Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

CaterTrax Inc., a business unit of Volaris Group, is an industry-leading catering management software company that was built by caterers for caterers.

the company is thinking about the businesses in terms of three buckets and deciding what is s

rategic, where investment is needed and who will make the investment.

D-Edge will require investment, likely from private equity, with Accor letting go of about 40% but remaining as its “big industrial strategic partner.”

bringing forces together

minimum viable product is expected within 18 months, with Accor providing the capital expenditure needed to fund the project over the next four years.

minimal impact of “macro events” such as the Iraq war, SARS and the financial crisis on 2008 on the travel and tourism industry.

Our decision was based on our requirement for a cloud platform that would easily interface with our integration partners,”

Today we have five properties on Maestro.

Maestro is the most flexible and responsive provider our team has worked with

Maestro hosts its five cloud systems and supports all our interfaces remotely.”

Maestro is a solid PMS platform used by many independent hotel groups

Independent properties rely on Maestro to communicate with a wide variety of tech partner systems that include the Silverware F&B POS, Elavon Fusebox credit card payment processing, call accounting, electronic key systems, voice mail and PBX systems, the ALICE app operations platform, Revinate CRM, IDEAS RMS, and Maestro’s ResWave direct booking engine. Maestro simplifies interface deployment thanks to its Genomi open API that supports deeper capabilities for complementary 3rd party system additions.  

Reliable 24/7 real-time system support is also a must for independent operators that do not have a ‘brand tech safety net.

’  Maestro’s award-winning Diamond Plus Support is North American-based and always ready to help

The Maestro Property Management System delivers flexible and scalable deployment options with an identical full-featured web browser or windows solution available in the cloud or on premise

A good PMS offers unprecedented visibility that allows you to take full control of your hotel's administration, and will come with a wide array of options when it comes to data report dashboards. Having said that, it's still important to find out what level of custom reporting is available to you before buying.

With the constant development of new technologies, having a PMS with a growing integration partner list is becoming more important. An integrated partner could be anything from a channel manager to a mobile app or online guest feedback system. Less integration opportunities could mean that you end up with data spread over a number of different applications, or having to settle for apps that don't serve your needs like they should.

It's important to have a clear understanding of the PMS platform's customer support process before making a buying decision. It's also important to consider what kind of training is provided to hotel staff who will be using the system for the first time. More than 80% of hoteliers agree that user training is a key success factor in getting the most out of a PMS.

Thanks to rapid developments in technology, PMS platforms today aren't nearly as expensive as their predecessors. However, whether you choose a cloud-based or traditional computer-based system for your hotel, it's important to find out if you'll be making any surprise payments down the road – some examples include future software updates, technical support, infrastructure or maintenance etc.

How much time your new PMS will save in terms of managing front desk activities, like check-ins and check-outs, consolidating guest accounts, and managing rates and availability across all of your different channels (OTAs, travel agents and so on) is a critical consideration to make.

Lastly, it's important to look at the company's track record before making a buying decision. Even if they've been in business for years, check their client base to determine how reliable they are. The last thing you want is to be promised the world, only to be let down by poor service delivery.

Does the solution offer flexibility in functionality, including data access and performance reporting? How easily and seamlessly does the PMS integrate with third-party technologies and data? How long will it take for problems to be resolved? What is the total cost of ownership? Are there "hidden" costs? What return on investment (ROI) can be expected? What is the PMS solution provider's track record of success?

Integrating partner technology relationships into our sales and marketing immediately increases our value in the eyes of potential business partners and ensures them that we understand their overall event goals and objectives."

She adds by highlighting that bringing new technologies to the table also helps with the sales process.

First is the opportunity to engage and educate potential clients (event organizers) looking to book meeting space and in the process forming a new relationship. The other is adding value to the overall hotel offering and building a stronger brand as well as increasing revenue.

Organizers benefit greatly when a destination offers additional marketing and event execution tools, which assist when positioning the experience to event stakeholders and decision makers. In addition having a technology relationship in place, saves the organizer time and money, by having pre-populated destination details and potential purchaser discounts."

It gives them an opportunity to experiment how audience response with smartphones work or how they can send conference updates and alerts to delegates faster and easier with mobile event apps.

If possible it would also be extremely beneficial to offer a demo or a free basic version of the technology to allow event planners experience and try a simple mobile event app before exposing or upselling them to the more advanced features.

Mixing technology promotion by Hotels is not a usual practice but it is becoming more mainstream.

It is also important to closely measure the ROI for any technology strategy such as offering mobile event apps as part of the experience at a hotel. The key measurement factors will be feedback from attendees and event planners as well as tracking how many event planners opt-in to use this technology for their events.

Aptech Computer Systems is an IBM Premier Business Partner that offers Execuvue® web-enabled Business Intelligence, Targetvue Budgeting and Forecasting, and PVNG Enterprise Back Office systems that are 100% hospitality specific. Aptech is the only company that provides a complete suite of financial management and analysis solutions for the hotel industry. Aptech systems can be deployed in the cloud, or on-premise at the client location to support an entire hotel company's portfolio via the Internet for individual and consolidated back office operations and financial reporting.

Shoppers are spending an average of 113 seconds in the store

The Green Leaves + store at Yokohama Techno Tower Hotel is helping to lead the way to a better retail experience at hotels, hospitals, and other places where people need convenient access to food and drinks

his first hotel convenience store will also be a model for how checkout-free technology could work in a hospital setting—where people need 24 hour access to food and drink—without having to require a constant staffing presence.

The new store is part of a multi-phase expansion plan by Koyo to ultimately create new convenient foodservice concepts for hospitals. 

Any store that provides all-hours access is an ideal location for checkout-free technology,

All staff, executives, and third parties who do not need access to this data should not have it.

For instance, there should not be a single login to the encrypted data with multiple employees knowing the username and password.

How information flows into your company, where it is stored, and how it is used after the point of sale will also all need to be documented.

your customers can trust you with their sensitive payment card information

repeat customers.

improves your reputation with acquirers and payment brands

although the majority of hotels are using Windows-based OPERA v5, which requires an on-premise database.

the PMS vendor sends out an engineer and/or representative to visit the hotel to install the software and train the staff.

between $10,750 and $14,750 for a PMS software license and training,

Cloud property management systems are generally sold using the software as a service (SaaS) model,

hosts the data and software in the cloud, and there is no need for physical hardware at the property.

Hybrid models continue to exist where hoteliers can have some aspects of their software and data storage on-premise, with others in the cloud.

Apaleo stands out for its focus on third-party integrations over building proprietary features.

Technological advancements have allowed for new entrants into the property management systems space to offer a viable alternative to incumbent legacy systems. Those systems might be scrambling for now, but they’ll catch up. All this can only be a good thing for the PMS and hotel tech space in the long run.

. Legacy systems are now working hard to roll out cloud-based products and convert their customers onto these systems.

Hardware costs came down drastically with the advent of the PC

Hyatt is one major hotel chain that requires its hotel owners to use an OPERA hosted system.

With the move to the cloud also came an increased focus on simplifying integrations.

Market leaders Oracle OPERA and Protel are clustered together around the midpoint, both offering a strong proprietary feature list and extensive integration

Wyndham first began its digital transformation journey in 2016, which has since resulted in a shift to best-in-class, cloud-based property management systems, a single central reservation system for all 20 brands, and a flexible cloud service and sales platform.

, 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

one-time set up fee, along with a monthly software fee and a flat delivery fee per order

DoorDash Weblinks

DoorDash, however, is offering 0% commission to restaurants with five or fewer locations on all weblink orders through the end of 2020.

DoorDash has dominated the delivery space for more than a year

45%, ahead of Uber Eats (28%) and Grubhub (17%).

$120 million in helping independent restaurants during the pandemic.

Erba Collective, a Los Angeles cannabis dispensary, installed self-service kiosks that accepted cashless payments to reduce wait times and increase customer turnover.

It’s the right solution for today’s consumers: Consumers value their time, and waiting in line can destroy an otherwise great customer experience.

It’s the right solution for today’s businesses: Merchants are facing mounting challenges ranging from rising labor costs to new competition. Self-service kiosks can help businesses do more with the same staff, minimizing the labor required for order taking or checkout.

o provide unattended POS solutions, you will need to speak with your vendors or find new partners that offer the types of hardware you need. It’s also vital that you work with a payments partner with expertise in managing unattended POS transactions.

EMV chip technology will help prevent card fraud.

part of their omnichannel strategies

If your goal is to be a total solutions provider and meet all of your customers’ needs

one-stop shop.”

While your cloud provider will be responsible for infrastructure needs such as storage, outsources will be taking care of compute and networking, specific needs such as data, visibility, AI and ML technology, or IoT.

As cloud costs get taken under control, businesses will have more revenue at their disposal to take advantage of these solutions that beat their specific industry challenges. In turn, providers will look to push out innovation that is easily accessible to a wide audience, has a low learning curve, low-code interface, and is more democratized overall, so that anyone can reap the rewards. Without the need for a team of data scientists, organizations will begin to see the benefits of Machine Learning, AI, and automation in a very tangible way to solve and enhance business strategy and an exciting cloud trend in 2020.

Micah Solomon:  Can you bring me up to speed on how the Chili’s digital service came to be deployed, and how it’s going so far? Wade Allen, vice president of digital innovation and customer engagement, Chili’s Grill & Bar: We started our digital guest experience journey in Sept. 2013 as the first mover in the casual dining industry to bring tabletop technology to our restaurant tables. The goal was to remove common guest pain points around paying the bill and re-ordering drinks. We’ve seen rapid adoption with 75 percent of guests using the tablets to quickly pay their bill. Furthermore, we’ve been able to gather valuable insights through real-time feedback where 25 percent of guests use the tablets to complete the Chili’s survey at the end of their dining experience. This feedback allows us to make improvements on an individual restaurant level, as well as, provide proof points for national-scale decisions around our Fresh Tex and Fresh Mex menu favorites. Once we had the tablets in place, we took a different approach and launched a fully digital loyalty program, “My Chili’s Rewards,” in May 2015. The goal was easy access/participation for all guests. We also included unique elements around gamification to keep guests engaged. In six months, we went from no loyalty program to 4.2 million members. Furthermore, approximately 18 percent of transactions in restaurant are tied to loyalty members. We’re building on this for what we call “loyalty 2.0” with our latest partnership with the Plenti rewards program, as the newest partner to join representing the casual dining industry. This will allow guests to earn points at partner locations and redeem for their Chili’s favorites.

Solomon: Is the human element getting lost?  Allen: Absolutely not! A key differentiator of casual dining is the personalized service model. Our technology innovation is not only a win for our guests, but also a win for our team members. With technology, we’re able to remove some of the mundane tasks of the server and allow them to make our guests feel special with a memorable dining experience. Furthermore, technology is completely optional and guests can choose to opt out if they wish. These tablets do not eliminate the personal service our guests receive from servers. In fact, these tablets have served as a good tool for our team members to help eliminate some transactional pain points, such as paying the bill or ordering dessert, and have helped our team members do their job more efficiently. This allows our team members to focus on the duties that make a personal impact on the dining experience, such as getting to know the table, taking entrée orders and delivering meals, among other duties.

Solomon: What are the backup plans for when guests want human rather than kiosk service? Allen: Our model is based on personalized service to make guests feel special when dining with us. So, the personalized aspect will always be a part of what guests experience at Chili’s. The technology innovation is completely optional and guests can choose to opt out if they wish.

We found that engagement with technology at events and delegate knowledge satisfactorily coexists for and across a number of different experiential levels. However, relative to I4.0, event research and the events industry appear to be digitally immature.

Events are in the midst of rapid social and technological change. With a growing variety of technological means, the industry is fast-paced and increasingly delivered to a discerning consumer market while finding ways to connect with consumers through technology

Digital technology is the thread of the fabric of organisations (Li et al., 2018). It is an increasingly important part of how they engage with their customers.

Moreover, engagement with events as fans, spectators, delegates or organisers can be augmented with digital technology by improving access and sociability capabilities, refining the personalisation of events, and thereby creating enhanced experiences.

As we advance into what many in business and academia consider to be a fourth industrial revolution, the capacity to control and exchange data electronically has extended our ability to create, edit, maintain, transmit and retrieve information.

I4.0 can be described as the digitisation and automation of the manufacturing environment. It also creates digital value chains to enable the communication between products, their environment and business partners. Digital applications have impacted the tourism sector too giving rise to ‘Tourism 4.0’

The events industry is an ideal environment to benefit from the implementation of a widespread digitised approach with numerous organisations empowering managers and improving the overall event experience with the integration of extensive ICT practices and systems.

With the more widespread adoption of digitalization in event delivery and as the supply chains of all events become intertwined with technology, we can learn how the digital maturity of events in the 21st century is shaping event management and event control.

The team set out to answer the following research questions: RQ1. Can digital maturity in events be defined? If so, RQ2. How should the levels of digital maturity of events be classified with regard to the digital maturity of the events industry and the development of event management theory?

Successful events are no longer measured by simply achieving a respectable attendance, a great deal more engagement is manifest through digital technologies

Successful events require organisers to create something that is considered by those who attend as a valuable and memorable experience (Pizam, 2010; Tung, 2011). Creating memorable event experiences can be described as being dependent on a number of factors including creating regular attendee engagement, providing appropriate activities, relevant subject matter, topical and contemporary focus and targeted to a sizable receptive audience.

technological factors being one of the most important areas of demand for companies along with the implementation of I4.0. SMEs (Small to medium enterprises) are [lagging] behind in developing strategies to implement new solutions.

The development of digital maturity in events can be compared to smart tourism, which Gretzel et al. (2015) expressed as a logical progression from traditional activities. Smart tourism is characterised by an ability to transform large amounts of data into enhanced tourist experiences and increased destination competitiveness thanks to the interconnection of the different stakeholders through latest ICT advancements

As the components of I4.0 become more prevalent in the events industry, much value can be obtained from understanding how businesses are adopting new levels of digital engagement in order to engage their audiences

it is prudent to suggest that the survival, and future success of events can depend upon digital maturity and transformation

owever, dealing with digital maturity requires careful attention as Neuhofer (2016) urges caution advising that applied technology solutions have proven to have the ability to create or destruct the value of the experience.

I4.0 therefore acknowledges the impact of connected computers with the key constituents being cyber-physical systems, the Internet of Things, cloud computing and cognitive computing

highlighted that the use of communication networks globally has risen dramatically and become ubiquitous due to the rise of smartphone ownership. This has been fuelled by social media, apps and faster broadband speeds to create a networked society

By combining the Internet of Things data and big data (extremely large data sets that may be analysed computationally to reveal patterns, trends and associations, especially relating to human behaviour and interactions), event managers are able to create a competitive advantage.

As event companies develop new and innovative ways to connect, the events themselves are absorbing aspects of I4.0 at every stage of the process; pushing the boundaries of event experiences far beyond the physical world

They are used to promote events before, during and after delivery and are used to gather data and inform decision-making. Generating responses from an event can be achieved using a number of methods and through both qualitative and quantitative data.

With the advent of big data and analytics, new sources of valuable data are available to guide decision-making processes in a more informed manner. Businesses were once looking at historical data, but advances in database technology and system processes have led to near real-time data collection and analytics

Failure to adopt aspects of digital technology does not necessarily suggest a poor experience or the end for those businesses less digitally mature; not every event business relies on this kind of data support to survive. Instead, this research provides an opportunity to better understand where event businesses do engage and more importantly, how communication between non-digital and fully integrated individuals/businesses can be improved.

Digital maturity and transformation today differs from previous periods as it not only provides the change in the main business processes but also reveals the concepts of smart and connected products through service-driven business models

Our analysis begins with an attempt to uncover the potential challenges, on-going developments and various strategies that will provide the events industry and academics with a forward-facing approach to the growth of technology within events. By including industry professionals and academics, the research contributes to bridging the gap between practise and academia.

Because the research and empirical data collection includes industry perspectives, we believe this research will provide value to event managers, marketers and practitioners around the world who wish to understand more about the digital maturity of events.

After conducting the social media analysis (1), it became evident that the discussions appeared to be around topics that utilise digital technology rather than the technology itself. Furthermore, and probably a reflection on the value of the group, a lot of the data included questions about understanding the topics rather than providing usable information to our research.

We did not have detailed information about the precise characteristics of the individuals who contributed to the dataset of posts. However, to an extent, their roles listed in LinkedIn were informative. These included events consultants, social media managers, marketing professionals, EventTech managers, CEOs at tech companies and events students.

Although this response rate of 52 academics may be considered low, this did allow for the creation of the initial insights into the E4.0 concept and crucially it provides a starting point to better understand the levels of the developing digital maturity model.

The most referenced themes were social media, marketing, apps, GDPR and mobile. The top 14 themes are shown in Figure 1 below.

The results of the thematic analysis reveal the most pertinent events and technology topics in this group in the time period specified. The most common topics were social media and marketing. Marketing appeared alongside other topics as a verb, a noun and an adjective. This certainly influenced its prominence.

This statement reinforces the knowledge and general use of social media during events. Mobile and event apps were recognised as presenting opportunities to enhance events and were considered to be a permanent part of events.

Carefully managed and fully integrated data and digital systems including social media, apps and CRM create digital value chains to enable the communication between events, their environment, and business partners.

Event organisers invest heavily on social media engagement and expect a great deal in return through social media retweets, tagging and sharing of images. However, it is just as important to understand if delegates consider technology at events that important.

Our expert respondents were asked if they considered the events industry to be at the cutting edge of technology. Responses were largely supportive of the suggestion that it is. 64% agree, 22% neither agree nor disagree and 14% disagree.

Online registration/digital booking was very familiar with 65% ‘extremely familiar’ with the technology.

The survey also collected a selection of qualitative data as respondents were asked to if there were any specific examples of connected/digital technology considered to be essential to the delivery of an event that had not been discussed in the survey. Significantly, 23% answered no to this question.

With regard to the digital maturity of the events industry affecting the development of event management theory, the literature review indicates that academics are making contributions to theory and a broad understanding of digital technology exists.

industry appears not to be digitally mature. Also, our findings suggest that relative to I4.0 not all events are digitally mature. Therefore, the ‘digital immaturity’ of the events industry may be having some effect on event management theory

It became evident from the survey that many respondents suggested they were not familiar with technology that they would all have experienced.

The results from the survey suggest that widespread academic understanding of technology at events is extensive. Some digital technology is considered routine, while other comprehensively used technology appears to be unfamiliar to the end user.

The growing digital maturity levels form the foundation for E4.0 and will contribute to what Gerbert (2015) described as greater efficiencies and changing traditional relationships among suppliers, producers, and customers.

Therefore, satisfaction from the event comes down to providing delegates with the right communication levels they need to complete their individual objectives. This can range from the most basic social engagement to the gathering or observation of big data. Events are evidently a melting pot of experiences and goals and not all of them demand the highest levels of technology to complete.

Artificial intelligence has the ability to provide events with endless systems that sense, learn and decide throughout the delivery process though many gaps exist.

The data also indicates that there is good knowledge across all types of digital technology. This is reassuring for the development of education as the events industry embraces digitalisation

However, as more value is placed on the use of digital technology and events mature through greater access to technology, we see the emergence of an E4.0 era.

Thus, this model anticipates that events will grow in their digital maturity to level E3 and E4. Thus, digital technologies may become sufficiently embedded so that data related to one element of an event will be used to inform other elements of an event in real time

Online registration and wearable technologies such as delegate smart badges are superficial digital experiences and only considered as a process rather than as a fully perceived digital experience.

Our findings indicate that digital communications have enabled a shift in the content of events, marketing and the use of social media as a communication tool before, during and after the event.

On the limitations of our research, one might argue that engagement with technology, or indeed lack of it, does not provide evidence of the immaturity of digital technology in events. However, the digital maturity model that we propose is principally informed by the literature on digital technology and events.

This research has provided a revealing perspective on the use of digital technology in events. It has built on theory that has been previously developed in this and similar subjects of research, such as business and tourism. From this, the research can claim a number of contributions. It (i) provides an empirical investigation into how event businesses and individuals engage with digitally technology at events, and (ii) it provides a definition of E4.0 and other preceding levels that contribute to digital maturity.

Our research has shown that event delegates are aware of the ability to communicate in a reciprocal process with technology rather than through a linear/top down process. This in itself is evidence of E4.0. Furthermore, this research highlights how industry is continually striving to optimise the delegate/event relationship through apps and other technology. The industry’s on-going mission to create deeply flexible communication opportunities is eliminating the possibility of gaps in the communication process in order to optimise delegate engagement at events.

A broader discussion on potential issues such as IT & data security, skill-sets, expensive production costs and outages; these are significant problems within internet and cloud-based technology. Furthermore, the emerging topic of E4.0 itself requires both conceptual and empirical development.

This research has shown that there remains a great deal to discover about the use of technology at events and many opportunities exist for further research from academics and practitioners working together to provide mutual benefits for both industry and education.