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As this article mentioned, MeetingMatris will be added to the hospitality curriculum in Kendall College. MeetingMatrix provides State-of-the Art meeting planning technology solutions. In my opinion, it is very necessary to provide the students with useful technology solutions and it provides a lot of assistance for their future job seeking. In the rapid development society, accurate and instant information decides if a business success or fail in a meeting plan. Therefore, more and more people begin to pay attention on this issue.

In this article marketing software that hotel's can use to send pre-arrival emails to guests is discussed. This type of contact allows hotels to increase revenue by offering additional services or upgrades as well as create detailed profiles about their guests. These profiles can be used to further segment and advertise as well as just improve the guest experience. 

Kronos Inc. announced new enhancements to Workforce Dimensions which will combine advanced labor volume forecasting, predictive scheduling, and task management for a complete enhancement to the workforce. The end goal of these enhancements is to attract, retain, and develop a highly engaged workforce with an employee-first environment.

As always Google always seems to highly compete with its Apple, Amazon, and Microsoft. Google Assistant will now introduce the ability for a individual to check in or book any domestic flight, check in or book a hotel room, and also to translate. According to Skift, "the translations were serviceable but included too many mistakes". Google plans to continue to integrate more hardware in the technology industry.

Cloud computing has created a very hacking prone storage system because companies have not been paying as much attention to security as they should. Thus, by not taking the logical measures such as not uploading credentials to cloud storage systems, they are becoming prone to hacker raids. However, with the turning of the tide, new methods of security have presented themselves in the form of online tools such as HashiCorp's Vault Microsoft's Azure Key Vault, and Amazon's AWS Secrets Manager, which stores sensitive credentials in very limited access windows, as well as UpGaurd's BreachSight which detects online data leaks containing exposed and volatile client data, and Amazon's Amazon Macie, which learns the access patterns of your cloud storage,

The article reads about the new HR management software that is being adopted by different companies, including Trivago, to manage HR responsibilities. This software can be buit to fit the company's needs and help managers and employees have HR information and processes right at their fingertips.

Airbnb wants to invest in Africa due to the many touristic attractions that bring in people from all over the world. Additionally, through this technology, they will boost people-to-people tourism in Africa, building a new economic engine for local families and their communities.

The article talks about the integration of a new system called Rainmaker and RoomkeyPMS. The trend of using the "cloud" is ongoing, as RoomkeyPMS is software that is "cloud-powered" which helps to facilitate the way the front office handles their operations. Rainmaker integration with the PMS, on the other hand, is to help the back of the house. It is meant to increase hotel bookings and "streamline operations and revenue optimization processes". Highlights the first boutique hotel in Charleston, The Spectator Hotel, are the first to adapt this new collaboration to improve the way data is being accessed. Based on the article, the hotel is using these cloud based systems to be able to offer more innovative service to their consumers especially when it comes to how revenue is being handled. I think that having to cloud systems working together can be kind of difficult especially when they serve two different purposes. But with that being said, both softwares seem to work for the best individually. Having the ability to try this out on a smaller boutique hotel would be for the best because it allows hoteliers to conduct analysis for the systems on a smaller scale.

A new study done by IBM has discovered that nearly sixty percent of organizations are embracing the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), having their sights set on improving privacy, security, and data management. This is a relief to see as this particular subject in the hospitality industry has frequently come up as a major talking point with the developing technologies in the industry; the fact that industry leaders are viewing the GDPR in this manner rather than a compliance issue/restriction is refreshing. Seventy percent of survey responders are disposing data ahead of the deadline for compliance in an attempt to reduce their exposure. IBM did a separate poll that found only twenty percent of US consumers completely trusted organizations to maintain the privacy of their data. Due to this, businesses are using the recent GDPR compliance as a statement to consumers that they're looking to build trust and reliability with customers and drive innovation. However, even with the opportunities at hand, only thirty six percent of responders believed they will be fully compliant by the deadline. To minimize the amount of data an organization is managing, companies are taking measures such as reducing the number of people who have access to personal data or simply cutting down on the amount of data stored. Additionally, studies have found that the primary challenges organizations are facing with the GDPR include finding all the of the personal data stored in their business, ensuring the accuracy of said data, and making sure this data is in compliance in how it is shared or used. Another challenge to the new compliance is that companies are to report data breaches to regulators within 72 hours of the breach, yet IBM has found that only thirty one percent of companies have taken a look at the measures they have in place for incident response to account for this new rule in compliance.

Three years ago Oracle was able to buy out the leading company in hotel and restaurant technology, Micros. But the transition was quite tough on the company leaving many customers dissatisfied with the service they were receiving. One reason for this is because Oracle was not used to call-center based customer service making it quite difficult for them to adapt on their side but it was also difficult for the customers to adapt to taking all their data online to the cloud. In order to keep happy customers Oracle was able to boost the number of customer service representatives which made each and every customer have a shorter wait time and also the they are able to serve more customers as well. Oracle has also taken the step into streamlining the agreements with their customers into one global agreement making the service across the board on the same level, they were able to get more companies on the cloud, they were able to reduce training time by making the systems more user friendly and also have changed the PMS system to be on separate hardware such as tablets. They have also decided not only to focus on the hardware and IT aspect, but make it possible for hotels to give the best experience possible by adding more tools to track guest information but also for revenue and accounting management. At the time there are still many opposers to the systems and are being voices by many General Managers of the world but with the improvements they are bound to please more customers.

This article talks about hotels investing and implementing micros as their main system.

For three years now, Oracle has been the owner of Micros, a software that manages payments and reservations for more than 300,000 hospitality owners. This article speaks on how Oracle has been handling the transition, and the obstacles they are facing now, including competition from other hospitality softwares that hotels around the world are using. Most softwares today are using cloud based systems, but Oracle was having some mishaps with that transition, therefore making customers unhappy. To relieve some of the tension between customers and the company, there hired about 30% more representatives to handle the volume of requests, and questions from Oracle users. With more research and more representatives, 70% of customer support requests are being resolved within an hour. With time of the essence in the hospitality world, this is an important aspect for users of the system. Competition is out there, and price is a large factor for small and family owned businesses that cannot afford the Oracle system, but they are now working on widening their marker to independently owned hotels from anywhere around the globe. Being a user of Micros in my own place of work, the computer software makes it easy for both the employee and the guests, with straightforward prompts and payments that deliver little to no hassle. Oracle would like to keep on growing and with the rate that they have overcome their mishaps and learned to adapt to new technologies such as ApplePay and Bitcoin, it seems it can only go up from here.

This is a smart move, both from a environmental and a cost cutting perspective as refillable containers will likely reduce costs over the long run. Marriott has been looking at replacing this process for years (Marriott Banning Little Shampoo Bottles By 2020 Associated Press - https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/marriott-banning-little-shampoo-bottles-2020-n1047116) However, even Marriott admits that it doesn't have the process right yet. There will be a significant impact to smaller operators whom 1) Will be challenged with an additional increase in cost for new dispensary options 2) Have less access to big brand economy of scale purchasing which specialized dispensary products will require. Though this is as a policy almost a foregone conclusion, there seems little doubt that extensive thought has to be put into the impact on operators as a whole, and the customer made cognizant of the fact that costs will rise due to this change.

In the hospitality industry, HRIS not only can increase efficiency but also can improve customer service. There are lots of benefits for the hotel. Using HRIS can extend beyond the workforce. Hotel place this software to solve lots of problems. It also can help reduce administrative costs and improve the efficiency of the HR department. This includes the time-consuming tasks of handling salary and dealing with employee scheduling. Employees can check their own payroll by HRIS. If employees don't satisfy their schedule they can email leader directly. This HRIS can reduce lots of procedures that you want to contact someone. Customer service is an integral part of the hospitality sector. By increasing the efficiency and morale of the workforce, people can directly improve the ability to deliver exceptional customer service.

This article looks at the reasons a property should entertain the idea of using HR software and why? Most managers do not understand all of the functionalities of the software and how it increases efficiency while also providing efficiencies that are not strictly payroll centered. The article also noted that manual processes slow production and efficiency, thus HR software saves time, which equals cost savings.

Information technology has become extremely important to the hospitality industry. It has helped with customer service, financial status, and in many other ways. With so much changing with information technology it is vital that companies keep up with all these changes in order to not fall behind. As stated in the article if information technology is implemented correctly it can help a company become the most efficient it has ever been. This has also helped improve the communication between companies and their investors, now communication can be done via email or call in a matter of seconds. As I stated above it has also improved guest service and communication, this includes apps, messages and allowing guests to have immediate assistance with any of their needs. When you improve customer service and create an open window for communication, it brings in more guests to want to stay with your company and give their business to you. Not only this but, technology has helped companies save money by needing to provide less staff. This is why information technology has helped so many companies succeed financially.

Some argue that the GDS is a fair system. It it does enable travel agents and clients to access travel data, make price comparisons, access special rates and book travel. The big 3 Travelport, Amaadeus, and Sabre do generate billions of dollars of global travel sales for travel providers. The fact is though that the current system is old, dating back to the 60's, has serious flaws, and can be hacked. It is also biased as travel agents bookings are swayed by the airlines they have preferred agreements with, which can skew the equation away from the traveler's best interests. Having 3 Big players with a virtual travel monopoly is not an ideal situation. Carriers are fighting back and airlines are changing strategy. Tension between airlines and the GDS caused by disputes has European airlines exploring models outside the GDS. To make the changes successful they cannot be restricted by outdated systems, old technology or financial burdens.

It discusses the high fees of the GDS and the fact that their system needs to be upgraded. Also, the challenges airlines face with paying those fees and ways the airlines are making additional revenue without having to pay fees to the GDS.

Due to the high fees some airlines were or are paying to the GDS companies, they are re-thinking their strategy to get more revenue out of the passengers, in order to mitigate the lost of revenue for not being anymore in an open GDS market like Amadeus. Amadeus knows they are the big gorilla in the market with a 44% of the share, compared to Sabre or Travelport, the other two leaders in the GDS market.

Singapore's Changi Airport Group (CAG), which operates the seventh busiest airport for international traffic and has received multiple awards for customer experience, has created a "digital factory" inside the airport to drive continued innovation. Staff use tools such as artificial intelligence, big data and analytics, the internet of things and digital marketing in tandem with design, prototyping and experimentation to create new solutions to improve both the traveler experience and the airport's operations.

The hospitality industry is growing rapidly and many technology businesses want to be a part of this thriving market. Oaky company is developing a new software that would help hotels upsell rooms in more efficient way. This investment would eventually play role to expand the company and improve its position in the market.

This article is about AI (Artificial Intelligence) and its impact in the hospitality industry. Although innovations in voice recognition, biometrics, and AR (augmented reality) are not expected to replace human contact, AI technology will revolutionize the industry by taking over mundane, simple, and routine work. Since these ordinary tasks could be time consuming, AI will allow hospitality personnel to focus on more meaningful and complex transactions. AR, for instance, was already implemented by Holiday Inn during the 2012 Olympics to provide realistic thematic and virtual representations. Biometric technology allows customers to authenticate their purchase without a wallet or human interaction. Nevertheless, the article also touches on an interesting concept called 'tech detox.' Some hotels already have promotions for guests willing to stay disconnected in order to be aware of their surrounding environment. In my opinion, AR is the best innovation, especially in a hotel. From TV programming, internet access, interactive city maps, hotel information, restaurant menu, and room service, this technology has endless opportunities to make any hotel experience unique.

I believe the article glosses over many of the potential implications of AI in the industry. For one, to date, technology advances have actually increased the workload of the more highly skilled management personel. A General Manager in a hotel now has to have degrees of knowledge in pricing system logic and demand economics, knowledge of systems and system implementation and the skill sets of individuals required to implement and sustain these systems. As AI and AI logic does begin to invade the Hospitality Industry, it is going to require our leaders to become far more cognizant of the uses, and maintenance costs involved in these technologies. This is not to say that this is necessarily a negative, however the implications for the skills sets required in the industry are a necessary talking point when citing that this technology wont replace jobs. Those mundane tasks which the article refers to are deemed as simple processes, but when discussing the already complex process of an agent reserving a guest in a Forbes rated property (as an example), this is going to get even more complicated in how we leverage these technologies, how we approach to market with the consumer.

Technology is continuing to revolutionize daily. All industries are experiencing such change but the hospitality industry will not completely take away is human employees. In fact, tech revolution will simply take away from mundane tasks simultaneously assisting with efficiency and customer satisfaction. With the advent of augmented reality (AR) guests are now able to electronically visualize themselves at the location. Technology cannot outperformance the warmth of guest service reps. yet, the future of hospitality will integrate both the advances of electronics and human interactions.

This article talks about how companies make the grave mistake of thinking that cybersecurity is merely an issue that should be addressed by an IT team and that no one else is responsible for addressing risks and understanding them. Most C-suite employees don't understand what the risks are, and usually these risks vary from company to company. It is not that you should only consider that you can get hacked, but you should consider and identify what kinds of information can get hacked and why. The article denotes an example of an Asian automobile company that needed to implement a new system to mitigate security risks and in the process, ended up locking up other companies who needed to use their systems to find out about their products. So those companies started to create fake profiles to try and access the information -- all so that they could just do their job. This showed that people are more interested in just getting their job done than understanding cybersecurity and why certain systems are in place. The way of thinking up security systems should be creative and involve all parts of an organization. Departments won't know what their role is until they identify what information is important to them, what their purpose is in the company, and what is valuable to them. By identifying this, they can come up with ways to secure this information and monitor its delivery. Businesses don't look at cybersecurity as a risk of their business just as a shipping company would look at weather risks as a potential threat to their revenue. It is looked at as more of an abstract concept and this stops people from implementing successful strategies to keep their information safe. Cybersecurity shouldn't be viewed as "so impenetrable" that no one would ever understand it. This requires everyone to get involved and understand the implications of cybersecurity on their own work, specifically, and identify who their main adversaries may be.

Aptech is a hospitality technology company offering the much needed and desired tools of accounting, budgeting, forecasting, and business intelligence into hotel systems. They are seen as the leader in the industry for this and are said to have been the first company to bring the "business" mindset into the hotel industry. This article, however, is about their new cloud-based enterprise accounting hotel software system: PVNG. Glacier House hotels, whom is based out of Arizona converted completely from the original Aptech accounting software to the new cloud PVNG system. The reviews so far are highly rated and it seems to have a bright future again. I thought this article was perfect because it blends multiple aspects that we have discussed over the past couple of weeks!

This article is about the small company that just installed Aptech's new web-based enterprise accounting. It is evident this article received some attention by the amount of students who highlighted notable parts of the article. This new system is deployed in the cloud and it is easier to train and faster to navigate. This is very convenient for accountants in the hospitality industry because it can potentially have a dramatic change on the department's efficiency. The system also provides a complete suite of financial management and analysis for the hotel industry. Lastly, it is also trustworthy because the Aptech group has more than 45 years of hotel accounting knowledge.