Hotel technology and hotel operations are management disciplines more joined at the hip today than ever before. Hospitality technology enables operations to provide superior guest services more consistently with fewer personnel. The operations management team demands improved performance, functionality and reliability from IT, constantly pushing the envelope of what IT can and should deliver to the business.

As we approach HITEC, it seems time to reflect upon broad trends driving the behavior of operations and technology executives. Key ones include:

• High-Definition Television (HDTV) migration

• Converged Networks

• Consolidation

The consumer electronics world will note that 2007 is the year HDTV technology went mainstream. Many hotel operators will see it as the year that mandates from corporate IT departments — and/or competitors who have already installed HD equipment — blew up capital budgets. In either event, many hotels are investing money in HD services and gear today, displacing capital expenditures from everything spanning new property management systems (PMS) and the proverbial ballroom carpet.

Some key points about the HDTV arms race in hotels:

• The fight is already over in the home: 35 million American homes now have HDTVs, roughly one-third of the total. Nine million of these were purchased during the 2006 holiday season. And if consumers have HD in the home, do you think they will be satisfied with less in your hotel?

• HD is a different class of product to install and support in a hotel. You need more equipment, different furniture and accessories, and you must source free-to-guest and pay-per-view from the same vendor or buy two sets of decryption equipment or run out of bandwidth. And yes, expect to pay more.

• The worst thing the hotelier can do is install HDTVs and not offer HD content. Analog TV signals on an HDTV immensely expose defects and the wider aspect ratio tends to flatten images, especially a problem for sports

• The lack of HD broadcast content is a major challenge for the programming industry

• As with high-speed Internet access (HSIA), when the property across the street gets it, you need to also.

Converged networks represent another broad trend. Many new-build hotels are going up with one wire delivering both voice and data to the room, and some are opening with video and environmental controls on that network as well. This approach puts all communications to the guestroom onto a single IP-based (Internet protocol) network, eliminating much of the old agglomeration of diverse cables going to every room. This reduces cabling costs, especially for conduit, and increases manageability. But the network now requires managing, a challenge associated with realizing the dream of converged networks. Other issues:

• Immature IPTV (Internet protocol television) applications and service providers

• Building codes mandating life safety applications be on a dedicated cable plant

• Corporate data security requirements that guest accessible networks be physically isolated from administrative networks

• Cost of IP telephones for guestrooms

• Lack of IP telephony applications for the guestroom

Consolidation is playing out strongly in both business operations and technology. While Blackstone is acquiring every trophy resort and available brand in sight, the global multiple-brand giants (Marriott, Starwood, Hilton, et al.) get larger and stronger. Speaking of Hilton, the recent acquisition of its international cousins represents another example of consolidation in action.

So what does this consolidation activity have to do with the technology side? For one thing, fewer buyers ultimately means fewer sellers. In fact, we are seeing consolidation in the hotel technology market, with Agilysys adding Visual One to LMS and the other elements of their hospitality technology portfolio; SoftBrands buying the venerable HIS name and product lines; and MICROS Systems buying a number of niche POS providers. Travelport, which already owned the Galileo GDS, snapped up competitor Worldspan, and Sabre Holdings is being acquired by a private-equity consortium. To bring things full circle, the leading provider of HDTV services to hotels, LodgeNet Entertainment, is acquiring its only meaningful competitor, On Command Corp. And this game of musical chairs is only beginning!

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Mark G. Haley is a partner at The Prism Partnership, a Boston-based boutique consultancy servicing the global hospitality industry. For more information, call 978-521-3600 or visit http://theprismpartnership.com.

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GUESTROOM ENTERTAINMENT/SERVICES

		Free-to-guest TV	Premium entertainment channels	Pay-per-view movies at fixed times	Interactive guide to hotel facilities/events/the area	In-room fax machines	Internet access	Internet TV	Printer/fax/copier	Video voice mail	Multilingual capability	DVD	Premium audio	Audio downloading	On-demand movies	Business or Internet center kiosks	Folio review/in-room check-out	Satellite TV	Televisions	Refreshment center	Computers	Interactive guestroom shopping	HDTV	Bundled HSIA	XM satellite radio	Sirius satellite radio	Remote Printing	Airline Boarding Pass Printing
Amerisafe Industries	— Circle 131					•			•			•							•	•	•
Applied Media Technologies	— Circle 132																									•
Brother International	— Circle 136					•			•																		•
DIRECTV	— Circle 141	•	•															•					•		•
Dometic Corp.	— Circle 142																			•
EthoStream	— Circle 144	•			•		•	•						•	•							•		•			•	•
Extenway Solutions	— Circle 145	•	•	•	•		•	•			•	•	•		•	•	•		•			•	•	•			•
Fire2Wire	— Circle 146						•																	•
GBCblue	— Circle 147								•							•					•						•
Guestroom Solutions	— Circle 151											•							•				•
HBO	— Circle 153	•	•																				•
Hospitality Leasing	— Circle 154	•	•				•		•			•			•	•	•	•	•	•	•		•				•
Hotel Technologies	— Circle 157												•	•										•
iBAHN	— Circle 158						•	•						•		•						•		•
InnFlux	— Circle 163						•									•					•			•			•
INNCOM International	— Circle 164				•																	•
Keylink Solutions	— Circle 171				•	•	•		•		•	•				•					•						•	•
LG Electronics	— Circle 173											•							•				•
LodgeNet Entertainment	— Circle 175	•	•		•		•	•			•		•		•		•	•					•	•			•
Minibar Systems	— Circle 181																			•
NxTV	— Circle 190	•	•		•		•	•			•		•		•		•						•	•
Peerless Industries	— Circle 194																		•
Philips Business Display	— Circle 196											•							•				•
Polaroid (Petters)	— Circle 198											•							•				•
RoomLinX	— Circle 205	•	•	•	•		•	•	•		•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•			•	•
Safety NetAccess	— Circle 207						•		•							•		•			•
Sharp Electronics	— Circle 210																		•				•
Showtime Networks	— Circle 211	•	•
Swisscom Hospitality Services	— Circle 214						•									•
Teledex	— Circle 216						•										•							•
Telkonet	— Circle 217	•			•		•	•						•	•							•		•			•	•
Thinix	— Circle 218															•					•
Toner Cable Equipment	— Circle 221																	•					•
Vertical Systems	— Circle 224								•							•					•						•	•
VYOU	— Circle 226											•	•						•				•
Wayport	— Circle 228						•									•

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POINT OF SALE

		Hand-held	Purchasing interface	Labor scheduling	Menu analysis	Table management	Retail module	Touchscreen terminals	Integrated f&b accounting	Cost control	Bar-coding module	Credit-card processing	Multi-property consolidation	Sales & catering integration	F&B Management	Restaurant reservations
Agilysys	— Circle 128	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
AltiusPAR	— Circle 129	•			•	•		•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•
Amadeus	— Circle 130	•	•		•	•		•	•	•		•	•	•		•
Birch Street Systems	— Circle 134	•	•		•				•	•			•		•	•
BluFi Wireless	— Circle 135					•
Extenway Solutions	— Circle 145															•
InfoGenesis	— Circle 160	•			•	•	•	•				•	•		•	•
InnQuest Software	— Circle 165					•	•	•	•			•
IQWare	— Circle 168	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Janus Digital Displays	— Circle 169						•	•
Keylink Solutions	— Circle 171							•		•		•
Micros Systems	— Circle 180	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Multi-Systems Inc.	— Circle 186						•	•				•	•
PAR Springer-Miller Systems	— Circle 192	•					•	•	•			•	•		•	•
RedSky IT	— Circle 203	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
SoftBrands	— Circle 212	•	•			•	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•
Tiare Technology	— Circle 219	•													•

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CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIP MANAGEMENT

		Enterprise CRM	Guest recognition	Loyalty program management	Database marketing systems	Rapid response	Guest satisfaction survey tracking	Concierge tracking	Lost and found	Package tracking	ASP (hosting subscription model)	Per-arrival/Post-departure e-mails	E-mail marketing	PMS and CRS interfaces	Online profile updating by guest
Agilysys	— Circle 128		•							•	•	•	•	•	•
AltiusPAR	— Circle 129		•	•							•	•		•	•
Card Scanning Solutions	— Circle 137		•	•	•									•
GoConcierge	— Circle 148		•					•	•	•	•	•		•
Guestware	— Circle 152	•	•	•	•	•	•		•	•	•			•
Hotel Concepts	— Circle 156	•	•	•	•				•			•	•	•	•
IDT Group	— Circle 159	•	•	•	•	•	•	•			•	•	•	•	•
IQWare	— Circle 168		•	•	•	•	•			•		•	•
Janus Digital Displays	— Circle 169		•
LMG Data Mining	— Circle 174	•			•		•	•				•	•	•
Lodging Interactive	— Circle 176	•					•						•
Micros Systems	— Circle 180	•	•	•	•	•			•	•	•	•	•	•	•
Mintek Mobile Data Solutions	— Circle 182										•			•
M-Tech	— Circle 184	•	•			•					•			•
Newmarket International	— Circle 187	•
Northwind Maestro	— Circle 188	•	•	•		•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•
PAR Springer-Miller	— Circle 192	•	•	•	•									•
Passkey	— Circle 193										•		•	•
RedSky IT	— Circle 203	•		•	•									•
SoftBrands	— Circle 212	•	•								•			•
Topaz Hotel Services	— Circle 222			•								•	•
TravelCLICK	— Circle 223												•	•