What to look for in a soft ware solution

What to look for in a software solution

In today’s ‘shoparound’ culture, many businesses turn to a variety of different software providers for the various components of their management tools in order to ‘do the job’ at a minimum price. They often end up with a hotchpotch of products which don’t effectively meet their needs.

Making changes to the software implemented becomes cumbersome as the change affects more than one product, likely owned by different vendors. The benefits of relying on a trusted industry specialist to provide a seamless business solution shouldn’t be underestimated.

First, find a provider that you trust. Look for extensive industry experience and knowledge, and a thorough understanding of the associated regulations, to ensure you end up with a compliant product. Longevity in the industry is extremely important as software systems can come and go. The importance of a proven track record can’t be understated. It can be disruptive to your business to switch providers. When you do, you need to ensure your choice of provider will still be around in another 10 years. The latest product to market may not be the one that has that staying power. Ensure that the provider you choose has an ongoing commitment to research and development. Make sure they have a long history of remaining innovative in the market, and constantly update their products with new functionality to enable your business to stay ahead of the game. Be mindful that many providers give the illusion of remaining innovative by connecting to 3rd party providers to add up to the minute functionality to their software. If everything they offer to enable your business to run effectively requires a 3rd party add on, you need to think twice about the impact this could have on the security of your data. Adding a mailchimp connection for marketing is just one example… Suddenly your valuable guest database is extracted from your secure software and added to a universal web-based application. The requirement for marketing in our industry is a given. If it isn’t available, you need to consider why the vendor hasn’t invested in implementing basic tools such as marketing into their offering. How can any business in the guest service arena operate without these fundamentals?

Check that the vendor has effective training available, for you and your staff. Time is at a premium for accommodation managers and training new staff in software usage can be a stretch. Product support is important when it comes to the smooth running of your business. Ensure that when you encounter something new you can reach out for assistance, and that this assistance is available across all products via one point of contact. Your vendor should be able to offer a true end to end advisory service for any product they have encouraged you to use. Choice is all important. Make sure the provider can offer you as many, or as few of their software components as necessary for the smooth running of your business.

Sylvia Johnston,

Senior Executive, HiRUM Software Solutions

A complete solution from a single provider affords the following benefits

1. Your business components are specifically designed to work together as they are created by the same designer to work as one solution. They will be perfectly integrated and will have been rigorously tested during their development to ensure that they are seamless. 2. Asking for specific changes is achievable when you are dealing with one vendor that owns and controls all the software components. 3. Looking to the same provider for your PMS, Channel Manager and Booking Form will ensure that they are industry compliant across their entire product suite, providing you with peace of mind that each guest touch-point is secure. Be wary of 3rd party products embedded into the PMS. You need peace of mind as to who has access to your data. 4. Your suite of products needs to fit in with you and not vice versa. If you want to host it on your own computers, you should have that option. Having no choice as to where your business data resides suggests the vendor has taken short cuts along the way to increase the profitability of their business, whilst risking yours. 5. Cost-wise, you generally find that the more you purchase from one provider, the better the deal becomes. You may find in the end that the total solution is more economical than the ‘hotchpotch’ you were tempted by in the beginning. 6. You may be able to access marketing and website services from the same provider. If this is offered, you can rest assured you are dealing with someone who already understands your business and has helped others in the same space become more profitable. When choosing a Property Management Software provider to entrust your business, delve deep and ask the relevant questions to ensure your trust is well placed. How long have they been in business? Can they offer the flexibility to allow you to host your own application? Are they committed to long term innovation and development? Can they meet your business needs with the components they offer? Have they developed all the components they are selling? Armed with the answers to these questions you can make an informed, educated choice as to the provider who will partner with you, and support you and your business into the future.