Systems Interoperability Taming the Interface Beast HITEC 2005

Systems Interoperability: Taming the Interface Beast HITEC 2005 Los Angeles, California Douglas Rice HTNG Executive Director 20 June 2005

Key Topics • • Why is it so hard to get hotel systems to work together? What are the consequences if we don’t? What’s happening to fix the problem? How well is it working?

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • • The technical problem is complex Buying decisions are uncoordinated Every vendor focuses on only a small part of the hotel’s technology puzzle The solution requires skill levels not practical for hotels to deploy

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • How many technology-based systems in a hotel like this? – Midmarket US full service, 200 -room hotel – One restaurant – Suburban location near major highway – Major brand franchisee – Average technology sophistication – No sales/catering system

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • This typical, uncomplicated hotel had: – 67 Systems & Major Modules • Excluding 9 module duplications – 45 Different Vendors • Including franchisor-dictated CRS, PMS, yield, frequency, video-on-demand, and a few other systems – 11 Custom Interfaces – 35 Systems Not Interfaced At All – 48 Onsite Systems, 19 Hosted Elsewhere

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? Building Controls Accounting & Control Accounts Payable Accounts Receivable Asset Tracking Budget Planning Electronic Payment Financial Reporting General Ledger Payroll Purchasing Travel Agent Comms. Access Control Closed Circuit TV Elevator Control Energy Management Fire Detection HVAC Monitoring Security Alarms Sprinkler Carrier Services Cable Broadcast Off-Air TV Broadcast Operator Services Telephone/Data Satellite Broadcast Distribution Central Reservations Channel Control System Competitive Monitoring Content Management Merchant Websites (3) Web Booking Engine Yield Management Food & Beverage Appliance Shutoff Kitchen Management Materials Management Point of Sale Temperature Monitoring

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? Front Desk/Lobby ATM Frequency Program Front Desk/PMS Keycard Encoders Payphones Miscellaneous Benefit Administration Customer Survey E-mail Preventive Maintenance Sales Tracking Spreadsheet Time & Attendance Word Processing Guestroom Systems Telephony ADA Audio Signal ADA Visual Signal Clock Radio Internet Access Occupancy Detection Safe Telephone Handset Television Set Video on Demand Answer Detection Auto Attendant Call Accounting Call Sequencer E 911 PABX Paging Voice Mail Wireless Devices

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • The technical problem is complex – Easily 25 -50 systems in even a simple hotel – Different technical platforms – Redundant functionality across systems – rarely resolved the same way – Virtually no two hotels have exactly the same integration needs – Tools for resolving this exist -- but require high levels of sophistication in development, deployment, and operations

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • Uncoordinated buying decisions – Owner, manager, franchisor influences on different systems • Conflicting technical strategies – or none at all – Many decisions at hotel level made without knowledge of integration issues • One-off purchases • Little infrastructure funding • Out of the box, systems won’t interface at all, or vendor-provided interfaces don’t meet the need

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • Common lament: “Vendors don’t understand us”

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? Amadeus Cendant Pegasus Sabre Distribution Telephony Avaya Cisco NEC Nortel Siemens Hotel Operations Entertainment Comcast LG Lodge. Net On. Command Philips Point of Sale Building Controls Honeywell Samsung Siemens Info. Genesis Micros Par Companies were selected from among dominant players solely to make the point of the slide. It’s not intended as an endorsement; there are many other great vendors too!

Why Is Interoperability So Hard? • • • Most interoperability can only be implemented at the individual hotel But the solution requires skill levels not practical for hotels to deploy This is not a recipe for success!

Consequences of Historical Approach • • • Systems are very difficult to support They aren’t keeping pace with industry needs – Guest room technology is antiquated vs. what guests have at home – Information about guests isn’t provided to staff where it can be used to impact service – Wired buildings don’t react intelligently to guest or staff actions or needs – Migration to IP networks – which many industries are already reaping major benefits from – is painful and expensive New systems don’t meet expectations, but fail at their boundaries

This isn’t a new problem. If there was an easy solution, someone would have found it by now.

What’s Happening to Fix The Problem? • Standards (OTA, o. BIX, ITU-T, GSA …) • Consolidation • The industry need customers and vendors working together • – Good, but often not enough – Isn’t happening fast, and can only go so far – Hotels defining the problems they most need solved – Vendors designing common approaches, and implementing solutions – and…. hotels buying those solutions from the vendors! Vendors from different product spaces can work together to create solution sets – Basic interoperability, plus proprietary enhancements

What’s Happening to Fix The Problem • Solution Sets vs. Standards – Easier to achieve – don’t need consensus, or lots of investment in a theory – Immediate commercial benefit to hotels & vendors – Successful implementations can gain traction with other vendors quickly, through both customer and vendor actions – Potential downside: no guarantee you get to just one standard

What’s Happening to Fix The Problem HTNG: 200+ hotels and vendors • More than one-third are involved in three active workgroups • Open specifications, but also supports proprietary extensions • • • Compliance certification where needed Organic adoption model Work with existing standards where available

What’s Happening to Fix The Problem • Three active workgroups today – Web services for hotel systems – Distribution – In-room technology • Several more in the pipeline

Is it Working? • Last year we heard senior vendor • executives talking about the benefits of working together This year’s panel will take the hotelier’s point of view

Connecting Hospitality www. htng. org