The Indian hospitality industry which is growing by 8.8% annually is increasingly looking for cost effective IT solutions to increase its productivity, streamline its processes, improve its decision making efforts and to overcome its operational inefficiencies. The largest problem with the hotel industry's existing IT solutions is that individual applications are used for each part of the hotel operation, resulting in a multitude of disjointed systems. This affects the movement of information among various departments resulting in poor services to guests.

Identifying these critical challenges, Dynamic Vertical Software (DVS), a Gurgoan based integrated business solution provider recently launched Cenium, a cohesive secure system with single database and a standardised user interface. DVS will provide localised and customised version of the software to suit the Indian industry requirements. Rakhee Nagpal, managing director, DVS elaborates on the recent offering.

What are the major pain areas of the hospitality industry?

Analysing day to day sales (e.g. at each F&B outlet, check in–check out), tracking occupancy, operational transparency, keeping track of orders are some of the pain points for the hotel industry. Again there is a need for a Property Management System which enables hospitality groups to track their assets across different regions. Cenium covers all aspects of a hotel operation which includes Reservations management, Front Desk Management, Housekeeping management, Food and Beverage Management, Conference and Banquet Management, Laundry, Beauty Parlour, Spa, Health Club, Retail Shops etc.

How does Cenium address these pain points?

Cenium is an internationally proven solution for the hospitality industry. This integrated business application is built on a single database and incorporates standardised user interface that address all functions of a hotel; finance, front desk, conference and banqueting, bar, restaurant and leisure such as spa, golf and rentals. The solution is built on the Microsoft Dynamics platform, a line of integrated seamlessly adaptable business management solution that is user friendly with the feel of Word, Excel, Outlook etc.

The solution claims to be localised and customised for the Indian industry requirement. Can you explain this further with an example?

Our team focuses on the localisation of the issues related to the Indian market. These include statutory requirements like Luxury Tax, VAT, Sales Tax etc, which are imperative to operate in India.

Describe the technology architecture used for deploying this software.

Cenium is based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which is an Enterprise Application within the Microsoft Dynamics business application suites. The technology architecture is highly flexible and depends on the kind of operational requirements and infrastructure availability that a business defines. It runs on Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Dynamics NAV 4.0 and SQL Server 2005. The hardware requirements are also quite lean compared to other similar products available in the market. The solution would allow the hotel businesses to run in a most efficient and secure manner due to seamless integration of various functions of the business. As opposed to using disparate system for the different functions of the business, Cenium offers extensive functionality that bring in best practices for the businesses it is implemented in.

What kind of ROI can CIOs expect post deployment of this solution?

The solution enables transparency among departments, reduction of manual work, resulting in reduced operational and reporting errors. As the solution is built on Microsoft platform, the security aspect associated with the data captured by the information system is second to none. In addition to this, the road map of the solution is very extensive and again because it is built on Microsoft, a CIO can be rest assured that they’ll always be using the most innovative technology.

What will be the average cost (investment) and time for deploying the solution?

The investment and time required for such a project would differ depending on the scale of operation, number of hotels in the chain, number of hotel rooms available and other issues and challenges faced by the organisation. It is important to recognise that such a cost is not a cost at all, but rather a facilitator towards long term business efficiency, productivity and sustainable competitive advantage.