Working in the hospitality industry, you will understand the importance of a property management system (PMS). Whether you are using the cloud-based or an on-premise option, a PMS is the beating heart of your hotel operations. It connects you with your guests, manages them through the guest journey, keeping track of those oh so important revenues, a silent partner guiding you through the day to day challenges of running a successful and in demand property.
Modern PMS systems and solutions act as your hotel’s command centre for distribution, availability, pricing, reservations, guest interactions, housekeeping, reporting, billing, communication and adhoc services.
Amidst the multiple reasons for investing in a PMS system, having a cloud centric PMS opens up new exciting opportunities which may not be available in the On Premise era.
Here is a comparison between cloud PMS and on-premise PMS focusing on various aspects to help you decide on which PMS is right for you, your business and ultimately your guests. The good thing to know is that with the protel experience we have you covered whatever your choice maybe.
1. Improve Hotel Efficiency
Cloud-Based
Cloud based PMS have new, modern, intuitive interfaces, easy to learn for team members, designed for workflows focusing on putting the guest at the forefront of the business.
It is true that cloud based PMS’s are lighter on functionality and features than their mature counterparts, but they are growing every day, focusing on the important tasks that drive guest satisfaction, revenue generation and customer retention.
This reduction in functional distractions along with its key focus allow the hotel team to concentrate on making every guest stay special and memorable.
On-Premise
The On Premise PMS is rich in features and functionality, the product of the needs and requirements of the hospitality industry over multiple years. However in the age of fast and modern this ability to cover all workflows can lead to distractions for the team concentrating on the stay details, making sure every part of the reservation is accurate. This in itself is not bad as statistics and analysis drive the majority of rate and pricing decisions in our connected world, but for the guest this is insignificant compared to being the centre of attention.
2. Increase Staff Productivity
Cloud-Based
Cloud-based PMS systems are exactly that, designed around a browser, online and available via secure login from any browser across multiple devices. Demand for on-the-go services is on the rise, giving you the flexibility to assess your hotel’s operation from wherever you may be without the need for complex security access measures.
On-Premise
On-Premise is a system in your premises, as it would suggest. Access to the application requires you to be on site, or have additional technical setup, which includes Citrix or Terminal servers accessible from the outside world. Depending on your technical resources this approach may well be achievable, but this does come with the added cost, an important factor to consider at this time. If you are at the stage where hardware needs to be replaced and OS licences renewed then maybe the cloud option could be right for you.
3. Automatic Software Upgrades
Cloud-Based
Your team gets to enjoy the latest version of software whenever they work in the hotel because cloud-based PMS systems receive frequent updates, deployed and managed centrally at the same time on a bi-weekly basis with minimal downtime and at no extra cost to your monthly fees. All clients receive the same version at the same time.
On-Premise
On -Premise works on a monthly release cycle, with new features, functionalities and those all important bug fixes being made available to you and our partners to schedule the updates that best fits the needs of the hotel. As long as a maintenance contract is in place these upgrades are also available free of charge, but they do require you as the client or partner to download, and update the application to the latest version.
4. Security
Cloud-Based
Data security is a major concern for hoteliers considering cloud-based options. With the ever changing world, and decisions of different countries implementing new security requirements, GDPR, PCI to name but a few thus trying to stay up to date with the latest developments is time consuming, complex and difficult to understand.
With a Cloud based approach this is dealt with for you, with teams of dedicated and qualified engineers monitoring, learning and implementing the latest requirements ensuring data safety every day. Let protel’s Cloud PMS look after the complex things allowing you to devote time to your guests.
On-Premise
Whilst the On-Premise product does everything required to make it secure including providing GDPR controls, PCI certified card handling, the simple truth is that you as the hotel are responsible for all security within the property.
That having been said there are countries such as Australia, Russia and China where data can not be held outside their boundaries, therefore On-Premise offers you the peace of mind that you can adhere to the strictest of laws within your country, and you can be safe in the knowledge that protel with its years of experience will be on hand to help you overcome the next security challenge.
5. Cut Costs
Cloud-Based
The cloud-based PMS system offers a subscription pricing model with minimum monthly charges per room, and a small Capex fee as part of the initial setup.
The pay-per-use model that cloud PMS adopts makes it an operating expense (OpEx) . This allows the hotel to reduce setup or renewal costs (no expensive hardware) especially at a time when expenditure has to be managed carefully.
On-Premise
The cost of the software license in the case of on-premise PMS is based on a one time purchase which has to be taken into consideration with the requirements for hardware and IT costs to host and maintain the software.
An additional small annual maintenance fee is charged to cover support and upgrades.The on-premise PMS model is based on an upfront CapEx charge with minimal OpEx.
The selection and setup can be an ominous task for any Hotel team where IT is not their discipline of choice taking them away from their customer focus.
6. Free Services Marketplace (SMP) apps
Cloud-Based
The protel Services Marketplace (SMP) offers ready-to-deploy technologies, instantly – just like an App-Store does, and just like an App-Store, it is seamlessly integrated into the Cloud technology stack. If you are or wish to be a Cloud customer, you will be able to utilize one of 1000 already built hotel applications, to help you save money, improve ROI and select the most suitable application for your hotel. The choice is yours!
On-Prem
The protel Services Marketplace (SMP) is available to our On Premise customers however the implementation of the next generation interfaces requires additional work from our dedicated team, but once this one time exercise is completed you are free to select any of the available for On-Premise interfaces.
Conclusion
The world is changing and Cloud-based protel PMS seek to become the new standard system for collaborative and flexible, hotel-led PMS’s worldwide. They are the sleek, fast upstarts of the Hospitality industry looking to displace the traditional PMS of old, taking the learning, experience of their mature brethren and updating it for the modern mobile and connected world.
Acquiring a cloud-based protel PMS can open your hotel to a world of new possibilities, new ideas including provision for flexibility, streamlining workflow process, customization options, mobile front office and access on the move whilst at the same time removing the headaches of managing and maintaining your On-Premise solutions.
If you are considering a cloud-based PMS system, the vendor you opt for is a critical factor of consideration, which is why protel PMS relies on the leading cloud service provider in the world, Amazon AWS. Amazon AWS provides the reliable, scalable, and secure services handled and implemented by an experienced and dedicated protel team necessary to meet the requirements of even the most studious clients.
Depending where you are in the hotel technology life cycle, whether looking for your first Cloud or On Premise PMS, looking to migrate from On Premise to Cloud or even to replace your current PMS with something new, protel have the bases covered and are willing to work with you to select the best solution that meets your needs. Why go anywhere else when the team at protel are here to welcome you to the #protelfamily?