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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.

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.

A data centre is a facility used to house computer systems and their components, and it can be far and away the biggest contributor to an organisation’s carbon footprint. A data centre’s life expectancy is relatively long so it is imperative it is built to the highest standards in terms of efficiency as any excess energy use will lead to significant cost implications over the years.

1. Build the most energy-efficient data centre possible. This will save energy and costs over its lifespan. 2. Only get the data storage capacity that is currently required and forecast for the lifespan. Many data centres have excess capacity that burns energy (and therefore costs) unnecessarily. Don’t have servers or equipment that will not be used. 3. Cooling data centres. Traditionally cooling has been done by air circulation, which is very inefficient. Larger data centres already use other technologies to cool more efficiently, such as water cooling. 4. Virtualisation technology. Improve your system’s resource utilisation through virtualisation technology. Virtualisation is the creation of a virtual (rather than actual) version of something, such as an operating system, server, network, etc. and allows a single user to access several physical devices on one terminal. A computing device dedicated to an individual member of staff or allocated for one software application is highly inefficient and expensive. Virtualisation consolidates resources, requiring less power and cooling. 5. Consider cloud computing. This is a location-independent IT service, typically available over the internet, where shared servers provide resources, software and data to computers and other devices on demand, increasing IT capacity and capabilities without an organisation having to invest in new infrastructure. Keeping data virtually, or “in the clouds”, means less information stored on IT systems and therefore less energy being used to run the systems. Systems such as BT’s Virtual Data Centre, a hosted data centre that enables businesses to create, deploy, monitor and manage their own service through a self-service portal, claim to offer savings of up to 40% of the total cost of running one’s own data centre as well as reducing the space required, the level of emissions produced and the power consumed.

6. Measure and monitor power usage. Once you know what’s using the power, focus on why and whether it’s possible to reduce consumption.

1. Upgrade. Before buying new, investigate options to upgrade with the latest energy-efficient components to extend appliances’ working life and efficiency. 2. Green labels. Look out for the certification labels denoting more energy-efficient equipment, from Blue Angel in Germany to TCO in Sweden and Energy Star in the US (see below). 3. Screens. Opt for flat screen monitors, which reduce energy use by over two-thirds. 4. Get the right equipment. Consider your information technology needs against the tasks required. For example, laptops may be a better option in some circumstances because they have been developed to be energy-efficient and generally match the computer to the task required. Remember: not all staff have the same needs. 5. Consider running costs. Look at the life cycle costs, not just the purchase cost. Take note of running and standby costs of equipment. These can vary enormously.

Top 10 Tips to reduce running costs of office equipment (source: Carbon Trust) 1. Computers. Activate energy-saving features. In fact, most office equipment will have these features, so make sure they’re activated. 2. Standby features. Introduce a policy to activate standby features, don’t assume employees will do it. 3. Turn it off. Buy seven-day timers. These can save up to 70% on energy costs. 4. Monitor and manage the equipment that is peripheral to computers, such as speakers, printers, etc. and consider installing intelligent switch-off solutions. Printers can consume 30%-40% of their peak power demand when idling between printing and standby modes, so minimising this can produce cost savings, reduce heat output and increase its operating life. 5. Educate your staff. Consider a screen saver with an energy-saving message. 6. Rationalise your equipment via networking to reduce the number of printers (for example) in any office area. 7. Printers Use only black and white for internal documents and colour only when absolutely necessary. Consider the benefits of inkjet printers v laser printers. Inkjet energy use is much lower than that of a laser printer. Encourage staff to use print preview functions. Set default printing mode to double-sided. Use lower-specification printers, such as inkjets, for internal documents and encourage staff to use these for day-to-day use.

8. Photocopiers High volume copiers use more energy so should be used sparingly. Use low melting point inks (available from stationery suppliers). Encourage staff to copy in batches to increase standby time. Stick to black and white copiers and only use colour when absolutely necessary. Set default copying to double-sided. 9. Invest to save and purchase only what you need. 10. Don’t forget to motivate staff. Keep repeating the message of the importance of energy saving in ways that they can understand (for example, a computer monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to microwave six dinners).

WEEE (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment), or e-waste, is the term used for old or disposed electronic equipment. It covers both the toxic and valuable materials found in appliances. The most important lesson is to reuse, not recycle. With so much e-waste, and electrical devices such as computers and flat screens often being replaced well before the end of their shelf life and ending up in landfill, it’s imperative that the most is made of these materials by reusing them productively.

Options to investigate when trying to reduce e-waste are: 1. Can you upgrade your equipment with new energy efficient components? 2. Can it be used by someone else in the company? 3. Can it be given to a charity? (Note: charities must be registered to take WEEE.) 4. Will the manufacturer take back the old equipment and reuse parts in new products?

Developments on the horizon include: 1. Smaller, more efficient processors. The continuing development of microprocessors means a mobile phone can have around the same computational power as the average desktop computer back in 2000. 2. Memristors. Electronics giant HP is in the process of developing “memristors” (see photo above), which have greater memory storage capacity while requiring less energy and space. They are due to be on the shelf in about three years. 3. Specialist data centre design. Siemens recently launched its transformational Data Centre Solution, a groundbreaking strategy in data centre energy-efficient design and operation. It claims the system, which uses virtualization and efficient power and cooling, offers many benefits for businesses, including up to 50% energy savings through ground water cooling and IT costs reduced by 30%. 4. Outsourcing. Hotels of all sizes are starting to view IT outsourcing as a viable option to gain flexibility and reduce short-term costs and increase transparency of cost structures and processes. 5. Optimisation of resources. This will become a necessity either through virtualisation, networking or cloud computing. 6. Water cooling. IBM is currently working on a supercomputer that is cooled by water (a given volume of water can hold 4,000 times more waste than air), which claims to be 50% more energy efficient than the world’s leading systems. The Aquasar stacks many computer processors on top of each other with cooling water flowing between each one. IBM’s Dr Bruno Michel told the BBC in November 2010: “We plan that 10 to 15 years from now, we can collapse such a system into one sugar cube — we’re going to have a supercomputer in a sugar cube.”

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

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.

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.

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.

KingSmart HPMS forces the operators always to use the most profitable rates.

The built-in email and fax features can be used for cost effective marketing through targeted offers, and send confirmations and other messages to your guests and agents automatically.

Equally as important, when considering whether to invest in new technology within the hospitality sector, is the need to recognize that technology is constantly changing and improving. Decision time frames are shortening. International hoteliers that have a good view on the future, realize that the technology decision they make today will only be relevant for the next 3-5 years at the most and are already planning next generation migrations.

As the wider hospitality industry continues to face a slow recovery, savvy hotel owners and managers should be looking inwards during this time with a view to ensuring that the technology they use to help run their facilities are best suited for the roles they have to perform.

Therefore, it is highly likely that, merging mobile marketing efforts with iBeacon technology could result in higher click-through, quicker conversion, more sales and greater loyalty.

busy a restaurant is at a particular time

real-time information

not overwhelm users with notifications

deep understanding of the value offered to customers and deliver it in the best way possible.

delivering personalized deals and messages

prevent boredom

offer customized discounts for first-time customers, encouraging them to come back often

deliver custom menus to valued customers based on previous orders and visit history

awarding crawlers

ollect massive amounts of untapped data

he hospitality industry and leisure industries are widely regarded as being extremely competitive and fast moving.

becoming a steadily bigger part of life without our realising it.

E-commerce website should offer a stimulating experience with reliable information that could motivate the customer. Easy Channelling and navigating the customers to full portfolio of all necessary and essentially correct information is very important.

It is essential to keep in mind the local environmental sensibilities. Applying the concept of e-commerce for tourism and hospitality has become the most natural outcome in recent years.

They could directly talk, write, book and pay for their stay much in advance, with all information about reaching, being welcomed, how and where, meeting points, weather, forecasts, dangers, attractions and day-today itineraries intact with them months in advance.

Correspondingly, the frontiers of IT-related research will not only benefit the innovation and encroachment of the industry but also support managers, researchers, policymakers and other interested audiences in understanding the progress of developing trends and themes in the context of IT development

Among these analyzes, the keyword co-occurrence network particularly aims to construct knowledge, as the keywords of an article are anchored by the authors to distill the core concepts of a paper. Keywords generally represent the main idea of a research paper and express authors’ understandings of their work within the thematic context of their research domains (Ali et al., 2019). Keywords are regarded as one of the most meaningful indicators of an article’s content (Weismayer and Pezenka, 2017). Although keywords indicate the topic area and key variables/theories used in a study, they do not convey key findings such as the causal relationship between two keywords. Nevertheless, a group of keywords from the same domain creates an intellectual knowledge map of that realm. A knowledge map is generated from keywords according to the following steps

Keywords are collected from journal articles. A network of these keywords is built. A knowledge map connects the same keywords in different articles. A complete knowledge map is formed when all articles undergo the previous three steps.

eMarketing Capability As this study’s model of eMarketing capabilities is a major contribution and these capabilities play a critical role in marketing performance, future studies can investigate the antecedents/consequences of eMarketing capability, develop a scale or investigate the formation process of this construct. Future studies might validate the proposed model-based either on a single eMarketing capability or on multiple eMarketing capabilities. Empirical studies could benefit the development of research concerning eMarketing tourism and hospitality.

3. Methods3.1 Data collection

3.2 Data processing

3.3 Analysis process and tools

Emerging Digital Technologies The purpose of this study is aimed at understanding the impact of IT on tourism and hospitality. However, as IT continues to evolve and advance, and as new technologies often alter customers’ behavior, as well as firms’ marketing strategies, it is necessary to pay attention to the impact of new digital technologies on focal fields. Specifically, it could be interesting and promising to explore the impact and role of forthcoming digital technologies in different eras, specifically, artificial intelligence, machine leaning, AR, virtual reality (VR), mixed reality (MR), chatbots, robotics, blockchain, 5 G or the internet of things (Park et al., 2018; Tung and Au, 2018).

As the database contains journals from various domains, this study first identified the target journals by using the keywords “travel,” “tourism” and “hospitality,” identifying 24 journals. Next, as these journals are affiliated with different publishers, the keywords “IT*,” “IS” and “technology*” were input to search ICT-related articles on the official website of each journal from its first issue to April 2020.

Customer Equity and Engagement Value Customer equity and engagement value are two of the crucial variables that require a better understanding in the eMarketing tourism and hospitality research. With the application and support of advanced IT and quantitative mathematical models, it will be valuable for future work to explore all aspects of the factors that influence customer experiences over time to synergize and maximize customer equity and CEV for DMOs or hotels.

Marketing Performance Apart from loyalty, other marketing performance indicators including financial and non-financial ones are encouraged to be developed. Such work will contribute to both the tourism and hospitality academia and allow industrial managers to link financial performance with innovative IT in terms of profit, sales revenue or cash flow. Moreover, assessing non-financial marketing performance (market share, quality of services or CEV) will help researchers and managers better understand the predictors of future financial performance than traditional accounting measures have in the past, and it should also supplement financial indicators in internal accounting systems (Ittner and Larcker, 1998). Finally, it will be contributory to develop a combined indicator linking financial and non-financial measures. Table 4 summarizes the overview of future research avenues.

Nevertheless, these well-accepted attributes of HR have been challenged in the past few years, as several indicators reflect fundamental changes within the HR function,

although little has changed in this function over the past decades, there are growing expectations that HR will improve corporate competitive advantages by adding real measurable value to the organization.

The apparent difficulties in upgrading HR to a strategic position in organizations result in missed opportunities especially in hospitality and tourism, where the human capital has substantive potential to improve the competitive advantage of enterprises, particularly due to the growing competitiveness of the industry, as well as the centrality of the human element in the delivery of hospitality products and services

The second change in contemporary HR which, interestingly, is closely related to the previous one, is the growing trend of incorporating advanced information technology (IT) in HR practices.

There is extensive evidence to the growing transfer of HR functions to digital formats, as can be seen in the growing popularity of human resource information systems (HRIS) among organizations. HRIS is currently perceived as one of the important factors influencing the role of the HR function, as well as the workplace as a whole. Although in many aspects, technology remains under-utilized in HR functions (Jones and Hoell, 2005), recently its effects have begun to be evident in many organizational aspects,

Furthermore, it is widely argued that the adoption of HRIS is likely to promote HR to the awaited position of strategic partner in the organization. The main reason for this is that by using HRIS, HR professionals can improve their performance by gaining better knowledge of the organization and its employees, thus facilitate participation in strategic planning and implementation. In addition, by improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the HR day-to-day administrative tasks, HRIS allows the HR staff to dedicate more time to strategic decision making and planning, which consequently provides more value to the organization to enhance its position within it

modern HRIS make optimal use of internet and web capabilities for performing their tasks

successful HRIS support the planning and implementation of managerial key processes in the organization, such as executive decision making, technology selection, interdepartmental integration, and organizational reporting structures.

Intranet-based employee self-service (ESS) provides employees direct access, mainly through a web browser but also through a centralized kiosk, to personal HR-related information. Thus, the employees can individually handle transactions that used to be carried out by HR personnel,

Both MSS and ESS create a trend of delegation of responsibilities and activities that were once considered to be the domain of HR professionals and administrative personnel, directly to employees and managers

HRIS was seen mostly as a special form of office automation systems, the emphasis being on reducing costs and staff while making the standard HR tasks more efficient

In addition, in today's workplace the HR tasks have become more complex, along with organizational trends such as globalization, consolidations, strategic partnerships, and greater than ever governmental and regulatory reporting requirements for employees.

Therefore, from the administrative perspective, by providing powerful computing capabilities, HRIS are changing and improving procedures and processes that were carried out less efficiently before,

the automation of routine transactions provides HR professionals with time to perform strategic functions related to the human capital

HRIS allow the firm to be proactive in HR planning, by giving managers a constant flow of employee information

since HRIS can significantly improve the way employees and managers communicate with each other through various communication channels, this improves the flow of information and expertise throughout the organization, thereby enhancing the firms' strategic capabilities

Another prominent perceived characteristic of the HR function has been its reliance on relatively low-tech methods in implementing its tasks

Although HRIS can provide both administrative and strategic advantages, it should be noted from the onset that they are usually expensive systems to purchase and implement. Designing and implementing customized HRIS, adapted to the specific needs of the organization, will significantly enhance its functionality, but will result in increased software and hardware costs, as well as time-to-deployment

the initial costs of developing such HRIS are high,

In order to reduce the costs of HRIS, an organization can purchase off-the-shelf applications composed of HR database programs, aimed at meeting the general needs of HR functions

These findings point to the vital need of the HR function to provide evidence of the effectiveness of HRIS, for the purpose of attaining the executive management support for the change.

for a successful implementation of HRIS, it is no less important to obtain the support of managers and employees in the organization. Although modern HRIS offer clear advantages to managers, through the use of MSS, for better management of their staff, the implementation of such systems is likely to be followed by a certain level of resentment on the part of the managers. Since MSS transfer the responsibility of performing employee HR-related transactions from the HR staff to the direct managers, many of them are frustrated since they feel that additional administrative tasks are being imposed on them

Another relatively common problem, concerning both the implementation and the flowing management of HRIS, is the question of who is in charge of the system. Since the successful development of HRIS requires the input of both the IT and the HR departments, it is not uncommon for disputes over areas of responsibility to break out between these departments.

Other territorial conflicts around HRIS may arise when departments feel that the system expropriates some of its authorities; for example, the payroll department might resist HRIS that combines payroll functions. A possible solution to such a problem can be the establishment of cross-functional teams that run HRIS projects

the implementation of HRIS raises both ethical and legal issues that need to be addressed by the organization. First, the use of relational database technology provides access to more detailed employee information than ever before.

Second, HRIS usually contain private information on the employees, while the access to this information is often allowed to employees outside HR, as well. As a result, some employees feel that their private lives are not protected adequately.

The hospitality industry is characterized by a higher turnover rate than other sectors of the economy

Traditionally, HR in organizations has utilized low-tech methods in recruitment.

Internet recruiting benefits both the organization and the job seeker's perspectives (Pearce and Tuten, 2001; Singh and Finn, 2003). The benefits to the recruiters include: Cost savings, as it is significantly cheaper to advertise on the internet than in a newspaper. Compared to the use of professional search firms (also known as headhunters) the amounts saved are even higher. Recruiters generally receive more applications, which results in a greater pool of candidates from which to choose. Recruiters may receive applications faster, often even on the same day a position is announced. Improved ability to target a specific audience, thereby decreasing future turnover. Time saving, as more unqualified or unfit applicants can be eliminated, through online contact, in the initial phases of the recruitment process.

On the other hand, internet recruitment is not without limitations.

Once the recruitment process has ensured a large pool of applicants to choose from, the next phase is to select the most suitable candidates.

Traditionally, these selection methods involve the visit of the candidate to the organization or, to a lesser degree, to an assessment center, for interviewing, pen-and-paper testing, or situational testing, including group dynamics.

The use of advanced technology allows the selection process to complete the widespread online recruitment methods.

Nevertheless, the main impact of technology in selection procedures is in relation to employee interviewing and testing.

Anderson (2003) broadly described the prominent technology-based selection procedures, along with an assessment of their acceptance and effectiveness.

Adequate training is essential in providing quality services, yet traditionally hospitality organizations have not invested adequate resources in training their employees (Conrade et al., 1994). Most of the knowledge and skills of hospitality employees is transferred through on-the-job training,

However, as noted by Collins (2004), delivery of organized and structured training programs in the hospitality industry is a constant challenge, mainly because of the size and geographical dispersion of the workforce, as well as the extensive resources – financial, work, and time – needed to establish in-house training programs.

Although technology-based training methods have been available for a long time, the hospitality industry has usually lagged behind other sectors in adopting them.

Web-based training (WBT) can deliver courses nationwide or worldwide at all time zones to any connected computer, and is easy to update and monitor.

Effective performance evaluation plays a critical role in the successful implementation of organizational strategy and in gaining a competitive advantage. Therefore, in addition to important HR decisions that greatly rely on performance evaluation, such as promotions, outplacements, dismissals, many organizations link performance to compensations and rewards. As noted by Bowley and Link (2005), a performance-based compensation plan, often known as “pay-per-performance,” should reflect the organization's goals.

the traditional methods, based on a disconnected blend of discrete applications, spreadsheet programs and paper-based systems, to communicate goals, track employee performance and manage compensation, are insufficient in the contemporary challenges of linking performance evaluation to organizational strategy (Bowley and Link, 2005). Yet, although sophisticated HRIS were developed to meet these contemporary challenges, Ensher et al. (2002) found little effect of HRIS on the process of performance management among HR executives, who still rely on paper-and-pencil administration and hard copy documentation of employee evaluation.

Nevertheless, CPM has drawbacks that are highly relevant to a service industry such as the hospitality industry (Miller, 2003). The main concern that CPM raises is that reliance only on quantitative criteria is likely to lead to the neglect of more qualitative aspects of performance.

Consequently, an effective CPM must be followed by the establishment of an employee development plan, designed in collaboration with his/her supervisor. The second application of technology in appraisal management is online evaluation and appraisal software (Miller, 2003). In contrast to the aforementioned CPM, in these cases technology facilitates delivering performance feedback, rather than generating the actual evaluation outcome.

360° feedback,

In addition, evaluation software packages can be used as stand-alone applications or as an integral part of the organization's HRIS, which offers computerized standard evaluation forms. The use of user-friendly software in evaluating employees allows managers to focus more on the contents of the evaluation, rather than on the forms.

Therefore, the use of computer software programs allows better coping with these challenges, while saving time and money.

While the organization enjoys the reduced need for complex bureaucracy, the employees enjoy better control and enhanced anonymity, as there is no need for dealing directly with HR staff on personal financial matters.

The use of HRIS has significant impact on the current affairs between the management and the employees, as well as the characteristics and the environment of the contemporary workplace. From the administrative perspective, through the HRIS the managers and the employees have access to relevant information on employee work rules, policies, and regulations on issues like privacy, illegal discrimination, and work diversity. In addition, the HRIS can assist discharged or displaced employees in finding alternative employment, by providing links to career counselors, training programs, and information, all of which are required for a successful and effective job search

technology has changed the nature of the workplace and employer-employee relations more fundamentally than just providing more accessible information.

Traditional e-commerce technology provides product/service, promotion, placement, and pricing strategic initiatives to external constituents through the use of extranet platforms merged with intranets (for instance, customer relationship management). HRIS technology provides the same initiatives through the use of intranets merged with extranet platforms (for example, recruitment). Thus, HRIS technology may be considered to represent internal e-commerce systems, which are crucial to the alignment of HR functions within strategic initiatives aimed at sustainable competitive advantages.

The evolution of HRIS platforms provides a range of tools for use by enhancing employee-employer relationships. The full service range of HRIS functions brings human capital closer to the strategic direction of the organization.

However, the technology is merely a tool that may enhance strategic alignment.

There is also evidence from the literature that a disengagement of the HR function from strategic initiatives exist in many hospitality enterprises.

It is common knowledge that the hospitality industry is labor intensive with many points of intimate service interactions of long duration. HR will produce sustainable competitive advantages for those firms that include the HR function in a united strategic direction.

The literature identifies the advantages of aligned human capital as a means to accomplishing sustainable competitive advantage for enterprises.

Oracle was caught off guard. As a company not used to dealing with call-center-based customer service, it suddenly had to handle help desk requests for thousands of vendors

It took Oracle awhile to figure out how to plot a multi-year transition of Micros customers from license-based deals to Web-based, subscription services.

One hotelier said, “I know that Oracle recognizes that and [they are] very open about how much investment they need to make, but it is a risk to us as a business. As we are looking to try and innovate, not being able to plug other systems into Opera easily constrains what we can do.”

The first hotel group to agree to move all of its properties to Oracle’s cloud-based property management system is Mövenpick,

Oracle Hospitality is “growing above the market average.”

“We’re the number one provider of property management systems in North American and worldwide,” he said. “We’re also taking market share in geographies where Micros had operated through partners.

Since the acquisition, the company boosted its number of customer service representatives by more than 30 percent to better handle the volume of requests

One global benchmark was to cut the wait time for customers calling the help desk to under two minutes, on average. The company is now meeting that goal, he said.The company set a goal of resolving at least 70 percent of customer support requests within an hour. Webster said it is now achieving that.

A typical global brand might have a dozen agreements with local Micros offices. Oracle streamlined the patchwork of deals into a single worldwide agreement.

“We’ve made massive progress in bringing [the Micros property management system] Opera to the cloud,” Webster said.

Oracle Hospitality has boosted its research-and-development headcount by about 50 percent.

et us reduce the training time for staff by almost half and improve the speed of service for guests by nearly 40 percent.”

We’ve innovated in hardware, too. In the last year, we’ve been able to bring our complete new line of hardware onto tablets, not just fixed work stations, and a complete line of mobile solutions for our Opera property management system. We brought out a new housekeeping operations application via mobile, too.”

We’re now focused on helping our hotel customers create exceptional guest experiences while reducing the cost and complexity of IT.” He said hotels using Oracle no longer need database administrators or other IT support staff to manage the technology.

Opera Property Management System for multi-tenant hotels has integrations with more than 1,400 third-party tools, such as for accounting and revenue management.

Christian Weste, the boss of Hotel Lundia in Sweden, wrote: “Seems to be the same all over Europe and probably the rest of the world also. It takes months to get in touch with someone and even then the issue will most likely not be solved.”

Oracle Hospitality has responded to competition by widening the aperture of its target market. While Micros had tended to focus on larger hotels and chains, Oracle Hospitality says it wants it all — from so-called tier-one hotels in global capitals down to small independents in tiny corners of the globe.

Oracle’s pricing strategy may tell a different story. Its relatively high fees tends to favor large chains and pose obstacles for small group and independent hotels.

Oracle will win the day only if it acts as a platform that can play nicely and affordably with new third-party tools, such as for revenue management; new businesses, such as alternative lodging, and new ways of doing business, such as alternative forms of payment like Apple Pay, Alipay, bitcoin, and Google Wallet.

As a part of this program, the chain tapped a popular Turkish loyalty app called Shopping Genie, to target customers while they were around the premises of a local McD Café.  Customers got mobile coupons, via the app, which prompted them to purchase a coffee and receive a beverage from the new drink line for free. This proximity marketing campaign via beacons helped McDonald’s achieve 20% conversion rate with 30% of users who received the promotion!

Bluetooth beacons were deployed at the point of purchase, where customers were waiting in line to pay or just moving around.

These beacon notifications offered two Red Bull cans for $4! Apart from making a profit out of campaigns, Red Bull also monitored the entire campaign in real-time and captured customer behaviour.

The retail giant used GE light bulbs to house beacons and send push notifications of specials and discount coupons to in-store customers. These beacon-equipped LED bulbs can track shoppers within a store by using the beacons hidden inside them

Carrefour has extensive iBeacon networks in all 28 of its hypermarkets in Romania through which the retail chain offers its consumers a simple, intuitive, and fun app for orientation inside hypermarkets from area to area

The retailer’s beacon-enabled app automates the commercial content delivery and collects essential data about in-store consumer behaviour. Its proximity marketing campaign keeps consumers informed about the products, services, and actual special offers from each of the store departments.

Popular convenience store group Nisa piloted iBeacon technology to track its shoppers by attaching Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) beacons to trolleys and baskets

These sensors picked up the signals emitted by beacons and collected location data which was then fed to a cloud-based server for analysis.

used iBeacon technology to gamify the Ladies’ Night event with brands providing offers, discounts, freebies, and prize giveaways. Many retailers such as Hotel Chocolat, Krispy Kreme, Cath Kidston, and House of Fraser, participated in the event

The event was highly successful as it saw more than 500 app downloads within the first three hours, with over 500 offers redeemed. All 120 hotspot offers were redeemed within the first 52 minutes of the event.

Best Buy implemented a beacon strategy to help boost sales and improve personalisation of experience. The retail giant chose to use their own application as well as Shopkick retailing app to offer rewards to shoppers, simply for stepping foot in the door.

Hammerson rolled out beacons across their shopping centres to improve personalisation of consumers’ shopping experience. Their beacon-enabled Plus app was initially trialled at Les Terrasses du Port in Marseille and it ranked among the top 10 lifestyle apps in France.

The app also allows a consumer to call for assistance. A member of the staff receives the request informing them that a customer is waiting for help

UK supermarket Waitrose started using iBeacon technology at its relatively new experimental Swindon store to deliver price promotions to consumers when they were near a particular aisle or food counter

UK supermarket giant Tesco launched its “biggest trial” of iBeacon technology, in partnership with consumer goods company Unilever, by deploying beacons in 270 stores across London. They launched the ‘Mpulse app’ as a part of the Pink and Black marketing campaign

using beacons to target passers-by based on their interest. They change campaigns based on distinct seasons including prom season at colleges

Oscar Mayer worked out an interesting deal with the supermarkets which would allow them to place beacons at the deli counter. This location helps them convince shoppers to buy the specials of the week while waiting at the counter.

Amazon, the retail giant started a new convenience store in Seattle, U.S. in Jan 2018. Amazon Go is an 1800 sq feet mini market filled with food and technology. They have deployed an array of cameras, beacons and other proximity sensors to make the store one-of-a-kind

World-famous brands such as Hamleys, Armani, Longchamp, and Hackett form the 80% of the retail companies that have deployed beacons in their Regent Street stores with the aim of pushing exclusive and personalised marketing messages to customers via iBeacon technology. Shoppers receive alerts and tailored content about everything, from new in-store promotions to exclusive offers only available for visitors to Regent Street, as they pass

Neiman Marcus, the high-end retail chain, piloted beacons at three stores—Austin, TX, Walnut Creek, CA, and San Antonio.

Rite Aid has installed beacons in over 4,500 US stores for retargeting and personalization of user experience. This large-scale beacon deployment by the Pharmacy chain is the largest beacon installation program in a retail setting till date. In fact, it has even surpassed the one undertaken by the famous Macy’s

a collection of beacon-level proximity data to strategize their retargeting plan and achieve personalization capabilities similar to those that have been used in e-commerce

Walgreens has innovated considerably in the mobile retail space by using iBeacon and other technologies at over 7000 locations.

leveraged iBeacon technology at ten of its stores to boost its loyalty program.

Target, the second largest general merchandise retailer in the US, announced that it will start testing beacon technology in 50 of its stores nationwide.

The recommendations may appear both as push alerts and in-app updates on the Target app’s “Target Run” page, which is designed like a social media news feed offering deals, top-pinned items on Pinterest, and more

beacons to bridge the gap between online shopping and in-store experience. Their beacon-enabled app notifies consumers if any item in their mobile shopping bag is in stock,

The store has deployed beacons with individualized campaigns for each department, which makes the customer experience interesting and focussed

Macy’s expanded its beacon program to all stores nationwide, by installing more than 4,000 beacons. This step was a part of the retailer’s efforts to make bigger investments in omnichannel retail technologies. This Thanksgiving, Macy’s also used a beacon-triggered mobile app game at its 700 stores, to engage shoppers

Urban Outfitters announced that they will be rolling out beacons at 15 of their stores located in Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Atlanta, New Jersey, and Delaware, more than a year ago. The US multichannel fashion and homewares retailer decided to take a different route unlike the conventional route of using aggressive promotions.

Kenneth Cole is using beacons to create more compelling, personalized customer experiences with an aim to “provide value and offer at the time of need when customers are in the store

launched beacon networks in more than 100 of its top-performing stores located in states such as Chicago, Dallas, Miami, New York, and San Francisco. The idea was to implement iBeacon technology at the stores with the highest traffic levels and best traction with Shopkick.

Supermarket giant Woolworths successfully completed a beacon trial with one store using iBeacon technology to improve customer service around click-and-collect. Thereafter, the chain announced that they are looking to roll out beacons across all of its 254 click-and-collect stores with the aim of allowing consumers to place their order online and pick them up in-store

it has decided to distribute free BLE beacons to about 150,000 gas-station convenience stores in the United States and Canada

Alex and Ani used beacons in all of its 40 stores to optimize store layouts and product placement. Contrary to popular belief that beacons are only for ‘pushing’ ads, the popular Rhode Island-based jewellery brand used beacons differently in its trial period without using them to promote flash sales and other discount promotions.

QR codes

Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)

NFC stands for “near field communication

pay at the store with your phone

QR codes are scannable barcodes

For information technology, the usefulness of insisting on the primacy of the individual, as an approach to making key decisions on systems-in-the-large, actually runs counter to my practical experience of what works.  An individual operating in a vacuum, even if extremely brilliant, informed, and motivated, tends to have occasional or frequent biases, tunnel vision, and pride of ownership. He misses errors and issues that the scrutiny of multiple eyeballs, not to mention the careful discussion of pros and cons, can easily catch.

The people who toss off this old chestnut also often smile triumphantly as if it were both unanswerable and as if they themselves had just invented the clever saying. The aphorism embodies a belief that only a single individual, making all the decisions, can do an effective design.  Note that aside from its humor, the saying doesn’t even make logical sense: a thoroughbred wouldn’t last long in the desert, while a camel is of course a highly optimized creature for its environment.  In addition, people generally apply the aphorism widely, refusing to acknowledge the usefulness of group involvement altogether, in anything. They trot out extreme examples where consensus-gathering has paralyzed action.

An example of the usefulness of committees is the Project Portfolio Management (PPM) process I’ve described frequently here on this blog.  Having a sole individual, even the CEO, decide on project inclusion simply isn’t viable over the long run in many corporate cultures–it creates classic problems of lack of buy-in and participation, for example. On the other hand, instituting a suitably chartered and well-facilitated steering committee, composed of senior individuals from the major business areas of the company, forces everyone to put on their “big company hat” as they consider priorities, rather than doggedly insisting on their own department’s parochial perspective. When that’s done well, everyone moves forward with a common understanding and solid commitment, one that’s much less likely when there’s an on-high fiat from a single person.

Property Management System- The Future of Hotel Industry

Property Management System- The Future of Hotel Industry

Property Management System- The Future of Hotel Industry

It is the age of the Internet, the age when many businesses solely run on the Internet. From marketing to reaching new people, there is a lot that can be done with the help of this medium

Central Reservation System: One of the greatest advantages of using an online hotel software is that you do not have any more headaches about reservations.

  Numerous Point of Sale: Keeping a check on the add-on services your hotel provides can easily be done with the help of the numerous points of sales.

Sales and Marketing Console: To help popularize your hotel and make it known to people from across the globe, many PMSs have a dedicated sales and marketing console.

Travel Agents and Corporate Clients:It is also important that you properly deal with travel agents and corporate clients as they play a very important role in bringing in more guests to the hotel.

Connected to 1000s of Travel Portals: These property management systems  help you get connected to many travel portals like Travelocity, Tripadvisor and Expedia helping you reach more people.