9 practical applications for cloud service

IT giant Oracle has developed a special arm, Oracle Hospitality, to assist hospitality stakeholders in benefiting from cloud services by facilitating a ‘friendlier’ approach. Here are nine tips from Peter Agel, global segment leader for hotels at Oracle H

1. Accelerated service delivery:

Cloud technology accelerates the delivery of new services and products to market. Conventional software becomes outdated and requires excessive waits for upgrades. By comparison, cloud technology undergoes updates routinely as if perpetually enhanced, compressing innovation cycles to just a few months.

2. Lower costs:

Cloud technology lowers costs by allowing hospitality establishments to centralize hardware and software for hotel and F&B operations. Unlike traditional software models requiring the capital expense of purchasing licenses and hardware, cloud is sold as a service, enabling clients to buy as little or as much computing capability as required. As cloud operates ‘above property’, it eliminates the need for on-site servers at each property.

3. Easier backups:

Backups, maintenance and security updates are performed by the cloud technology provider. The implications of that change allow faster and easier software and hardware upgrades as they are done centrally. They also enhance productivity, as applications, servers and storage are all managed and monitored 24 hours a day, 7 days a week in the cloud. New functionality can be activated at multiple properties simultaneously, meaning marketleading innovations can be introduced faster.

4. Easy adaptation:

One of the most attractive elements of cloud solutions is its ability to adapt and grow for the future. In an industry that is constantly changing, such flexibility is priceless. Cloud solutions automatically add capacity with scalable hardware. Furthermore, without the need for on-site servers and eliminating accompanying work such as procurement and installation, expansion efforts can be executed in a fraction of the time required previously.

5. Centralized operations:

Point of sale (POS) in the cloud means unprecedented centralization of operations. With Oracle’s Simphony Cloud, every POS terminal within the enterprise can be updated from a central location, providing complete control over menus, pricing and promotions.

6. Comprehensive and integral solutions:

For any F&B operation to be successful, exemplary back-office performance is as essential as the quality of food and service. Cloud services provide comprehensive and efficient oversight because they are an integrated solution: One system offers POS, integrated with reporting and analytics, loyalty, reservations, inventory management, labor management and loss prevention.

7. Personalized services:

Cloud services can release hotel staff from the front desk and extend guest service throughout the property, and even beyond its borders. For example, staff can use the devices to check in VIP guests at the airport, bypassing lobby lines. Staff can also tap into guest profiles, instantly accessing their preferences and stay history, to offer guests individualized service anytime, anywhere. Housekeeping and maintenance staff also can use mobile devices to access centralized information in real time, helping them prioritize cleaning and other room-related tasks.

8. Easy reporting:

One of the biggest challenges facing all businesses today is improving the ability to explore business data and analyze it. Cloud platforms feature a reporting solution that uses an industrial-strength, high-performance analytics engine. The reporting and analytics solution provides visual representation of data allowing users to instantly comprehend business trends and patterns, and identify opportunities.

9. Service protection:

Oracle’s cloud platforms feature redundant infrastructure designed to avoid a ‘single point of failure’, for continued service and protection, and routinely scan for vulnerabilities. These cloud platforms also use intrusion detection system (IDS) for internal and customerfacing networks to monitor network traffic for unauthorized or suspicious activity.