Predator Ridge tackles IT challenges, labor shortage with OPERA Cloud

OPERATIONS

Predator Ridge tackles IT challenges, labor shortage with OPERA Cloud

Selecting the right system to share information with our stakeholders is key to making them happy and eliminating work for operators.

Why it matters: Homeowners did not have access to information about their own units; they were completely dependent on a quarterly statement that they received from us. They needed to call or email to find out if their unit was rented, how it was performing, etc. You can’t imagine the amount of emails and phone calls we would get.

With our move to OPERA Cloud, however, we worked with an authorized third party who allows secure access into the PMS through an owner’s portal. That means homeowners are able to get the information they need whenever and wherever they want it.

Top 3 Core Objectives: We’re planning to double our homeowner base in about four years, the impact of this OPERA Cloud capability has been profound.

Integration as Innovation Pathway: We’re capitalizing on OPERA Cloud’s integration capabilities. We’re pursuing speed to market, especially with contactless offerings that provide guests with self-service options. It’s just another way OPERA Cloud will help with staffing because it’ll require fewer people on the front desk, which is one of the areas where we’re hardest hit.
Extensible Recruiting: OPERA Cloud allows staff to work remotely in a way on-premises PMS never could. That means we can have people sitting in Ottawa or Edmonton and taking reservations for us; it’s like having our own call center anywhere. That’s a tremendous advantage in terms of widening the net to improve recruiting.
Fortified Data Security: In the last couple of years, our industry has seen a huge spike in security incidents – hacking, ransomware, websites getting defaced. They all erode consumer confidence and cause long-lasting reputational damage. The big question for any decently run IT department is, ‘who would want to do business with an organization that underinvests in security or underestimates the importance secure customer data’? We would challenge anyone who is trying to make on-premises systems match the security levels that premier cloud-service providers can offer. We can pretty much guarantee that it can’t be done without a considerable budget and a significant commitment to data security.

Innovators Mentioned

Predator Ridge

Oracle Hospitality

Gerry Tessier

IT Manager

Predator Ridge

Claus Larsen

Director of Accommodations

Predator Ridge

"In many aspects, candidly, the ability to offload IT responsibilities to a reliable partner was a driving motivator in our decision to embrace OPERA Cloud."

Gerry Tessier

IT Manager

👍 IT Manager Gerry Tessier said that Leveraging a specialized tech partner allows hotels to focus on what they do best -- serve guests -- without worrying about the underlying technology.:

"In many aspects, candidly, the ability to offload IT responsibilities to a reliable partner was a driving motivator in our decision to embrace OPERA Cloud."

⚖️ The selection process: During their research process, Claus Larsen evaluated Oracle Hospitality's product differentiators, customer support, and holistic value as a strategic partner and ultimately decided that Oracle Hospitality was the best fit solution:

Director of Accommodations Claus Larsen said, about their decision: "[Sharing information] played a major factor in our selection of OPERA as the cloud-based property management system for Predator Ridge, a resort community in Vernon, British Columbia, where one of the most-important customers is the homeowners whose units we rent."

📈 The results: At Predator Ridge, we’re a 24/7 operation, but the IT department, like most organizations in our industry, has limited resources. Oracle Hospitality is simply a better option in terms of support, management, and real-time, active monitoring.

Integration - Oracle Hospitality has made integration execution simpler and faster, especially with innovations such as Oracle Hospitality Integration Platform (OHIP). When you look at integrations overall, Oracle is the gold standard. Its partners list is deep, and the selection process is rigorous. We know partners need to meet minimum certification standards to be considered an authorized partner, and that’s reassuring for us because there’s an understanding that integrity of service and security are top of mind.
Improved Cost Basis - When we did our cost analysis, we discovered it would be more expensive for us to upgrade to OPERA on-premises than it would be to move to cloud. We would have needed to buy new infrastructure, and the hardware play alone would have cost more than $100,000 – that’s not including the cost of consulting, cost of licenses, and support contracts. If we can have cost savings – and less headaches – then we’re going to go with that option every time.
Freedom with Security and Reliability - Oracle has already achieved PCI compliance on its end. We would rather direct our energy and resources elsewhere, where we can make the biggest difference. Importantly, we also don’t want to worry about continuous software updates, Java implementations, and all those pesky, but much-needed security patches. With OPERA cloud, testing and validation of all updates and patches are handled through proper service management best practices, like change management and release and deployment management.