Technology Strategies for the Hospitality Industry

Rating:
Summary: Solid and worthwhile guide, if technically a little behind
Review: An excellent grounding in systems fundamentals and the principal hospitality industry applications, as well as on the use of information technology for strategic operational advantages, on how the power of data analysis leads to better informed management, and on making strategic investments in technology. The appendices on using IT for intelligent marketing, revenue management and distribution channel management are especially worthwhile. The pace of technology has left some of the technology specifics rather out of date, especially the chapter and appendix on interface standards, although the latter do give a good grounding on why inter-systems communications have been such a problem. Overall a very worthwhile addition to the available literature and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great perspective overview of a complex subject
Review: This book makes great reading for students and veterans alike. After over 25 years in hospitality technology, I still found nuggets of golden information inside. Particularly useful are the sections on inventory management and channel distribution - two of the most complex and important subjects faced by managers in the hospitality industry today. This was written as a text. Well, I admit that I skipped the learning activities at the end of each section. But I made up for it by recommending the book to many industry friends.

Rating:
Summary: Great perspective overview of a complex subject
Review: This book makes great reading for students and veterans alike. After over 25 years in hospitality technology, I still found nuggets of golden information inside. Particularly useful are the sections on inventory management and channel distribution - two of the most complex and important subjects faced by managers in the hospitality industry today. This was written as a text. Well, I admit that I skipped the learning activities at the end of each section. But I made up for it by recommending the book to many industry friends.

Rating:
Summary: Hospitality Technology Through a Firehose
Review: This is an excellent beginner's guide to hospitality technology. It is a "Reader's Digest-on-Adkins-Diet" treatment but the authors hit some high points and de-mystify much of the jargon without bogging the reader down in too much information.

Each chapter begins with an interview of an industry luminary. While a tad superfluous, the interviews are a light-weight introduction of each topic, a reinforcement of the vocational pragmatism of the text and an attempt to humanize the subject matter.

The first two chapters are preachy but a good discussion of what IT (information technology) means in the context of hospitality and why one should care. For those just beginning their careers, or those who might have forgotten why we do what we do, they are worthwhile reading.

The balance of the book is a compendium of the major application sets specific to the industry - CRS, PMS, POS, CRM, MIS, EIS - and just in time to prevent TLA overload, includes segments on e-commerce (defined mostly as Internet purchasing methods) and a primer on how to specify, evaluate and acquire technology.

The authors are faithful throughout to the theme of technology for the sake of the business and emphasize strategic considerations at each turn. They reasonably stop short of defining or recommending specific business strategies, instead stressing the importance of aligning technology with the strategies of the organization as a whole.

Recommended reading for newbie's or baffled veterans trying to get their arms around IT hospitality concepts and issues.

(Review first appeared on Hotel-Online and in Hospitality Upgrade Magazine)

Rating:
Summary: Hospitality Technology Through a Firehose
Review: This is an excellent beginner's guide to hospitality technology. It is a "Reader's Digest-on-Adkins-Diet" treatment but the authors hit some high points and de-mystify much of the jargon without bogging the reader down in too much information.

Each chapter begins with an interview of an industry luminary. While a tad superfluous, the interviews are a light-weight introduction of each topic, a reinforcement of the vocational pragmatism of the text and an attempt to humanize the subject matter.

The first two chapters are preachy but a good discussion of what IT (information technology) means in the context of hospitality and why one should care. For those just beginning their careers, or those who might have forgotten why we do what we do, they are worthwhile reading.

The balance of the book is a compendium of the major application sets specific to the industry - CRS, PMS, POS, CRM, MIS, EIS - and just in time to prevent TLA overload, includes segments on e-commerce (defined mostly as Internet purchasing methods) and a primer on how to specify, evaluate and acquire technology.

The authors are faithful throughout to the theme of technology for the sake of the business and emphasize strategic considerations at each turn. They reasonably stop short of defining or recommending specific business strategies, instead stressing the importance of aligning technology with the strategies of the organization as a whole.

Recommended reading for newbie's or baffled veterans trying to get their arms around IT hospitality concepts and issues.

(Review first appeared on Hotel-Online and in Hospitality Upgrade Magazine)