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If you’ve been in the hospitality industry for long, you’ve heard the term “business intelligence” thrown around by technologists, and if you’re like most hoteliers, the term still conjures up some vague concepts. Bunch of data in charts and graphs. Sound familiar?
This is a common problem and honestly it’s not your fault for not understanding the value of a BI solution because there are so many different types of BI solutions that provide different information, value, ROI, etc. it’s hard to explain , in simple terms, what is BI and why most of today’s BI solutions get it wrong.
Luckily, here I am, ready to do just that! So, let’s get started…
In short, a business intelligence solution collects, analyzes and presents your property data in an easy-to-understand manner so you can more effectively monitor performance, identify trends and anomalies, track key metrics and make actionable changes good decision. time data.
In short, a BI solution can provide you with the hotel information you need to run your hotel more efficiently, identify new revenue opportunities and/or identify potential problems with hotel strategies that result in lost revenue.
Sounds useful, right? In theory, you’re right, but there are a few issues that prevent many BI solutions from fulfilling these promises to hoteliers.
(not so) easy to understand
Business intelligence solutions provide vast amounts of data—far more than the average human can study or comprehend—so the role of a BI solution is to make that data “clear” to the user. Unfortunately, while many vendors say their solutions are “easy to use,” they don’t take into account the lack of technical knowledge many users have. A solution is only as good as the people who use it, so a BI solution must provide a truly intuitive user experience to deliver return on investment for the hotel.
Another problem is that different people read, learn and understand information in different ways. For example, some people prefer visual representations of data so they can better understand charts and graphs; others prefer numbers and Excel spreadsheets, so a good BI solution should provide efficient ways for all users to maximize Get the information they need easily, in the form that suits them. Again, this is where many BI solutions fail.
While collecting data across transactional systems is one thing, organizing the data in a meaningful way to more easily extract insights from it is quite another. For example, any system can aggregate data and provide the total number of bookings for a given time period; however, few break down each booking into its component parts and multidimensionally group bookings by source market, booking channel, lead time, etc. Views – This has a big impact on the ROI of the solution.
data, not decisions
Many BI solutions provide large amounts of data, which are then onused on the hotelier to use to determine what the best “next step” is, again increasing the potential for human error. Most BI solutions do not provide actionable insights to show users where there are opportunities to make changes to their strategy to positively impact revenue or internal efficiency.
That’s why… many BI solutions don’t include analytics, which is the most important part of a BI solution. Analytics uses data and statistical methods to gain insight and make decisions; in other words, analytics is the part of a BI solution that gives you actionable insights (also called decisions), not just data.
There are different types of analysis:
• Descriptive analysis describes what happened in the past.
• Diagnostic analytics help hotels understand why things are happening.
• Predictive analytics determine the likelihood of future events.
• Prescriptive analytics recommend actions based on insights.
All of these types of analytics combined make an effective BI solution stand out and provide a higher ROI than a basic BI solution.
Data democratization (aka making data accessible to everyone)
The technical definition of data democratization is “an ongoing process that enables everyone in an organization, regardless of their technical knowledge, to be comfortable working with data, talking about it with confidence, and thereby making data-based decisions and building Data-driven customer experience;” Data democratization, in short, is a fancy way of saying that BI solutions must make data accessible to everyone to maximize teams collaborating using consistent data and insights Ability.
For hotels, BI solutions should be accessible, easily understood and used regularly by all internal departments, including revenue management, sales and marketing, and executive management. By giving all internal departments equal access to consistent hotel data, they can more easily collaborate to identify new revenue opportunities and develop strategies that benefit the hotel’s overall profitability.
So if you’re in the market for a BI solution (or if you need help accessing and understanding the performance of your properties), look for one that combines business intelligence, analytics and seamless collaboration; and finally, your bank The account will thank you for it!
about the author
Apo Demirtas is founder and CEO of HotelIQ, a division of Intelligent Hospitality
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