Hotel Data Strategy: The First Step is Admitting There’s a Problem

To best understand where the hospitality industry stands in terms of its adoption of digital tools and cloud-based solutions, it’s important to step back and look quickly at the big picture.

First, as far away as it seems, remember that the internet itself wasn’t a widely popular tool until about 20 years ago. But it changed the game so quickly for consumers that businesses scrambled to adopt their operating models for a new age. As the internet paved the way for cloud storage and cloud computing, businesses within hospitality and other industries again took various approaches to leverage the incredible capabilities.

For two decades, hundreds of hospitality solutions providers have tackled individual challenges in their own unique ways, to the point where, frankly, it’s somewhat of a mess today. Many systems are built on legacy platforms that provide barriers to integration. Outside of that, getting disparate systems to talk to each other, share, and centralize data is costly and cumbersome.

But, remember, it has only been 20 years. We’ve made great strides, we’ve learned a ton, and we’ve identified the right path forward in many cases. Many companies are understanding the value of centralizing and sharing data for the collective benefit of helping owners and operators run a better business.

For hoteliers, there are three critical stages of hospitality data management to consider:

– 1. Moving data storage and management into the cloud – 2. Extracting the right data to gain businesswide intelligence – 3. Using data as a framework to build your commercial strategy

Below, we’ll unpack Stage 1 in more detail, identifying why moving your tools and data into the cloud will help you build the framework for a long and successful data management strategy. In future pieces, we’ll discuss how hoteliers are extracting, aggregating and analyzing their portfoliwide data to make smarter business decisions.

For many operators still relying on legacy systems, it’s easy to get comfortable and blame things like deployment time and training as reasons for not moving to the cloud. But planting the seed now will bear fruit in the near future. It’s time to adopt cloud data management and Software-as-a-Service solutions, because neither are going away, and by delaying the inevitable you risk falling behind your competition.

In many cases, on-property systems hinder hotel companies’ ability to operate effectively and deliver the best guest experience. Cloud technologies with SaaS models enable hospitality businesses to accelerate speed-to-market and pave the way for innovation that drives new business outcomes. It allows businesses to quickly adjust course to capitalize on industry shifts and emerging technologies.