Tools for leveraging at-the-table mobility to gain efficiency in the hospitality sector have been available for many years, according to Tim Pincelli, global segment leader, restaurants for Oracle Hospitality; however, today's solutions offer what he calls "a new recipe in portability, design, and functionality." "With modern solutions," Pincelli explains, "service staff is empowered to deliver an improved guest experience with a multipurpose table-side and mobile solution that combines a size-friendly tablet with ample screen real estate, full-shift battery life, and full functionality - as if the staff member was at a fixed workstation."

The new talent management system also gives the company better insight into its recruiting process through advanced reporting and analytics.

The new talent management system also gives the company better insight into its recruiting process through advanced reporting and analytics.

I am with Jon at the Oracle Industry Connect this week. Of course I have enjoyed connecting with those I know, but I must admit it is also enjoyable meeting people from other industries like life sciences, healthcare, financial services, insurance and education. Sometimes I forget that there are industries other than hospitality. I have enjoyed meeting these people from other industries, but it is amazing how they all want to really know what the hotel industry is all about. When your business is about where people eat, drink and sleep I guess it does sound a bit more intriguing than the banking industry. It has been an enjoyable two days and no matter how often we interact with others in the industry, nothing beats face to face. There was a great crowd from the hospitality space with a lot of the higher ups from the industry attending. It was nice seeing so many making time to come to this event. I thank Oracle for inviting me and after the events Hospitality Upgrade put on last week I am very thankful I just get to attend, not having to speak nonstop. Thank you, Jon, for making this week's Siegel Sez easier as I sit in my hotel room in Washington, D.C., at 5:30 in the morning trying to be creative after a night of eating and drinking at the Smithsonian Castle.

I am with Jon at the Oracle Industry Connect this week. Of course I have enjoyed connecting with those I know, but I must admit it is also enjoyable meeting people from other industries like life sciences, healthcare, financial services, insurance and education. Sometimes I forget that there are industries other than hospitality. I have enjoyed meeting these people from other industries, but it is amazing how they all want to really know what the hotel industry is all about. When your business is about where people eat, drink and sleep I guess it does sound a bit more intriguing than the banking industry. It has been an enjoyable two days and no matter how often we interact with others in the industry, nothing beats face to face. There was a great crowd from the hospitality space with a lot of the higher ups from the industry attending. It was nice seeing so many making time to come to this event. I thank Oracle for inviting me and after the events Hospitality Upgrade put on last week I am very thankful I just get to attend, not having to speak nonstop. Thank you, Jon, for making this week's Siegel Sez easier as I sit in my hotel room in Washington, D.C., at 5:30 in the morning trying to be creative after a night of eating and drinking at the Smithsonian Castle.

Next-Gen POS Works with Mobile, Cloud and Social to Deliver Integrated Content As hotels and restaurants employ mobile, social, and informational tools to connect with guests, they require a new type of "engagement" device at the point of service (POS). To meet this need, Oracle today introduced Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 with a fresh, modern design that provides hospitality and select retail venues with a next-generation POS terminal that works in concert with mobile, cloud, and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

Next-Gen POS Works with Mobile, Cloud and Social to Deliver Integrated Content As hotels and restaurants employ mobile, social, and informational tools to connect with guests, they require a new type of "engagement" device at the point of service (POS). To meet this need, Oracle today introduced Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 with a fresh, modern design that provides hospitality and select retail venues with a next-generation POS terminal that works in concert with mobile, cloud, and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

...For Ovation Brands choosing to move the POS to the cloud was a matter of "future-proofing." The company already had experience and a comfort level with the cloud through its back-office system and was ready to move its POS above property with very specific goals in mind. "We were looking for something that had high-speed to value, lower cost of ownership and would save us from the traditional IT intensive POS implementation where you have to administer it and have a staff to support it," Benson says. "Having the POS in the cloud helps us modernize the way we conduct business."

...For Ovation Brands choosing to move the POS to the cloud was a matter of "future-proofing." The company already had experience and a comfort level with the cloud through its back-office system and was ready to move its POS above property with very specific goals in mind. "We were looking for something that had high-speed to value, lower cost of ownership and would save us from the traditional IT intensive POS implementation where you have to administer it and have a staff to support it," Benson says. "Having the POS in the cloud helps us modernize the way we conduct business."

The Global Hotel Alliance (www.gha.com) runs a customer loyalty program known as Discover on behalf of its brands, providing a technological systems platform for members to use. "We provide knowledge and insights to help our member brands run a loyalty program," Folker Heim, director of loyalty marketing, says... The backbone of the program is the OPERA customer informa­tion system (OCIS) which is connected to the OPERA PMS (www.oracle.com/hospitality). "We exchange data on loyalty program members, profile, preferences, card members, join dates, amount of rewards, rewards redeemed and so on," Heim explains.

Looking at the many tech trends affecting full-service restaurants, two overarching themes emerge. One is the use of technology, particularly mobile devices, to enhance the guest experience-prior to the meal, at tableside, and beyond. The other big theme is restaurateurs' need for consistency and repeatability throughout the enterprise, in areas encompassing everything from pricing, menus, and reporting to regulatory compliance.

Oracle Hospitality HITEC Booth #1011 As hotels and restaurants employ mobile, social, and informational tools to connect with guests, they require a new type of "engagement" device at the point of service (POS). To meet this need, Oracle has introduced Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 with a fresh, modern design that provides hospitality and select retail venues with a next-generation POS terminal that works in concert with mobile, cloud, and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

SaaS will be the norm. Pretty much all systems are already available in this format and most hotels are very comfortable using them - except for PMS. Sometimes this is for psychological reasons of personal comfort with having the data on premise; sometimes there's a genuine difficulty in obtaining reliable, cost-effective communications links. Nonetheless, I am certain this objection will fade over time. Oracle in particular has announced that it will only sell the new version 9 of Opera on a remotely hosted basis, setting the tone for the rest of the industry. Less customization. The age of expecting major PMS vendors to agree to significant enhancements for individual hotels is over. The smaller vendors will probably continue to do so, but it's not feasible for the larger ones. We don't expect Microsoft or Apple to customize their systems for us when we're ready to buy something new, we just adapt to what they offer. The same's true for Oracle, Infor and the other major PMS vendors; their systems are powerful and flexible enough to be useful in most situations. If you want something very specific you'll always be able to find a vendor who'll customize its system for you, just as you can run your own PC on Linux configured just the way you want it, but mainstream will be good enough for most.

Workstation 6 newsbrief and image in June 2015 print issue.

Oracle demonstrated its new Micros Workstation 6, a next-generation POS terminal that allows the sharing of content across a varying suite of devices, from the fixed station to a hand-held tablet.

"It changes the way your hotel operates," said Boro Petrovic, Oracle Hospitality's chief technology architect. "Your workforce is constantly connected. If you need to send housekeeping or maintenance to a room, you can do that from your smartphone somewhere else on the property."

"It changes the way your hotel operates," said Boro Petrovic, Oracle Hospitality's chief technology architect. "Your workforce is constantly connected. If you need to send housekeeping or maintenance to a room, you can do that from your smartphone somewhere else on the property."

DOWNLOAD/REGISTRATION Required This cover story of this special report features Ovation Brands, who had just gone live on Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM Cloud (and still implementing Oracle EPM Cloud). The story chronicles Ovation's move to the cloud, starting small, adding Micros, then implementing ERP and HR in the cloud, citing business gains, newfound analytical insight and lower operating cost as benefits of the migration.

DOWNLOAD/REGISTRATION Required This cover story of this special report features Ovation Brands, who had just gone live on Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle HCM Cloud (and still implementing Oracle EPM Cloud). The story chronicles Ovation's move to the cloud, starting small, adding Micros, then implementing ERP and HR in the cloud, citing business gains, newfound analytical insight and lower operating cost as benefits of the migration.

Video The Micros Systems Inc point of sales system for restaurants seems pretty slick. MICROS provides comprehensive restaurant point-of-service (POS) solutions that can be scaled to meet the needs of every type and size of restaurant, whether you operate a single restaurant or hundreds. Our modular restaurant POS systems can [...]

Video The Micros Systems Inc point of sales system for restaurants seems pretty slick. MICROS provides comprehensive restaurant point-of-service (POS) solutions that can be scaled to meet the needs of every type and size of restaurant, whether you operate a single restaurant or hundreds. Our modular restaurant POS systems can [...]

Tony Kontzer's article on Ovation Brands - including a quote from CIO Patrick Benson - was called out in the editor's note at the beginning of the special report. "Those who have gone beyond testing the waters are finding there is no looking back. In Tony Kontzer's cover story, Ovation Brands CIO Patrick Benson recounts how the chain restaurant operator was faced with an outdated IT infrastructure and needed help fast; it found it in software as a service. "The major difference in the journey has been the warp speed at which we were really able to do this. It wasn't artificial or forced. It's just an organically faster process," Benson said. "We used to wait a day or two just to get the previous day's performance information. That stuff now becomes real-time."

Tony Kontzer's article on Ovation Brands - including a quote from CIO Patrick Benson - was called out in the editor's note at the beginning of the special report. "Those who have gone beyond testing the waters are finding there is no looking back. In Tony Kontzer's cover story, Ovation Brands CIO Patrick Benson recounts how the chain restaurant operator was faced with an outdated IT infrastructure and needed help fast; it found it in software as a service. "The major difference in the journey has been the warp speed at which we were really able to do this. It wasn't artificial or forced. It's just an organically faster process," Benson said. "We used to wait a day or two just to get the previous day's performance information. That stuff now becomes real-time."

For its part, Oracle Hospitality will build on the foundation that Micros established in the hotel and F&B industries. Mike Webster, SVP and general manager, Oracle Retail and Hospitality, told Hotel Business that the integration has been going quite well (Oracle acquired Micros in 2014), and that combining the companies into Oracle Hospitality will allow customers to get the best of both worlds: "We're preserving the intimacy and domain expertise that Micros had built and combining that with the scale and global reach of Oracle." Oracle's platform for the hospitality industry offers comprehensive and integrated software, cloud offerings and hardware solutions for hotels, casinos, table and quick-service restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and cruise operations from small independents to large global chains. Webster noted that the company has several short-term priorities: a seamless transition for customers, an organizational structure based on business segments; and integration of Micros with Oracle's technology.

For its part, Oracle Hospitality will build on the foundation that Micros established in the hotel and F&B industries. Mike Webster, SVP and general manager, Oracle Retail and Hospitality, told Hotel Business that the integration has been going quite well (Oracle acquired Micros in 2014), and that combining the companies into Oracle Hospitality will allow customers to get the best of both worlds: "We're preserving the intimacy and domain expertise that Micros had built and combining that with the scale and global reach of Oracle." Oracle's platform for the hospitality industry offers comprehensive and integrated software, cloud offerings and hardware solutions for hotels, casinos, table and quick-service restaurants, sports and entertainment venues, and cruise operations from small independents to large global chains. Webster noted that the company has several short-term priorities: a seamless transition for customers, an organizational structure based on business segments; and integration of Micros with Oracle's technology.

WASHINGTON, DC—Oracle has introduced Oracle’s Micros Workstation 6, a point-of-sales (POS) terminal designed to work with mobile, cloud and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

WASHINGTON, DC—Oracle has introduced Oracle’s Micros Workstation 6, a point-of-sales (POS) terminal designed to work with mobile, cloud and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

At the Oracle Industry Connect conference in Washington, D.C., the technology company announced a new workstation for hotels and restaurants. Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 works with mobile, cloud and social media to deliver consistent and integrated content across multiple sources.

At the Oracle Industry Connect conference in Washington, D.C., the technology company announced a new workstation for hotels and restaurants. Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 works with mobile, cloud and social media to deliver consistent and integrated content across multiple sources.

As hotels and restaurants employ mobile, social, and informational tools to connect with guests, they require a new type of "engagement" device at the point of service (POS). To meet this need, Oracle today introduced Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 with a fresh, modern design that provides hospitality and select retail venues with a next-generation POS terminal that works in concert with mobile, cloud, and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

As hotels and restaurants employ mobile, social, and informational tools to connect with guests, they require a new type of "engagement" device at the point of service (POS). To meet this need, Oracle today introduced Oracle's MICROS Workstation 6 with a fresh, modern design that provides hospitality and select retail venues with a next-generation POS terminal that works in concert with mobile, cloud, and social media to deliver consistent, integrated content across multiple sources.

To get a handle on the enormous amount of data generated by its restaurants, Ovation Brands, which operates Old Country Buffet and other restaurants, employs Oracle's cloud-based system that collects data from its Micros point-of-sale systems and processes the data using the MyMicros business intelligence and Micros InMotion mobile tools.

To get a handle on the enormous amount of data generated by its restaurants, Ovation Brands, which operates Old Country Buffet and other restaurants, employs Oracle's cloud-based system that collects data from its Micros point-of-sale systems and processes the data using the MyMicros business intelligence and Micros InMotion mobile tools.