According to the new Starfleet Research study Build for the Cloud: A Blueprint for Hotel Technology Success (now available for complimentary access), 91 percent of hoteliers 'agree' or 'strongly agree' that technology platform interoperability and compatibility is a key success factor for hotel performance improvement.

Such interoperability is best achieved with a true cloud property management system, which, according to the research (click here to access), can address the needs of hoteliers and the behaviors and expectations of guests in unprecedented ways.

The benefits are compelling by any measure, including the most important measure of all: return on investment.

Assessing the ROI component requires a multifaceted approach. The assessment starts with the fact that a solution built for the cloud tends to be more cost-effective and require less up-front investment than a hybrid or “cloud-washed” solution.

The most obvious reason for the shift to increased affordability relates to the simple fact that the entire application and data infrastructure is hosted and stored in the cloud, eliminating the need for on-premise servers and also reducing the need for in-house IT resources.

Also, a subscription pay-as-you-go model means no upfront capital investment, an important consideration for smaller hotels with limited budget. A true cloud solution is built to scale as the volume of business increases, so the costs are always in coordination with the size of the hotel’s operations.

With software upgrades rapidly deployed via the cloud, hotels reduce the risk of serious performance issues, including potential periods of system downtime. Incremental cloud software upgrades tend to have far fewer glitches than on-premise software releases, and cumulative releases allow for backward compatibility.

Uninterrupted PMS performance alleviates a big concern for hoteliers concerned about potential loss of revenue, ensuring continuity in operations and guest services. Upgrade documentation is generally made available in advance, giving hotel staff the opportunity to get up to speed on new features and functionality, reducing the need for in-person retraining.

Improvements in operational efficiency and staff productivity are key ROI considerations. A true cloud PMS streamlines day-to-day tasks, from guest check-in to guest checkout. It optimizes mobile access to core functions, including collaborative features used by hotel staff and also to self-service applications used by guests, which can further reduce overhead. It can also reduce the amount of time spent on routine tasks such as consolidating guest accounts and managing rates and availability across distribution channels.

A PMS built for the cloud emphasizes compatibility. It is designed to integrate with all other hospitality technologies. There are significant cost benefits associated with a system that enables "centralized shopping" of data through seamless interaction between the CRS and PMS and all other hotel solutions and modules. These benefits include reduction in losses related to errors in manual updates and delayed or lost room charge postings as well as lower integration costs with third-party hardware and software.

Hoteliers waste less time and money when they are able to directly access a single source for bookings, for example, with no need to sync data. Integration reduces potential data disparity issues around “last room availability,” oversold rooms, etc., which can be costly in the long run.

According to the research, a true cloud PMS also enables advanced revenue management capabilities such as real-time integration of customer lifetime value into pricing and availability algorithms, and guest loyalty and total property spend data into the room rate decision-making model.

By providing the technology framework for creating a comprehensive and unified view of guest relationships across the enterprise, a true cloud PMS makes it possible to present guests with relevant and personalized messages, offers and treatments in an automated and systematic manner.

Build for the Cloud: A Blueprint for Hotel Technology Success is currently available for complimentary access. Click here to learn more and/or to download a copy free of charge.

Starfleet Research is the leading provider of best practices IT market research for the hospitality industry. Each year, we benchmark best practices in technology-enabled business initiatives across thousands of hotels and resorts. Tens of thousands of senior executives read our premium content assets, including our popular Smart Decision Guides, to gain actionable insights and make smarter business decisions.