Outrigger Case Study Essay Example for Free

Outrigger Case Study Essaythough the hotel and resorts industry has suffered collect to the declining economy over the past several years, Outrigger Hotels and Resorts (Outrigger) has been able to maintain a strong niche market place in how-do-you-do as well as beginning to expand geographicly, establishing a stronger world(prenominal) comportment. though they began as major competitors with companies like Marriott, Hilton, and Starwood, Outrigger has been able to diversify its product portfolio mainly through acquisitions to appeal to a wider customer base. Outrigger required OHANA hotels to attract more budget travelers as well as beginning to run intoer condominiums off the beach front to appeal to regular travelers that vacationed more frequently. In these new markets, Outrigger realizeed from no direct emulation and is able to benefit from a diversified product portfolio. Outrigger has make loveed success in these new markets but has go about many problems due to their entrance into these slightly unalike markets.In spite of Outriggers aggressive geographical and product expansion in new markets, it has preferred to maintain a concentrate management structure. on with their centralized management structure Outrigger has tried to come up centralized trading operations and learning systems. Outriggers operations and IT infrastructure in Hawaii were highly centralized. Outriggers properties in Hawaii all utilized the very(prenominal) Central Reservation Office however all other properties located outside of Hawaii handled their reservations in house, limiting gathering of important customer data and missing out on the opportunity to enjoy significant cross- home traffic. All properties in Hawaii ran on a JD Edwards ERP as the cornerstone of Outriggers clog up office operations while running Stellax, their integrated CRS/premenstrual syndrome, providing revenue management, reservation center support, and enabled data collection for fur ther analysis on their E.piphany software.This integrated IT infrastructure has allowed Outrigger to harness the analytical power of E.piphany to do forecasts and pass on business intelligence both at the source of business and at guest levels. Properties outside of Hawaii are not allowed to benefit from integration of IT and schooling systems since they run on similar but unalike systems that do not allow for real time electronic interface with other hotel locations and wholesalers of vacations. Outrigger believes that acentralized IT infrastructure and systems is a source of competitive advantage. However, as the firm has diversified its product portfolio and geographic presence they have been sacrificing the centralization of IT infrastructure and have been unable to harness the potential benefits of integrated systems in their international markets.To remedy this problem of a lack of integration and communication, Outrigger could expand their use of Stellax to its internatio nal locations, develop a new PMS/CRS system that better could better handle the incompatible ineluctably of Outriggers properties in different markets, or move its information sharing to the cloud for better communication between properties. Expansion of Stellax would benefit Outrigger by enabling invariable data gathering and analysis of important business and customer information that could allow for rewards programs that could increase profitability through cross-property traffic and meeting the needs of the customer better. This expansion of Stellax would be expensive and could establish problems due to differences in needs between properties in Hawaii and international properties. teaching of a new PMS/CRS platform that would be better suited for the wide variety of needs between different properties, though customization could be achieved through the application of add-on modules that could tailor the new PMS/CRS system to the unique needs of each individual property.This solution could be very complicated and oftentimes more expensive then the first alternative due to the degree of customization. In addition, this resource could create a more decentralized structure when Outrigger is trying to achieve increased centralization of operations. Lastly, Outrigger could move their information sharing between properties to the cloud. This option is less expensive than the other alternatives but would offer limited benefits. Though properties would be able to share business and customer information, analysis would be limited due to different data gathering techniques and differences between the type of business and customer data that each individual propertys system collected. To enable better integration of properties and to create a more centralized IT and systems infrastructure, Outrigger should develop a new PMS/CRS platform that would meet the needs of their diversified product markets.Though this option is most expensive it offers the most centrali zed structure and the greatest potential value forOutrigger. Stellax is very overaged even though it still suits the needs of properties in Hawaii, but not the needs of Outriggers international properties. By developing a new customizable PMS/CRS platform, Outrigger would become much more centralized and could create value from its diversified portfolio of projects through the utilization of rewards programs that promote cross-selling of Outrigger properties and harnesses the power of business and customer information that is consistent between Hawaii properties as well as international properties. To track to success of such a large system implementation Outrigger could track the amount of customers that visit multiple Outrigger locations and the success of cross-selling of properties through the tracking of customers redeeming rewards points they earned through staying a multiple different Outrigger properties. Implementation of label new software is risky however if it is prope rly managed and implemented correctly the rewards could greatly outweigh the cost.