Advanced
ERP Technology Bridges Gap between Front and Back Office, Enabling Efficient Operations
so Managers can Focus on Growth
Customers are at the heart of the
hospitality industry, where successful businesses pride themselves on
delivering the highest levels of customer experience, perhaps more than any
other industry, according to Epicor Software Corporation, a global provider of industry-specific enterprise software to
promote business growth. The sector is booming, with global business travel
spend hitting a record-breaking $1.2
trillion and leisure travel gross bookings sustaining growth rates higher
than GDP. However, with customer expectations changing, the industry must
adapt to keep up with demands.
Back-end systems have come
under the spotlight because, as the hospitality sector increases its
investments in internet of things (IoT) devices in a bid to improve customer
experiences (to an estimated $109
million in the US in 2018), hospitality managers are becoming overwhelmed
by the challenges of integrating existing front and back office solutions. Nevertheless,
this integration is essential to effectively manage costs, optimize business
performance, and free up managers’ time.
In response to this trend,
Epicor has released iScala® for Hospitality, a back-office solution for
restaurants, hotels, and resorts. The platform is designed to enable its users
to meet the unique needs of the hospitality industry by enabling companies to streamline
operations by efficiently integrating all operations, from intelligent
technologies, room reservations, and food and beverage, to event sales, human
resources, and finance, on a single platform.
Improved visibility
Easy to implement and
integrate with most existing systems, iScala is a centralized back office
management software solution that provides a holistic picture of financial and
operational data. Optimal stock control, efficient requisition and robust financial
management, provide companies with enhanced business intelligence to help drive
efficiency across all areas of the business. Real-time visibility means
that key operations are connected with front office systems, supporting
features such as menu management. Designed so that managers can quickly create
recipes that include ingredient quantities, preparation instructions, and any
other required information and easily calculate the cost of each serving while
monitoring the sales markup. As servings are sold, stock usage can be tracked
to compare against actual storeroom quantities during stock counts.
Localized capabilities
iScala for Hospitality
delivers a range of financial management capabilities that handle complex localized
tax and currency structures and multiple languages that allow local staff to
deal with the back office in their preferred language. Local requirements are
also addressed with multi-company functionality that allows management of
transactions in a single location or across multiple global locations.
Improving customer experience
A recent report
by Deloitte1 covering the latest travel and hospitality industry
trends points to “game-changing innovation” as a major disruptor and says that
consumers have begun to expect a personalized experience tailored to meet their
needs.
With improved back-end
processes, managers are free to focus on building better experiences for
customers. Insight from data helps to build an enriched customer view that
subsequently provides a better, more personalized customer experience.
Lakshmi
Nagaraj, global director of finance technology for Hyatt Hotels Corporation,
which has been an iScala Hospitality customer for over 10 years for their
international hotels, said, “We have recently moved our financial systems from
a distributed solution to a centralized finance technology platform at EAME
(Europe, Africa and the Middle East) and ASPAC (Asia Pacific) to efficiently
support our hotels and the Global Finance Shared Service organization. It has
helped us improve our productivity and cost savings. Epicor has been a great
partner in this transition providing the required global support.”