Property management systems have come a long way since hotels began implementing them in the 1970's and 1980's. At that time, the primary goal of a PMS was to automate basic processes such as housekeeping and reservations. Eventually, property management solutions began to include functionality that enhanced efficiency and profitability, such as management reporting and travel agency accounting. During the last decade, guest service technology has played an increasingly important role in property management solutions, many of which address everything from itinerary planning to spa management.

Now, as we approach 2010, a huge transformation is taking place. New architecture is making PMS integration with other systems easier than ever, and guest-centric functionality is moving property management solutions from static entities that merely track reservations and perform check-in and check-out to dynamic systems that enable hoteliers to predict guest behavior and realize a competitive advantage.

SOA provides easy integration

Services-Oriented Architecture (SOA) is playing a major role in the evolution of property management systems. SOA is a way of building technology solutions that uses modularly assembled and reconfigurable components in an open approach, unlike the traditional IT approach that pieced together a collection of hardware, software and networking in a rigidly integrated manner.

A property ...