As demand from travelers for a completely Frictionless Guest Experience™ continues to increase, hoteliers are challenged to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing the most cutting-edge innovations.
In order to meet this demand, many hoteliers are turning to external partners to help provide both the strategic insight and the tactical implementation capabilities to best leverage new innovations.
Tom Klein, President of Sabre, recently authored an Op-Ed in Hotel, Travel & Hospitality News, which pointed out that, “Brands are reconsidering the level of investment required to adapt to changing market conditions and are now willing to entrust their intellectual property to an external party. The realization that building and maintaining software products is not their core competency is driving a key decision point in their strategy for a future-state technology platform.”
One area of Klien’s article fully resonated with us: the reality that building and maintaining software is not a core competency for hotels. In addition, the rapid advancement of SoLoMo (Social Local Mobile) solutions is creating the need for trusting partners to guide hoteliers in the right direction when it comes to technology investments.
By outsourcing technology needs to a trusted partner, hoteliers can keep up with the latest innovations to allow them to be competitive in today’s market.
External partners bring innovation, flexibility, agility and fresh perspective and no competing agendas. In addition, new open platforms provide many of the functions brands are seeking to implement, as well as allows brands to retain control of certain aspects of a solution — while not having to build out the infrastructure internally.
As we have highlighted before, brands can then focus on bringing value, not building toward value. It also allows them to quickly assess the viability of functions and features, altering them based on guest feedback. Essentially learning while building toward the larger goal, rather than attempting to build an entire solution upfront – all the while external partners help guide them through this process.
In addition, new software development approaches by outsourced partners are now fully streamlined and fully mitigate any inherent risks in investing in new innovations.
For example, a new method called Agile Software Development takes a project management approach that continuously addresses project impediments, receives ongoing stakeholder feedback, empowers cross-functional teams and tracks progress daily. This new project management methodology ensures that long-term IT projects don’t become obsolete or go over budget.
As new innovations advance at a rapid pace, and the right technologies can serve as a true brand differentiator, many hoteliers are looking for guidance and support from external partners. This allows hotels to focus on their core competencies, while bringing in outside experts to help guide them through this exciting time in hotel IT.