid’s Cloud Servers, and Joyent.

With cloud computing, services and applications that were managed locally in the past requiring hardware, operating systems, web servers, as well as teams of network, database and system management experts are now provided remotely by cloud providers under this layer.

Cloud computing services can be adopted by firms in three different forms (Goscinski and Brock, 2010):

Public clouds - online applications that are open to everyone for free, such as Google

Private clouds - involves firms deploying key enabling technologies, such as virtualization and multi-tenant applications, to create their own private cloud database

Hybrid clouds - mix of the previous two types that are emerging with the intention of providing clients with a level of “control” over their resources

The cloud offers enterprises the option of scalability without the financial commitments required for infrastructure purchase and maintenance.

Reallocating information management operational activities to the cloud offers businesses a unique opportunity to focus efforts on innovation and research and development. This allows for business and product growth and may be even more beneficial than the financial advantages offered by the cloud.

These investments and efforts for a new technology to be presented open a new progress circle of technology advancements and it continues in the same way.

When creating software or an application for a hotel, IT personnel have to possess a certain level of flexibility, openness and creativity. On the other hand, hotel employees are expected to have more insightful and openminded approach towards new ways of performing business operations, sometimes take risks and have experiences with using different programs and applications.

A hotel's PMS can gather and keep valuable information about hotel guests by incorporating business intelligence tools which help hoteliers organize and make sense of the gathered data. Regardless of whether room reservations come from Online Travel Agency, Global Distribution Systems or by telephone, all of them are gathered, stored and managed in the PMS.

low investment costs were main reason for hotels from Group B to decide in favor of cloud based version.

Business intelligence options provide hoteliers with a threedimensional view of guest data, which allows easily statistical reporting and increased hotel management efficiency.

The aim of this study was to investigate the difference in practical usage of the two types of PMS systems – cloud based and classical (desktop) ones.

On the question about the reasons for using the current PMS type in hotels, answers of Group A were based on usage of their current PMS for years and on the fact that employees in all hotel departments were used to work on it. As time passed by, hotels upgraded their system to new versions for several times and additional customization was implemented with regard to hotel preferences.

Hotels from Group B were consisted of relatively new boutique hotels that operate for more than a year and from those that were not using any kind of PMS solution (they were using Excel tables and creating reservation records manually). The reason why hotels from this group wanted to use cloud PMS was a desire to try the latest technology used in hospitality industry.

Other reasons for using it were: PMS could be reached from any place where Internet connection is available, simple but effective design with lots of visual solutions, more options to enter the important information and the fact that it is working not only on any PC but also on any mobile device due to its mobile applications.

Simplicity of the cloud based property management system allows it to be productive. Cloud based PMS's can operate on any advice that has a web browser and the companies are putting their efforts to make it even more friendly on smaller devices like tablets and smart phones.

The similar amount of initial investments were confirmed by the Group A. Being considered as great amount of money for newly opened and small sized hotels to invest, management decided to try out the cloud version which allows access to this system based on monthly subscription with very little or no investment cost, depending on the solution provider.

After initial investments in the system implementation, hardware, software and training of employees, every year hotel makes a one-year-based contract for additional support services and, if needed, extra training. Support is provided any time a hotel reports an issue or malfunction by directly connecting to hotel's computer through remote programs.

Changes are made either for each hotel at a time, or after releasing new version, when provider try to convince all the current users to upgrade to it. Upgrade is provided by the extra charge, so these costs should be also considered during planning investments in classical PMS.

Regardless of which type of system they used, all participants were very careful about and interested in the matter of data security.

However, it is totally different situation with cloud based system, which is mainly open system where all authorized users and providers from outside have access to. Of course, it is up to hotel management to whom the authorization rights will be given and being an open system it makes support, development and innovation activities much easier. Cloud based PMS are hosted on some of the world's best known servers so there is no need for additional computers to be used as servers.

Although there are some great differences in functions and way of managing regarding classical and cloud based system, both have their advantages from which hotels do not want to give up.

One of the biggest advantages of cloud based PMS for the Group B is the fact that this system can be directly integrated with hotel online booking engine. This is considered as a great advantage for the hotels that besides having functional web site, wish to maximize use of its online booking engine, receive more online reservations directly from the guests and gain more profit.

Such a functional connection between hotel’s PMS and online reservation system allow hotels to have a social media integration as well. This means that hotels are able to receive online reservation through their Facebook page as well as receive direct links to its page from the biggest review sites such as TripAdvior.com.

In this paper two different approaches and perspectives on usage of cloud based and classical hotel management systems were exposed. Hotels from Group B have shown a tendency for usage of new technologies and readiness to adopt and continuously learn about them.

Among factors, affecting why hotel prefers one system over another, are type and size of hotel, through which channels are guest reservations coming, previous experience with IT stuff and different programs, etc.

Cloud based program can help them in order to update prices and room availability information to hotel's booking engine. This prevents overbooking, provides easily management of CRM functions and information, with no first investment costs or extra expenses which results in revenue increase.

Hotels that use classical PMS pay a great attention to the security issue because they do not want to risk opening their hotel for external intervention. In recent years we can find in media lots of evidence of information linkage from system that had much higher security measures than an average hotel.

Measuring the performance of cloud-provided services is another challenge for the hotel management, primarily due to the lack of measurement standards.

While investigating the previous knowledge about the other system solutions, hotels in Group A have claimed lack of information about the cloud technology and its solutions.

Even though IT stuff in these hotels has some basic knowledge about it, it is still not enough to convince the other managers about its benefits. Therefore it may be concluded that, besides trying to overcome the above mentioned challenges, developers of cloud based solutions to hotels should also work hard on training the potential clients about the positive aspects and correct usage of cloud technologies.

Lack of measurement standards for cloud-provided services in general as well as for hotels is another important limitation due to which qualitative research was conducted. Authors’ recommendation is that academicians should focus more on topics of cloud computing, cloud solutions for other business operations and on defining measurements standards for cloud services.

Real-time data means real-time solutions to situations before they become problems. Just think of the time and money you’ll save by identifying issues before they blow out of proportion

Instead of printing out lengthy reports for every shift, now you can access your insights from any smart device—such as your computer, phone, or tablet—and get updated sales, inventory, customer feedback, and more, no matter where you are. 

Legacy systems only allow on-premise access to data, which means you have to be in your restaurant in order to access the information on your POS system.

If you anticipate growth or change, a cloud-based POS system is better enabled to grow with you. 

While buying up all of the necessary technology to get a cloud-based POS system off the ground may seem expensive, they tend to have cheaper operating costs in the long run and some, like Upserve, offer free support 24/7/365. 

With a cloud-based restaurant POS, you have the ability to add on a mobile POS unit that provides a number of benefits.

That decrease in time spent waiting for their check or credit card to return to the table also increases guest satisfaction, boosting your reputation. A mobile restaurant POS also provides contactless payments with a built-in EMV reader, minimizing the exchange between servers and guests – something that is particularly important in this moment.

Cloud-based POS systems update automatically and for free, just like the apps on your mobile device, while traditional POS systems require manual updates that can be labor intensive and costly. 

The beauty of the cloud-based POS format is how scalable and customizable it is—it can work for single-location full service and quick service restaurants, multi-location restaurants, and restaurant groups alike. 

Whether it’s updating your menu on the regular, launching new or improved loyalty programs, or requiring more precise inventory tracking, the more your needs will shift over time, the more sense it makes to opt for cloud-based.

If the internet ever goes down, the system that your legacy POS relies on will be offline and non-functional. Luckily, on a cloud-based restaurant POS system you have the option of switching to offline mode as a back-up. You’ll stay up and running until the internet is able to connect again.

Thanks to the cloud and its encrypted online storage, there’s no risk of hardware or software incompatibility or failure, no viruses or driver hiccups, and no risk of a hard drive accidentally deleting a weekend’s worth of sales reports. It’s all backed up, automatically. 

Plus, younger generations of workers—think millennials and Gen Zs—will be able to get right on board with a cloud-based POS solution with little-to-no training.

Customers will feel good knowing their credit card information is secure and encrypted with the most up-to-date technology. 

No matter what type of establishment, your cloud-based POS can track every last drop of product, allowing you to spot discrepancies in an instant and fix gaps before they become problematic.

Hardware costs are separate from service, and maintenance and support services often come with a hefty fee. 

While traditional POS systems certainly have lower start-up costs, they tend to come with plenty of hidden costs that reveal themselves over time.

upfront costs are kept to a minimum and monthly subscription fees are lower. 

Best of all, instant free upgrades mean no lost revenue from downtime or inconvenient hardware upgrades as your business grows. Instead, plans can be upgraded or downgraded at will, and most providers don’t even charge a fee for the trouble. 

If you have existing setups in place, many third-party vendors have upgraded apps for cloud POS systems to help you maintain your current rewards and promotions planning. 

Most studies are showing that those who switched are sticking with a cloud-based solution, and that legacy POS systems will only decline moving forward.

After over three decades with a legacy POS system that only slowed them down, they made the move to a cloud-based POS to bring their restaurants into the future.

“Our restaurants are chef-driven, so we have specials that change every day. We need to add buttons every day. We change pricing every day. Having to stop and reset all the terminals because it’s not instantaneous was a headache.”

Not only did constant resets of the system create roadblocks for the team at Homegrown Hospitality, but service was also less than stellar and cost more than what it was worth.

We went through a lot of pain—our system would crash all the time, credit cards wouldn’t spool, and data would be lost. Our IT department would spend numerous hours a week just trying to recover data,” Simon explained.

“That was pretty much the breaking point: we were at the point where we needed to upgrade, but it would have cost us several hundred thousand dollars. So we decided to source something new. The functionality and capability of Upserve won us over.”

, how it’s hosted, and who has access to it.

A completely on-premises cloud may be the preferred solution for businesses with very tight regulatory requirements,

The great advantage of a public cloud is its versatility and “pay as you go” structure that allows customers to provision more capacity on demand.

On the downside, the essential infrastructure and operating system of the public cloud remain under full control of the cloud provider

Public clouds typically have massive amounts of available space, which translates into easy scalability

A cloudbursting model uses the public cloud’s computing resources to supplement the private cloud, allowing the company to handle increased traffic without having to purchase new servers or other infrastructure.

less economical model than the public cloud

private clouds lack the versatility of public clouds

Simply put, hybrid clouds combine public clouds with private clouds

The primary advantage of a hybrid cloud model is its ability to provide the scalable computing power of a public cloud with the security and control of a private cloud

A misconception about both colocation and the cloud is that they’re an “either-or” investment. As mentioned, the two can be deployed together as part of a hybrid cloud model, enabling more streamlined application management

it can be cost effective, though the initial expenditure for the private cloud should be considered

work with a service provider who has significant experience in the the hybrid cloud model as there are potential performance and security risk inherent to the need for the two different servers (public and private) to communicate and share data.

Although not as commonly used as the other three models, community clouds are a collaborative, multi-tenant platform used by several distinct organizations to share the same applications.

scalability is a benefit

system remains highly flexible,

The shared storage and bandwidth can create issues with prioritization and performance as servers adjust to demands

In some cases, a single public cloud isn’t enough to meet an organization’s computing needs. They turn instead to multi-clouds, a more complex hybrid cloud example that combines a private cloud with multiple public cloud services

IaaS is the most comprehensive and flexible type of cloud service available. Essentially, it provides a completely virtualized computing infrastructure that is provisioned and managed over the internet.

Situated a bit higher up the cloud computing pyramid is PaaS

PaaS provides the framework needed to build, test, deploy, manage, and update software products

SaaS is a fully-developed software solution ready for purchase and use over the internet on a subscription basis

If controlling the environment is essential, as are tight security regulations because of your industry, private cloud solutions offer both security and control.

when looking for a cloud services provider, you want to choose a company that not only knows, but understands your business or industry

The bottom line is this: if you are in the market for a colocation partner, you want to make your research process as exhaustive as possible. Consider all possible scenarios, all possible needs, and how your provider can meet or exceed your service expectations while partnering with you for succes

first database management systems

The hospitality industry is at “a tipping point in terms of cloud adoption”, with hoteliers expected to invest 7 – 8% more in cloud technology over the next 2 to 3 years.

Cloud-based hotel management systems

hosted by the vendor’s server rather than the hotel’s

On-site hotel management software, managed by the hotel’s IT team, comes with considerable upfront, maintenance and running costs.

business can save 50% with cloud computing solutions

limitless flexibility to work with the vendors of their choice

cost of general operational and maintenance fees,

are part of the package and covered by the vendor

personalized experiences with the help of captured customer information

With traditional software, hoteliers are limited to standalone software packages

The reality is that with traditional hotel management software, adding and removing resources is difficult and hoteliers are essentially stuck with one system until the license expiry date

cloud-based hotel management systems are entirely scalable – they have an unlimited capacity to expand

One of the biggest strengths of a cloud-based hotel management system is that it can be easily connected to other software applications, even if these applications don’t share the same provider.

Cloud-based applications are offered as software as a service (SaaS)

The hospitality industry is at “a tipping point in terms of cloud adoption”, with hoteliers expected to invest 7 – 8% more in cloud technology over the next 2 to 3 years.

Cloud-based hotel management systems – or, simply put, systems hosted by the vendor’s server rather than the hotel’s – give hoteliers a single, scalable system from which to manage every aspect of their hotel business.

A Frost & Sullivan study showed that business can save 50% with cloud computing solutions. The apparition of the cloud and its flexible pricing has slashed businesses’ hardware costs, making it possible for even hotels with small budgets to run an advanced management system.

SaaS hotel management systems are pay-as-you-go. Therefore, rather than having to pay a large sum for a long-term commitment, hoteliers can pay smaller amounts on a regular basis.

The cloud lets hoteliers record this data – their preferences, transactions and behavior – every time the customer interacts in some way with their hotel, such as ordering room service, eating in the hotel restaurant or even booking a day trip or spa session.They can then use this data to make suggestions based on the customer’s preferences and behavior.

Secondly, they enable you to provide guests with the convenience and seamless experience they expect, even before they step into the hotel reception. Armed with a cloud-based system, you can give your guests the convenience they now expect from a hotel stay, such as booking rooms on their mobile phones or accessing their room from an app, to name a few examples.

with traditional hotel management software, adding and removing resources is difficult and hoteliers are essentially stuck with one system until the license expiry date. You’re in a contract, with very little wiggle room.

Cloud-based software gives hoteliers a hotel management system that facilitates rather than restricts business operations. Unlike their on-site predecessors, cloud-based hotel management systems are entirely scalable – they have an unlimited capacity to expand. They give hoteliers the agility and freedom to add or remove resources in line with their growth and scale their hotel management systems to the services they offer.

One of the biggest strengths of a cloud-based hotel management system is that it can be easily connected to other software applications, even if these applications don’t share the same provider.For hoteliers, this capacity and the possibilities that it brings are revolutionary. They now have limitless flexibility to work with the vendors of their choice and can bundle applications together thereby creating a truly customized management suite that meets their needs.

Cloud-based technology gives hoteliers the key to run smart businesses that are in tune with modern-day travelers, and more profitable.

Services can be requested and provisioned quickly, without the need for manual setup and configuration.

Cloud often uses the multi-tenancy model. This means a single application is shared among several users. So, rather than creating a copy of the application for each user, several users, or "tenants" can configure the application to their specific needs.

Cloud platforms are elastic. An organization can scale its resource usage levels up or down quickly and easily as needs change.

Before cloud computing, companies had to store all their data and software on their own hard drives and servers. The bigger the company, the more storage they needed.

This way of treating data is not scalable at speed

t's not just businesses that benefit from cloud computing. The cloud has transformed our lives as individuals as well.

cloud technology means that companies can scale and adapt at speed and scale, accelerate innovation, drive business agility, streamline operations, and reduce costs.

The first thing to consider is the deployment model—public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and multi-cloud. The next element is the service category—Saas (Software as a Service), Paas (Platform as a Service) and Iaas (Infrastructure as a service). When a company is considering its cloud migration strategy, it must consider both factors.

using an internet connection to access computing resources hosted on data centers managed by a third-party cloud service provider, rather than owning and maintaining these resources on-premise

hyperscalers.

organizations concerned about sharing resources on a public cloud.

A private cloud environment gives you complete control over data and securit

IaaS is the simplest option for businesses. With IaaS, an organization migrates its hardware—renting servers and data storage in the cloud rather than purchasing and maintaining its own infrastructure.

PaaS is a popular choice for businesses who want to create unique applications without making major financial investments.