Technology

Hospitality bytes

When it comes to adoption of technology, hospitality is one of the few sectors that have more or less been passed by the digital storm. HospitalityWorld 2007 however showed that there is yet hope for the sector, finds out Satyam Pati.

Considering the fact that the venue was Hyderabad International Convention Centre, which originally was a byproduct of the IT revolution in Hyderabad, the role of IT and high-end technology in hospitality does warrant a critical analysis. IT solutions for hospitality generally translate themselves into Property Management Software (PMS). These not only provide solutions for fundamental hospitality problems be it in front office, bookings, F&B or account management but if applied properly can help hotels reduce costs in real time and provide an efficient service to their guests.

IT for hospitality was represented by five chief players during HospitalityWorld 2007. Chief among them were IDS Softwares and Fourth Dimension. WINSAR Infosoft also entered the fray and a whole new dimension in hospitality solutions could be in the offering with Saastra's products. IDS has been the primary challenger to Fidelio, the world standard in PMS. Up until recently, even Fidelio provided just front office solutions. The recent trend in PMS has been towards end-to-end solutions and thus companies have been offering total and complete solutions instead of just solutions for particular aspects or facets of the hospitality sector.

All in one

The set of solutions being offered today begins with front office and handles almost every major aspect like F&B, housekeeping and payroll management. In this regard, IDS has in this year's HospitalityWorld offered all its major products forming part of its Fortune package, like Fortune Analytix, RevMax, icheck-in and many more. Nishant Seth, marketing manager in-charge of IDS India and international, said, "Integration and consolidation of the various software in a hotel remain a primary focus area. Merely providing solutions is not enough; providing good support plus integrating existing solutions only will ensure a successful IT solution to a hospitality problem."

Fourth Dimension Software systems from Chennai with its 'Champagne' series of PMS could translate itself into a major competitor against Fortune. Siemens on the other hand is the top dog in hospitality communication needs with also the HiPath Hospitality Service Centre series of PMS solutions to offer. The buzzword according to Sumeet Kumar Mishra, an executive at Siemens, is currently 'convergence' or combining existing voice and data networks into a single entity and giving PMS a total interface with access to data from every part of the hospitality enterprise.

Sassy SAAS

A major buzzword in IT today is SAAS - Software As A Service. This concept is of major significance for the industry, especially for the small and medium enterprises which cannot afford the capital investment involved with existing PMS like Fortune or Champagne.

In terms of practical applications, Saastra from Bangalore has brought unique solutions specifically targeted at the travel sector. Its solutions intend to give a new dimension to the hotel-guest relationship by bringing them together and removing the intervening agent which has erstwhile been the king of the travel roost.

Utilising SAAS, the whole solutions package is offered online at annual or monthly subscriptions thus avoiding the heavy capital expenditure. Vishnu Murali Konduru, MD of Saastra, claims that it offers solutions to problems that the travel industry has never been able to solve, namely how to give the client a simplified method to utilise a hotel's travel services. Could Saastra's solutions be the end of the travel agent? That is yet to be seen.

Safety with technology

Technology for hospitality once implied just electronic door locks and electronic safes. These two products were represented by quite a few exhibitors like Hafele India and Saftec. Ashish Kapoor, business head (Hospitality) of Hafele, commented, "Although we are a premium brand and target only the top in hospitality, the cost-conscious nature of the Indian market does pose challenges and competition is also increasing." He added, "Even top players need to stay on their toes to maintain their position and that is where the utility of premium brands comes in - they give a hotel the edge to outperform."

Saftec and Armour India are two major manufacturers of electronic safes and Ranjit Singh M Wasu, director of Armour Electronics, was optimistic in his outlook. However, he did remark that though electronic safes were gaining popularity among the hotel majors, they remained far from the number one position. As a final word, the trend, in the technology sector remains IT itself and overcoming challenges that will enable effective solution delivery by IT for the sector. The industry needs are being looked at by IT solutions providers. But the numbers still remain small in comparison to the potential. End-to-end solutions - that is what IT can offer. But that is not the end, it is merely the beginning.