PMS – CDM – CRS. Who takes the lead?
Competition in the hospitality industry is tough post-Covid, and to survive, hotels must transform from being losers of Big Data to being winners.
40 years ago, the PMS was usually the first software solution installed in a hotel. Since then, a huge number of other applications have appeared on the scene: IBE, CRS, Channel Manager, WIFI, POS, housekeeping, CRM, Chatbots… The list is almost endless – and most of them have at least some kind of interaction with the PMS, which has traditionally sat at the heart of the IT stack. The various systems connected to the PMS are endlessly pushing new reservations and new guest profiles into it, 24/7. As a result of unconnected or poorly-integrated systems, hotels are ending up with multiple profiles for the same guest – up to 30 according to my own research!
This puts them in a very poor position to derive any value from the fragmented data that is collected and held across different systems.
The “golden record”
The logical successor of the PMS is a Central Data Management (CDM) solution, which creates and maintains the new heart of a hotel’s IT stack: the ‘golden record’ or in other words, the central, single guest profile.
Complex Data Quality Management (DQM) processes must work continuously alongside the CDM to cleanse and manage the golden record and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is needed to transform the almost unlimited amount of data from multiple sources into a real asset – therefore enabling deep and meaningful guest insights. This is crucial to a hotel´s success in the future. Having a central profile isn’t just a ‘nice to have’. It’s a major driver for repeat business; a survey carried out on 4.5 million hotel stays in 2018 found that hotels with clean, consolidated guest profiles enjoyed 9.5 times more bookings!
Unfortunately, it is not enough just to have a central profile. It must also be used – and used correctly. But how can we make this happen?
The role of the PMS
The PMS needs to take a step back and focus on its real purpose as a Property Management System (not a Guest Management System), which takes care of key aspects of the hotel’s business such as transactions and room inventory. Therefore, the exchange of clean, quality data between the PMS and the CDM is just as critical as the systems themselves. The information from the central profile must be delivered in real-time to the PMS and vice versa. New profiles, updates and insights must be exchanged without any interruptions to deliver maximum data quality and the ultimate guest experience.
The CRS – the distribution part
As well as the PMS and CDM, a third system is also a key part of the solution. This is the Central Reservations System (CRS), which is responsible for the distribution part of the process. Traditionally, the CRS pulls room availability from the PMS and pushes reservations and new profiles back to it. It creates its own profiles, as do the IBEs and many other systems. You don’t need to be an IT expert to understand that this makes no sense and is the root cause of data quality issues!
However, things look very different in a modern scenario, where the CRS is also connected to the CDM. Profiles are pulled into or directly created in the CDM application. So, whether a guest books online, calls the Central Reservation Office (CRO) or emails an individual property, their central profile with its full history and insights will always be available.
Connecting systems
The key to success is not just to pick out one system, whether that be a CDM, a PMS or a CRS. It’s about how these systems work together.
This is a big problem for today’s hoteliers. A 2021 h2c survey on Automated Personalization found that the biggest barrier to offering individualized guest services was technology challenges/interfaces, affecting a massive 80% of hotel chains. A further 49% cited a lack of data aggregation and 32% noted insufficient data quality as other key barriers.
So, our next step must begin with the creation of a sustainable, fully connected IT stack. The three key elements each have their own logical links to many different systems.
CRS links to the Revenue Management System, Internet Booking Engines, the Central Reservation Office, the hotel’s loyalty programs and many more. It’s not enough that these systems are simply interfaced to the CRS. Each and every system with a guest profile must also be connected to the CDM to create the desired outcome of the ‘golden record’.
Take attributed pricing for instance. This means the customer gets the right offers and prices during the booking process, according to the information held in their profile. But in order to do this, it’s not enough to just pull the history from the IBE or track the customer on the hotel website. Good results are only possible if the IBE uses the central profile with all the available information on the guest consolidated in one place.
The same principle applies for the PMS. Systems like the POS, Spa and Housekeeping are traditionally connected to the PMS and mainly transfer transactions to it for billing purposes.
And there is GDPR…
What’s more, the existence of multiple guest profiles across different systems makes compliance with data protection rules such as GDPR and PII almost impossible. Where information and data transfer requests don’t work in real-time, data correction and deletion requests cannot be completed efficiently – and mistakes and omissions are likely to happen. Effective, integrated data cleansing processes are an absolute ‘must’.
To sum up
The new IT world must be a connected world. Data must stream like the blood in our bodies, with no dead ends, wounds, or infections. Picking the right IT partners is crucial – as is the integration between the partners themselves. Decision-makers must be aware that the quality of integrations is something they must consider when creating their own IT stack. This is extremely important to understand and, thanks to modern technology, not that hard to accomplish. But the result will offer a totally different picture from what we see today. It will enable a completely guest-focused experience everywhere along the customer journey.
Also, the quality of the integration within the hotel IT stack is a key succuss factor in enabling a truly personalized guest service at every touchpoint. Individual systems might work extremely well on their own, but if they’re not connected as described in this article, the outcome will be very basic data-wise – and certainly not enough to meet the ever-increasing needs and demands of the modern guest.
1. Source: Study based on 4.5 million stays. Oct. 2018 by Toedt, Dr. Selk & Coll. GmbH
2. Source: h2c’s Automated Personalization Study. Global Insights on AI and ML in Hospitality. November 2021.
About dailypoint
dailypoint™ is a leading data management and CRM platform for the hospitality industry, providing an advanced solution that unifies guest data from various sources into a single profile. This cloud-based SaaS solution comprises 16 modules and is supported by the dailypoint™ Marketplace with over 200 partners. Its purpose is to enhance the customer journey and improve operational efficiency across all hotel departments. With its headquarters in Munich and offices in the UAE and the USA, dailypoint™ strengthens its global presence through a network of distributors and partners. In autumn 2023, dailypoint™ was recognized by The Leading Hotels of the World as a preferred CRM partner, underscoring its key role in reimagining data management and customer loyalty in the hospitality sector.
For more information visit dailypoint.com.
Nadja Weindl
Director Marketing & Communication
+49 89 1893569-12
dailypoint™
