Hotel Property Management Systems (PMS) have long interfaced to external systems. Such integration has allowed hoteliers to streamline operations across their properties by assembling individual vendors to best serve specific requirements.
NB: This is an article from Stay N Touch
To remain competitive in today’s hotel environment, it is essential that software applications integrate easily and seamlessly with other programs. However, with legacy technology, countless systems and multiple departments, integration of systems is not always plain sailing and can be challenging and complex. Here are some common hotel PMS integration myths.
- Myth #1 – PMS providers don’t want to integrate: A Property Management System (PMS) is the core system of any hotel and integration is paramount as the industry moves to become more connected.
While integrating legacy systems has always been a complex and costly task and didn’t over support integration, newer cloud-based hotel software, which is progressively built on common Web standards and open APIs, is designed with system integration in mind.
- Myth #2 – Difficult & Cumbersome: Integration has always been a fundamental characteristic of a hotel PMS and it’s essential that it plays nicely with vendors across the industry.
Traditionally, PMS software limited hoteliers’ freedom to work with several different vendors and integrations with legacy systems almost always required complicated manual work that was often quite a challenge. However, one of the biggest strengths of a cloud-based hotel management system is that it can be easily connected to other software applications, even if these applications don’t share the same provider. Using APIs different software can easily and seamlessly communicate and exchange date as needed.
- Myth #3 – Costly: In the past PMSs were used only by larger brands as it involved huge investments in IT to develop proprietary systems for all their needs and further large sums of money needed for the specialised manpower to run the systems. But in the last decade numerous low-cost cloud-based hotel PMSs offering integrated hotel management systems from a single vendor or system aggregator, means IT no longer having to procure, install, and maintain multiple systems from different vendors as well as the various integrations in-between.
As a result, IT requirements are significantly lowered along with a reduction in operational costs, not to mention making it vastly easier for future expansion of software and operational requirements.
- Myth #4 – Take Too Much Time: Not so long ago if you were to look behind the IT curtain at most big brand hotels you would have seen a proprietary technology stack or at least one that was integrated under a single software provider – one that was complex and cumbersome and where integrations took forever to get done.
With newer cloud-based systems built on an open structure the PMS can easily integrate with other best-of-breed 3rd party software via APIs. So instead of buying a huge technology stack composed of complicated yet compromised hotels can now select the perfect combination of software features to match their specific needs. And because these new pieces are specifically built to be easily integrated through APIs, building the perfect software stack now happens in far less time than before.
With the constant development of new technologies and so much innovation in today’s technological cloudscape, system integration is not only helps to maximizing operational efficiency but they are creating new opportunities to enhance guest service, increase revenue at every turn and are key to staying current and competitive
