Getting SaaS-y . . . (it’s not what you think!) In today’s tough economy it’s more important than ever to make it easy for consumers to find you and make a reservation – the way they want, whenever they want – online, telephone, fax or walk-in. Technology is playing a key role in changing the way businesses manage those consumer interactions. Some operators are finding that technology can significantly grow their revenue, save them time, or even save their “bacon” as I will describe later in this posting. As technology evolves, it becomes increasingly important to keep up with the trends or run the risk of becoming disadvantaged from your competition, especially as it relates to how you attract and service your guests. Increasingly, the hospitality and other travel related industries are looking at the way technology is delivered as an opportunity to free up time, energy and resources, ultimately creating a competitive advantage. It’s really a matter of convenience and making technology work for you, rather than you working for it. Let me explain the evolution of convenience… When my mother was growing up, her mother baked birthday cakes for scratch . . . she started with raw ingredients, carefully added just the right amounts of sugar, flour, eggs, butter, flavoring, and mixed them, baked the cake, then put frosting on it, and presented the cake for my mother’s party! The convenience to her was not having to make the butter or gathering the eggs from the chicken house like her mother had done! When I was growing up, my mother mixed birthday cakes from Betty Crocker cake mixes, and store bought frosting mixes. The convenience to her was not having to measure the flour and sugar before adding milk and eggs and throwing it in the oven. Also she didn’t have to make the frosting by hand! When my boys were growing up, my wife never baked a cake. She went to the local grocery store, picked out the perfect cake, and the cake came to the party with her! The convenience to her was not having to get a pan dirty, not having to shop for the mixes and not taking the time to prepare it, cook it or frost it! Today, there are party services that bring the cake to you along with party favors and even entertainment. The convenience is you pick up the phone and call, or even order online 24 hours a day. You don’t have to step foot out of your house to plan the party! The evolution of technology software is not that much different. Convenience, access and efficiency are the influencing how software gets delivered to business owners. And newer technologies are making it even easier to access the software without making the continued investment in all the parts that make the software run smoothly. Primarily there are 3 main ways that software gets delivered to the business owner. In the software licensing model, you have to mix all the...
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