This article is part two of a three-part series on property-management systems. Part one can be found here.
HOTEL MANAGEMENT asked several PMS experts what are the top three questions hoteliers should be asking of their PMS providers. Here’s what they think are the most important.
Trisha Littlejohn, director of property management solutions at Agilysys:
1. What does your software do to help me drive revenue per available room?
2. How does your software manage the upselling of not only rooms but also amenities? Using an algorithm to curate upsell offers based on guest data ensures a hotel doesn’t miss an opportunity to upsell.
Patrick van der Wardt, SVP of international sales, PMS for Amadeus Hospitality:
1. Hotels should be looking for a partner who shares their same desire and vision for success. Partners who employ agile development, services and support processes that allow the business relationship to be fluid and simple.
2. Hotels should be looking for the right PMS platform architecture. Cloud native and cloud based are not the same thing. Cloud-native solutions are built to scale as you grow, so your costs are always in coordination with the size of your enterprise. Cloud native also means that reliability is inherent.
3. Hotels should be looking for a PMS solution that has the ability to manage its reservation distribution channel inventory and pricing strategies.
Warren Dehan, president of Maestro PMS:
1. Hoteliers should ensure that the PMS they are considering (whether on-premises or cloud) satisfies a predetermined (by the hotel) list of critical operational requirements the hotel is trying to satisfy, that perhaps their current system does not. After all, if the PMS cannot do what the hotel needs, everything else becomes moot.
2. What is the reputation of the PMS provider for service?
3. What are the vendor’s innovation goals to keep the PMS current and future direction to meet the ongoing needs of the hotel to avoid product obsolescence?
Peter Agel, global segment leader of hotels at Oracle Hospitality:
1. What is the size of the company and the financial ability to invest and upgrade its technology?
2. How is your integration with your partner networks, such as distribution, television systems, etc.?
3. How is the flexibility of your system to handle the dashboard and user interface as my hotel changes? A good PMS need to be able to adapt to changes.
Charlie Green, director of product management at SkyTouch Technology:
1. What is your system uptime? This is a measure of how well the system is managed and what impact it would have to the business if it wasn’t available.
2. Who and when can I call for help?
3. How can the system help me improve my business? The vendor should be able to share solid examples of how they do this with other customers.
Amanda Wisell, marketing manager at Springer-Miller Systems:
1. Do you offer comprehensive product support including live 24/7 phone support as well as online training and documentation?
2. Can my guest book all aspects of their experience through your system?
3. Can you support a global guest profile across all of my properties, regardless of location?
Jos Schaap, CEO and founder of StayNTouch:
1. Is your PMS in the cloud?
2. Is the PMS partially or entirely mobile? You need access anywhere on property, not just behind a desk.
3. How easily is your PMS integrated with third-party systems?