Hospitality Industry Role of Hospitality

¶ … Hospitality Industry

Role of Hospitality IT Systems

The rapidly changing needs and expectations of global travelers are a primary catalyst in the continual improvement and innovation of hospitality information technologies and systems. Having a 360-degree view of the guest is just the beginning to becoming the trusted advisor to travelers over time (Jain, Jain, 2005). While hospitality IT systems have progressed from the basic functionality of being able to track reservations and manage inventory, greater focus on each customer-facing process is necessary (Mathies, 2010). The rapid adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications including Amadeus Hotel Platform (Baker, 2007) is being driven by the urgency to streamline and make more customer-centered these processes in the hospitality industry.

The Changing role of IT in the Hospitality Industry

The entire value chain of the hospitality industry continues to go through a major disruption due to the Internet and the continually increasing expectations of guests. Of the many areas of this industry's value chain being the most impacted by these factors are the reseller networks, distribution channels, multi-channel selling, and service strategies (DiPietro, Wang, 2010). In conjunction with these changes to the distribution channels, guests now can get impartial, often brutally honest reviews on sites including tripadvisor.com as to what a hotel experience really is like, beyond the claims on hotel websites. All of these factors are influencing hospitality IT in a very direct and urgent way. First, the need for more agility and flexibility in applications' design and structure so the interfaces can be matched to how people work is critical (Mathies, 2010). Studies of the success factors behind hospitality IT systems' adoption indicate that those systems that allow for the greatest amount of customization and tailoring to how associates choose to work have the greatest levels of effectiveness over time (Mathies, 2010).

In addition to agility of an application, the ability to quickly get the application deployed across a board number of locations is also key. While applications including the Amadeus Hotel Platform were initially delivered as on-premise or server-based application originally, software developers including those selling the Amadeus Hotel Platform have adopted SaaS as a means to get the applications deployed quickly across entire hotel chains (Baker, 2007). SaaS applications only require an Internet connection and browser to operate, hence their popularity in industries where customers are forcing change, as is evident in the hostility industry today (DiPietro, Wang, 2010). SaaS-based applications are created using Active Service Pages (ASP), AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) or J2EE-based programming technologies, all of which are being continually optimized for performance over the Internet (Mathies, 2010). These programming technologies are also known for their agility, customization, and flexibility as well, making it possible for hospitality IT systems to be tailored to the specific needs of a given company. SaaS-based applications' performance, stability, security and customization all contribute to higher levels of system adoption within a hospitality business (DiPietro, Wang, 2010).

Conclusion