ServeVita

Canalta Hotels Eliminates Thousands of Hours of Manual Processing with ServeVita & Unit4

We started ServeVita with the vision that we wanted to serve others and inspire like-minded organizations with efficient solutions that would help them become the best in their industry.  

Today, we are overwhelmed with excitement and honored to communicate with you a vision that has become a reality.

We want to introduce you to our amazing friends at Canalta Hotels.

Canalta Hotels is headquartered in Drumheller, Alberta, Canada. At ServeVita, we are avid hockey fans, so their location brings us back to our hockey roots. They are family owned and operated, employing over 3,000 people across Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. 

Since 1974, Canalta Hotels’ founders, Cam and Sharlene Christianson, along with their sons Blair and Brooke Christianson, have dedicated their professional lives to building a genuine company based on the principles of hard work and service excellence. 

What began as one motor inn in Stettler, Alberta, gradually grew into a wider network and today, Canalta Hotels owns and operates more than 40 properties across Western Canada. 

The Christianson family’s never-give-up work ethic and “I-can’t-believe-they-did that” service philosophy are what makes Canalta stand out in a category filled with jaded, impersonal service.

Prior to the partnership with ServeVita, Canalta’s hotel managers were hampered by manually entering hotel data from the property management systems into a dashboard for processing at headquarters. 

We loved this because it was something we could get behind.  

Meanwhile, 3 employees spent 2-4 hours of their workday completing direct billing to their corporate customers. This mundane practice hindered the “I-can’t-believe-they-did-that” philosophy that this family-owned hotel chain was known for. 

The goal for the CanaltaServeVita partnership was clear: get Canalta’s property management systems and back office ERP to effectively communicate to each other, enabling employees to do more than data entry and management.

Developed on the Unit4 ERP platform, the Servevita Hotel Management Solution (HMS) integrates hotel data seamlessly into a people-first, proven ERP solution. 

Canalta, as owners of 40+ hotels across several brands, could import their hotel sales data daily from their SynXis, OnQ, AutoClerk, and ValueMatrix property management systems. 

Once in a centralized database accessible by the back office, every property’s transactions were now viewable and reportable for Canalta’s key hotel and financial metrics. 

Hotel data was processed automatically into the financials, with direct bill items being marked for easy billing through Unit4’s Sales Order Module.

Today, I am very excited to announce that they have:

• Eliminated thousands of hours of manual processing with ServeVita HMS
• They have successfully eliminated 22,000 hours of manual processing with integration to property management systems through the new hotel management solution by ServeVita. 
• They saved an estimated $706,275 from manual processing reduction and will save 45 hours weekly on direct billing processing. 

What an honor to serve and be a blessing to this family, employees, and guests. 

We are so thankful for the opportunity to help take away some stress and create opportunities for growth.

If you need to upgrade or implement ERP technology with a proven, successful partner, then ServeVita is your solution. 

We provide Travel Software and Hotel Software as well as work as a consulting partner between you and Unit4 technologies. 

In this blog post, we will cover four main questions regarding ERP or Enterprise Resource Planning software.

1.  What is an ERP?
2. ERP versus Best of Breed?
3. Who would use an ERP?
4. Should You Use an ERP for your Business?

What is an ERP?

ERP, or Enterprise Resource Planning, is a business management software that allows organizations to use a system of integrated applications to manage the business and automate many back-office functions related to technology, services, and human resources. 

They integrate all facets of an operation, including human resource management and planning, product planning, development, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. 

The main purpose of ERP is to facilitate the flow of information between all business functions inside the boundaries of the organization and manage the connections to outside stakeholders.

ERP can not only help businesses manage their resources but do so in a way that is strategic and organized leaving little room for big mishaps. They allow businesses to plan and control their operations, track inventory, and do other things such as customer service and analytics. 

Enterprise Resource Planning systems can also make it easier to generate reports and give businesses visibility into their operations, so they can make better decisions about how to run their business. 

These systems are also great for customers since it makes the order process smoother, faster, and more accurate.

Lastly, it’s an invaluable tool for businesses of any size since it allows them to centralize data into a single system, reducing the nature of manual work that would be required otherwise. The ERP eliminates the need to build integration between separate systems that are costly and require ongoing maintenance as each system goes through the upgrade process.

ERP versus Best of Breed?

The ERP versus Best of Breed debate has been a hot topic for discussion for many years. Both options have pros and cons that will need to be considered. In some cases, you may have a hybrid approach. For example, some companies will use an ERP Human Resource Management module but integrate with best-in-class payroll providers. 

The main downside of the best of the breed is that you will normally have to maintain integrations between the system using your own IT team. Every time you do an update to one system it will have an impact on the system integrated into the system you are updating which adds more time and effort to the test cycles unless you are able to update all system at the same time which means that each Vendor would have to provide updates at the same time, which is highly unlikely. 

ERPs being an all-in-one system will allow you to do an upgrade once at the same time, reducing integration testing time and maintenance. The downside of an ERP is they usually require configuration and customization to meet the same needs as specialized systems used in best of breed. 

However, the current movement in the ERP market has been to simplify business processes to make it easier and less time-consuming on staff. Companies seem to be adopting next practices more rather than focusing on customized business practices. This is helping reduce the time to market in implementing the ERP and creating a better ROI in both the initial upfront and long-term operation costs of the ERP system. 

ERP are also investing best in market integrations in order to supplement their robust functionality sets so that your IT team does not need to build and maintain those integrations.

Who Would Use ERP?

Enterprise Resource Planning Software is designed to meet the needs of most businesses, ranging from small and midsize companies to large enterprises. ERP solutions are tailored to specific industries, such as healthcare, non-profits, retail, and importantly for us, hospitality. 

It can also be useful for companies that require processes to be standardized across multiple locations or countries. 

Streamlining is also an option when it comes to ERP.

Should You Use an ERP For Your Business?

ERPs are one of the best systems ever created when it comes to lessening the workload for a company.  

They take all of the operations and turn them into one fully integrated system, covering many areas including production planning, maintaining high levels of customer service, managing inventory, human resource management, keeping financials in check by streamlining accounting processes such as budgeting, and so much more.

So if you are in need of a system that will help your company operations to a standard of excellence, we would advise tapping into a reputable ERP software solution with a trusted partner to guide you through the setup process so that you are set up for success! 

Need help? 

Click the button below to learn more about the ERP solution that ServeVita offers, Unit4, and so that we can help you get started with making your daily operations and functions less of your direct responsibility and put your company more at ease.

Everything You Need to Know About Making Hotel Data Integration EASY!

Integrating data across various systems and departments within a hotel can be a challenging task. 

Hotel management companies succeed when they can see the big picture and when their data is brought together to show how all areas of the business are working together.

There are many types of data that a hotel may need to integrate across its various systems and departments. Some examples of data that may be relevant to a hotel include:

• Guest information: Personal details, contact information, and reservation history for guests who have stayed at the hotel.
• Room information: Details about the various types of rooms available, rates, and availability.
• Financial data: Information about revenue, expenses, and profits.
• Marketing data: Information about promotional campaigns and the effectiveness of various marketing efforts.
• Sales data: Information about group sales, corporate rates, and other sales activities.
• Human resources data: Information about employee schedules, payroll, and benefits.
• Point-of-sale data: Information about products and services purchased by guests, such as food, beverages, and spa treatments.

Integrating this data from various sources and systems can help hotels to better understand their operations, identify opportunities for improvement, and make more informed business decisions.

The Challenges of Hotel Data Integration

One of the main challenges in integrating hotel data is the need to ensure data accuracy and consistency across all systems. Not only does the manual entry of data from one system or department to another leave open the possibility of errors, but it’s extremely time-consuming and, ultimately, limited in detail.

Data integration can also be difficult to achieve due to the complexity of the systems and the large amount of data involved. Additionally, hotels may have multiple locations, each with its own systems and data sources, which can further complicate the data integration process.

Another challenge is the need to ensure data security and privacy, particularly when integrating sensitive financial and personal information. 

It is important for hotels to have robust data protection measures in place to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data.

How do you Solve the Hotel Data Integration Problem?

There are several approaches that hotels can take to address the challenge of integrating data from various systems and departments:

1. Implement an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system: An ERP system is a comprehensive business management software that can help hotels to integrate data from various systems and departments. An ERP system can provide a single, centralized platform for storing and accessing data, and it can automate many back office functions related to technology, services, and human resources.
2. Use data integration tools: There are many tools available that can help hotels to integrate data from various sources. These tools can be used to extract, transform, and load data from different systems and departments into a central repository, such as a data warehouse.
3. Use data visualization tools: Data visualization tools can help hotels to analyze and understand their data more effectively. These tools can help hotels to identify trends, spot opportunities for improvement, and make more informed business decisions.
4. Use Automation: Automation can be an effective way to address the hotel data integration challenge by streamlining and simplifying many of the processes involved. Here are a few examples of how automation can be used to solve the hotel data integration problem:
   • Automated data extraction: Data integration tools can be configured to extract data from various systems and departments automatically at set intervals, such as hourly, daily, or weekly. This can help to ensure that data is consistently and accurately captured and made available for integration.
   • Automated data transformation: Data integration tools can also be configured to apply transformation rules to the extracted data automatically. These rules can be used to clean, standardize, and format the data in a way that is suitable for integration.
   • Automated data loading: Once the data has been extracted and transformed, it can be automatically loaded into a central hub. This can be done on a schedule or in real-time, depending on the needs of the organization.
   • Automated data reconciliation: Data integration tools can be configured to perform automatic reconciliation of data from different sources to ensure that it is accurate and consistent. This can involve comparing data from different sources and flagging any discrepancies for manual review and correction.

Turning Data Into Wisdom

The main goal of integration is not to just have data in one place, it’s about putting the puzzle pieces together to discern the big picture and the decisions you need to make to improve performance. 

Not only do you need to integrate, but also reconcile the data in an efficient fashion. Take credit cards for example, match the detailed transactions to the credit card statements provided in one system and be able to connect your finance teams to your operations and marketing teams with the data you have.

Overall, addressing the hotel data integration challenge requires a comprehensive and well-planned approach that takes into account the specific needs and goals of the organization. Investing in the right technology is key and will be one of the most important decisions that an organization makes in determining its future success.

Now is the time to invest in technology, but make sure your technology is future-proof and growth-enabling. ServeVita’s solution to the hotel data integration challenge solves all of the above points and more.

We have some news to share with you from a new agreement signed between ServeVita and Travelogix. Here is a snippet from their press release –

We have formed a strategic partnership with Dallas-based ServeVita, which supports the CentralCommand back-office solution being used by TMCs and Travel Agencies in over 30 countries around the world.

In line with our strategy around growth and global expansion, the integration with CentralCommand will see Travelogix further extend our reach to TMCs around the globe that utilise the CentralCommand back-office solution.

With data being shared between both platforms via a dedicated API, TMCs using CentralCommand will be offered on-demand access to real-time visualisations of cleansed data via our Analytix suite, in addition to our TMC-focused duty of care solution GeoLocate, which now includes the newly launched GeoComms and GeoAlert features.

Whilst we already serve some CentralCommand customers who utilise Analytix, this integration represents a completely touchless data transfer approach offering TMCs greatly improved efficiencies through automation.

How to Keep Your Back Office Motivated

With data scattered across multiple hotel locations and systems, it becomes increasingly difficult to work efficiently across all departments, especially with stress and anxiety compounding every day. At ServeVita understand that the power of efficiency, scalability, agility, and empowerment are essential for an organization’s success. That’s why we work together with our clients to serve through open communication and consistent follow-up and follow-through. Together we inspire, collaborate, and explore the efficiencies of a company, in hopes of fulfilling life.

One of the most important pieces to the puzzle of a business’s success in this industry are the ones who make up the back office. Back office work refers to those positions within a company that isn’t client-facing, however, they are essential in the office management arena of business and in this case the logistics that go into the travel/ hotel business.

The job of a back-office employee can be challenging, especially when it comes to maintaining the needs and expectations of internal clients. Most importantly is managing travel bookings for employees as well as ensuring all administrative tasks are completed in an efficient manner before handing off to other departments within your company.
In order to make sure the front end of the establishment is flowing and functioning, it’s important to always consider and acknowledge that the back of the line is just as important.

What Can Be Done to Motivate Your Back Office?

Generally, employees in the travel/ hotel industry are not fond of administrative tasks. Tasks that may seem simple and straightforward become tedious quickly when there is no motivation or appreciation involved. The easiest way to keep morale up is by encouraging communication between management and other departments within your company. It’s important to make sure that in all cases, all employees are on the same page.
Another way to keep morale up is by encouraging your back-office staff members to be creative in their workflow and tasks performed within each department. Allow them to brainstorm ways they can improve their workflow, while also maintaining productivity levels that are expected for this particular position.

Finally, recognizing your back office as you would any other part of your business, when they’re doing the necessary to make sure the flow of the company is intact is essential. Besides, they are the ones you’re using to make your company run, so why not show them how much you appreciate their hard work.
All of these tidbits can keep your back office inspired and as anyone else would want to feel, appreciated.
In order to keep your team inspired, it’s important to have a company culture where they feel comfortable sharing their opinions…and lets’ be honest, an environment where one can freely and comfortably be themselves is a company worth working hard for.

Are you applying these attributes to your back office systems?