You have landed on the right page if you are a hotelier and want to know more about cloud-based Hotel PMS Systems. This will be your complete guide to everything about Cloud Hotel PMS, its features, and its benefits. 

But first, here is a flashback. 

Legacy or on-premises Hotel PMSs were introduced to the market in the 70s or, say, late 70s. Considering the hotels' operational requirements in that era, they did well. But with a rise in cloud computing, by around 2010, we saw the emergence of Cloud-based Hotel PMS Systems. In simple words, hospitality technology solution providers started hosting their product - the Hotel PMS on the cloud. 

By the way, Hotel PMS is also referred to as a hotel property management system, hotel software, hotel management software, etc. 

Cloud-based Hotel PMS vs. On-premise Hotel PMS

At a basic level, you can look at the difference between these two variants as mentioned below - 

On-premises Hotel PMS is locally implemented/installed over servers and other hardware at your hotel. You have to be at your property to access the system. On the other hand, a cloud Hotel PMS is hosted on the cloud and exists online. You can access it from anywhere and anytime over a browser or via your smartphone. You need your login credentials, and you are good to go. It is as simple as accessing your Gmail or Netflix account on the go. 

Here are a few critical differentiators

Apart from looking at several differentiators between the on-premises and cloud Hotel PMS, this section will also help you understand several benefits of cloud-based Hotel PMS System.  

Costs

On-premises | High: With on-premise or legacy applications, you will have to spend more on setting up servers and other costly hardware apart from the upfront software costs. Then you have to pay the annual maintenance cost along with the software upgrade fee. Finally, you must invest in a dedicated in-house IT team to handle all your assets. You are to take care of data protection, which will also cost you. When you add all these, your software ownership cost will increase exponentially.

Cloud | Low: You don't have to worry about costs with a cloud-based Hotel PMS. You can implement it on a subscription model. No upfront software license fee, no server, and hardware to invest in, no need to have a dedicated IT team, and no more annual maintenance cost to pay - doesn't it sound like a good deal? And then, periodic software upgrades are free while the Hotel PMS vendor takes care of data security. 

Setup and go live time

On-premises | Longer: Implementing on-premises Hotel PMSs takes longer due to outdated architecture, technical limitations, and performance issues. For example, if you have a 50-room property, it might take a month or two or more to finish the on-site setup process, including data migration. Additionally, on-site staff training will require a few extra days. It delays your property's go-live time. 

Cloud | Quick: On the contrary, with a Cloud Hotel PMS, you can take your 50-room property live in 4-5 days. It includes remote implementation, data migration, and training. Just think about the 50-day setup TAT with on-premises VS 4-5-day setup time with the cloud variant. 

Scalability

On-premises | Zero: This is one of the biggest reasons why on-premises systems are obsolete. These Hotel PMSs can't adapt and scale when your hotel business model or operational process changes or scale. As your business grows, it can overwhelm those old systems leading to downtime and performance issues. It slows down your business growth. 

Cloud | High: One of the critical features of the cloud Hotel PMS that has made it increasingly popular among hotels is its scalability. It refers to a hotel's ability to increase or decrease IT resources per changing requirements. You can rely on the system to scale quickly without downtime when your business or operational need grows. 

Integration with Third-party Solutions

On-premises | Forced: Old on-premises hotel management systems can't seamlessly integrate with today's third-party hospitality solutions that are on the cloud. They are not compatible with new systems. As a result, the forced integration between them prevents the two-way data flow between them. It can adversely impact your hotel operations with information mismatch across systems and frequent downtimes. 

Cloud | Seamless: The Cloud API ensures seamless integration between a cloud Hotel PMS and other third-party solutions. It allows connected systems to communicate and transfer information in real-time to facilitate better and faster department-wide operations at your hotel. 

Security

On-premises | Vulnerable: On-premises systems are fast getting obsolete. Many vendors have stopped supporting users as they are hosting their products on the cloud. As a result, the lack of support and updates renders the system vulnerable to cyberattacks, leading to data theft that can wreak havoc on your hotel's reputation. 

Cloud | Highly secure: Public cloud service providers invest a lot in application security to prevent data breaches. Plus, they deploy consistent and robust patching and security management protocols. Your hotel's data is consistently backed up and is available for 24/7 access. 

Features of a Cloud-based Hotel PMS

A cloud Hotel PMS System enables hotels of all sizes - independent, groups/chains, apart-hotels, and resorts - to handle front office workflows, including booking, guest check-in and check-out, room assignments, housekeeping tasks delegation, and billing, among others. Sitting at the heart of the hotel operations, it ensures a seamless interdepartmental information flow. With this system, hotels can better coordinate operational functions across all departments, saving man-hours and enhancing guest service. 

Reservation Management

• Up-to-the-minute reservation dashboard
• Drag and drop to upgrade rooms and split reservations
• Auto-fill returning guest information
• Apply promo codes and discounts

Housekeeping

• Daily task assignment
• Front desk monitoring
• Manage room status from the housekeeping area
• View real-time room status from the front desk

Revenue Management

• Room rate recommendation
• Occupancy forecast
• Aggregated data on the local market
• Competition rate tracking

Rate Management

• Create relational rates
• Create multiple rates support in a single stay
• Set up and change daily/monthly rates
• Occupancy-based dynamic pricing

Online Distribution

• Channel Manager integration for OTAs
• Booking Engine integration for hotel website
• Connectivity to metasearch engines
• More room sales via GDS connectivity

Accounting

• Auto-sync with the accounting system
• Automatic direct billing from the front desk
• Manage invoices, payables, and deductions
• Handle credits/commissions given to corporates and travel agents

Reputation Management

• Collect personalized feedback from guests
• See all guest reviews on a single dashboard
• Analyze and understand the guest sentiment
• Manage reviews, boost online ratings and reputation

Point of Sale

• Set up unlimited POS outlets at no extra costs
• Sell more non-room items, grow revenue
• Set up products by types and categories
• Manage refunds, billings, and more

Guest History Management

• Keep track of all guest records
• Understand their likes and dislikes
• Offer them personalized services 
• Enhance their experience

Reports 

• Track hotel performance 
• Know your hotel's financial health.
• Access hotel revenue/reservation reports
• Make data-driven decisions

Material Management 

• Handle costing, purchasing, and stock receiving
• Know stock-level consumption summary
• Prevent overstocking and out-of-stock situations
• Prevent revenue leakage

Important Cloud Hotel PMS System integrations

One of the essential objectives of adopting a Cloud Hotel PMS is to have the flexibility to work with other best-in-class third-party hospitality solutions. That's why a smart Cloud Hotel PMS should seamlessly integrate with various leading and popular solutions.

Channel Manager Solution

This is a very critical Hotel PMS System integration that helps hotels with online distribution. It updates rates and inventories on multiple OTAs in real time and helps avoid overbookings. Additionally, it enhances a hotel's rankings and visibility on all connected OTAs, thus helping generate more bookings.

Revenue Management Tool

This is all about selling more rooms at the best rates to the right guest to increase occupancy and revenue. This integration simplifies the revenue management process and automatically suggests the optimum rate for your rooms by analyzing competition rates, market demand, your property's occupancy, guest's length of stay, and many other critical parameters. 

Booking Engine 

The Cloud Hotel PMS and booking engine integration is a must for you if you aim to generate more direct bookings. It turns your hotel website into a potential source of capturing incremental direct bookings to save big on commission costs. 

Payment Gateways

You will need systems to process credit/debit card payments online, at your front desk, or even across other POS outlets in your hotel. This is where a Cloud-based Hotel PMS helps by integrating with some of the highly trusted and secure payment gateways. 

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

This integration between a Cloud Hotel PMS and a CRM solution is essential for efficient marketing efforts. It streamlines interactions between you and your guests - both past and potential guests. You can roll out targeted marketing campaigns, promote new services, upsell the right service to the right guest, and do many more to attract them, serve them better, and win over their loyalty. 

Contactless Services

Offer a wide range of contactless services to your guests, right from allowing them to finish pre-check-in, check-in, keyless entry, raising service requests, payments, and check-out - everything using their smartphones. 

Steps to Select the Right Cloud-based Hotel PMS

Start with analyzing your needs. If you manage an independent property, a cloud Hotel PMS with a few basic modules can help. But if you manage a hotel group or chain, you must look for a Hotel PMS that has multi-property management capabilities and should help you gain centralized control over your group/chain operations. 

• Look for leading Cloud Hotel PMS vendors in the market. Cross-check their credibility and see what their customers have to say about them. Read customer success stories and understand their authority in the market. 
• Look at your successful competitions, and find out what system they are using. 
• Visit software listing and comparison platforms and see how they stand out in the crowd. 
• Check whether the Cloud Hotel PMS is integrated with the third-party solutions of your choice. 
• Find out more about their support. This is very critical to ensure that your hotel is up and running all the time. 

Today's feature-rich and easy-to-use Cloud-based Hotel PMS is the most important part of a hotel's modern tech stack. In fact, with its rising importance in selling more rooms online and in boosting revenues, it is no longer considered as a tool to automate operations. Rather, for today's smart and tech-savvy hoteliers, a Cloud Hotel PMS has emerged as a "must-have" system to drive growth while serving guests better.