Property-management systems contain a variety of sensitive and personal guest information that needs to be protected, which is leading companies to move their PMSes the cloud.
“Trying to maintain a system like that on premises anymore is super tough and most IT managers just can’t keep up with it,” said Laura Calin, VP of solutions and strategy for Oracle Hospitality. “With the level of scrutiny that goes along with that guest information, you need to be nimble on a daily basis—the cloud is the easiest way to accomplish this.”
With cloud computing today, data centers like Amazon Web Services and IBM are replicating the data and backing it up far faster and more securely than any on-premises solution, according to Todd Sabo, president of North America at RMS Hospitality Solutions. “There’s also no installation of any hardware or software and all configurations can be done remotely so the hotelier’s operational expenses go out the window,” he said.
On top of security benefits, a whole new landscape of collaborative technologies is rolling out in the hotel space, and all of this is unthinkable without cloud connections, said Jeremy Armes, VP of marketing for protel. “If I want my hotel connected to the future, I would not hesitate to put as much of my business infrastructure into the cloud as possible,” he said. “PMS is just one important part of the puzzle—you have to see the whole picture.”
Part of that picture is preparing for the future. Cloud PMS solutions are more accessible and ready for mobile, said Ahmed Youssef, EVP of marketing and corporate development for Amadeus. “The underlying architecture of cloud-native PMS solutions also enable faster feature development and much less downtime for upgrade and maintenance compared to on-premises PMS.”
A cloud-based PMS is easier to integrate with other hospitality technology products as well, according to SkyTouch Technology CEO Todd Davis. “It can have much lower capital costs when it comes to implementation and operations, allows hotels to use lower-cost equipment and enables the user to conduct almost any transaction anytime, anywhere from any device.”
