Questions Every Hotelier Should Ask When Choosing a Property Management System (Part 2)

5. Does the PMS solution present a Legal/Compliance Risk? How do I ascertain this?

The American healthcare industry is the perfect example of how compliancy issues can challenge and riddle the best of industry software(s). With the HIPAA regulations kicking-in, the US medical fraternity is overwhelmed about how to establish the legality of a software-provider. Though the legal or compliance benchmarks for hospitality tech solutions are not as stringent, it is recommended to ensure that the vendor has the necessary approvals, permits or regulatory clearances that can affect usage of the proposed technology.

A Handy Tip

Check-out the Business Partners of a PMS vendor—these are often an indication of whether a vendor works in accordance with the regulatory standards. For instance, a cloud enabled PMS solution like Hotelogix has impressive Business Partners like Amazon—a leading provider of Cloud-computing services. Similarly, tie-ups with globally-used payment gateway brands like PayPal, underline Hotelogix’s compliance status. These facts ensure that the Hotelogix PMS is insulated against any legal/regulatory issues at the moment and in the future.

6. How well is the ROI explained/illustrated/described? Are the financial implications clearly explained?

You can expect most vendors to provide some sort of calculations that provide an approximate idea about the anticipated ROI, cost savings, etc. Some of the sales representatives tend to hurry through this part. However, be stubborn and seek the smallest of details regarding how the calculations will work in your business environment, considering your range/scale of operations and your bottom-line targets.

Ask the salespeople if the calculations are just a theoretical representation or are based on actual ROI figures that have been achieved by any of the existing clients. Don’t seek exact figures as that it is almost impossible to provide but demand a realistic (achievable) range for the kind of returns you can expect. Ask the vendor about any Recurring Costs. Ensure to double-check the vendor literature explaining:

• Contract Term
• Payment Policies
• Renewal Policies
• Usage Stipulations
• Maintenance Clauses
• Termination Penalties

7. Does the PMS provide assurance of data security?

The most common concern found among hotel owners contemplating a Hotel Management Software is the kind of data security features on offer. Well, such apprehensions are appropriate since a single incidence of credit card theft or business data being compromised can leave your hotel’s reputation marred forever.

Ensure that you insist upon asking about how privacy of client data is maintained by the vendor. PMS service-providers like Hotelogix are fully insulated against data threats since their security measures are updated to the latest, international standards. For instance, Hotelogix is on the verge of achieving PCI compliance (a global benchmark) for ensuring greater safety for online payment processing.

8. Is the PMS offering supported by reliable Customer Relationship Services?

Besides the contractual relationship between you and the vendor, the quality of Customer Services or Customer Support defines the ease with which you will be able to use a PMS technology. This largely defines the kind of ROI you can extract since all technologies put forth some degree of usage, maintenance, renewal, etc. “demands” that can turn into major “issues” without a reliable Customer Service Team guiding you. Ask about the kind of customer support offered, i.e. voice support, chat support, etc.

Concluding Thoughts

These are critical ownership, usage and ROI issues that should be resolved before adopting any PMS technology. If there is something that we have missed here or if you want to share your opinion, Please Comment Below.

(Some equally-critical questions about buying a PMS are discussed in Part 1 of this discussion)