When to change your Hotel PMS: Part 1

If you are running a hospitality business, most probably you are using some kind of hotel PMS that helps you with everyday operations. However, systems tend to get outdated and sometimes stop improving. This leaves you with the product which once used to be a great help but now turned to the anchor that drags you down. Sooner or later, you have to make a decision of changing your hotel property management software.

When it’s time to change your Property Management System

• You're spending a lot of time with manual data exchange between your system and online sales channels. This can happen if your system does not have proper connection with OTAs.
  
  
• You're spending an unnecessary amount of time with management operations. An efficient property management software can easily take care of processes like rate planning, availability updates, communication with guests, report, and preparations etc.
  
  
• Due to the lack of integrated Booking Engine you are losing direct reservations.
  
  
• Your system is not cloud-based. Having a cloud-based PMS helps you to manage your hotel operations anywhere, any time, and from any device.
  
  
• You're concerned that your data is not stored safely or you can’t access it at anytime you need.
  
  
• The system gets slower due to the heavy workload, when you need it most, for example when the most check-ins or check-outs are happening.
  
  
• You are not receiving any customer support from the hotel software provider.

To sum things up, a hotel property management system should serve your business' best interest, not becoming a burden that just causes more problems. When you finally decide to move on and change your hotel PMS, you actually need to find a better replacement for your current system, so you must take some things into consideration.

Things to consider when changing hotel property management systems:

• How much does it cost to change? New does not always mean more expensive and with a modern cloud-based PMS, you have many advantages regarding the price. They are usually charging on monthly bases and you don’t need to pay for a year ahead or make long-term contracts. Cloud-based solutions are cheaper also in a way that you will not need to pay extra for installation, updates, backups and other technology related things.

• When is the best time to change? It is no secret that change of the systems will require some time from you and your staff. Not only with training but with the whole preparation process as well. You have to find the best time for switching the system: it is usually the off-season period when the flow of guests is not that overwhelming. Also make sure that employees, who will be using the system are not on holidays when training is happening.
  

• Do you have technical knowledge? Don't worry, it is not a problem if you're not a computer geek. Most of the cloud-based systems are very user-friendly and easy to learn. Plus the whole technical support is being maintained by the system provider. All you have to know is just basic system features that will be used in daily operations.

• What kind of integrations does the new system have? Most cloud-based systems are flexible or already have integration with other systems like Channel Manager, Booking Engine, POS systems, accounting softwares etc... Of course, the perfect choice would be to find a hotel PMS which has all in one so there is no need for separate integrations.
  
  
• Is your data going to be safe? The answer is always should be yes.  

With the help of these questions, you can start searching for your new hotel PMS. You will probably be overwhelmed by the number of choices you will get after entering ‘Hotel Management System’ in the browser. There are so many different systems out there, so how to make the right decision?

First of all, you need to know your business and what exactly you expect from the system. Some hotel property management systems that you will find will be designed for slightly different accommodation providers. Some of them will lack features that are needed in your everyday processes, but eventually you will find the perfect one that is tailored to your needs. 

Key takeaway

If you already feel your current hotel software as an anchor dragging your whole business down, it’s really time to think about changing it. Yes, it can be hard to say ‘Good-bye’ not just to the system itself but also to the ways how it used to work. However, always keep in mind that you can achieve so much more with the right hotel PMS.

In order to prepare completely for the smooth change, we suggest you read the second part of this topic When the time comes to change your hotel PMS. Part 2. Moreover, if you need even more information, you can download our free ebook.