Transformative Upgrade of Infor EzRMS features Science-Infused Applications for Enhanced Optimization, Pricing and Forecasting

NEW YORK– April 11, 2016 – Infor, a leading provider of beautiful business applications specialized by industry and built for the cloud, today announced the completion of a transformative upgrade to Infor EzRMS (version 20.x), marking a new era of forecasting and optimization that fortifies its hospitality domain expertise with cross-industry science. The upgrade is the first to reflect the collaboration between the Infor EzRMS science team and Infor Dynamic Science Labs, an internal think tank recently formed to infuse machine learning and big data analytics into all Infor applications. While Infor EzRMS modeling has always used advanced econometric methods to factor in both historical and current patterns, modeling is now based on an adaptive learning framework, gleaning even more granular observations from the data it is already collecting.

Through this upgrade, Infor EzRMS has clearer visibility into data trends that can help indicate whether current or historical patterns should be given more weight in forecasting. Another science enhancement is dynamically adaptive forecasting, through which the solution continues to test which combination of forecasting methods tends to achieve the best accuracy, at each stage in the booking curve. The result is that each property attains its own custom combination of forecasting methods that can continually adapt to its changing market mix, seasonality, and booking curve.

Infor EzRMS now addresses the industry reality that not all booking systems can fully support bid price, deltas, and other more sophisticated yield controls. Rather than just translating optimized restrictions into the simpler ones, such as length of stay, that are supported by the reservation system, Infor EzRMS can now achieve a more optimal result with “Restriction- Aware Optimization” that factors in the available restriction types from the outset. This newest version also contains science that is designed to help revolutionize extended stay modeling by not only forecasting more length of stay buckets, but by also forecasting renewals. Enhanced overbooking logic is designed to achieve a new level of optimization during periods of excess demand, which not only can help minimize the risk of having to relocate guests, but can also assist with minimizing the equally serious risk of having rooms go unsold on nights when demand and rates are at their highest.

Infor is also committed to redefining the user experience, and this iteration boasts a beautiful, consumer-grade interface that is designed to help users to work the way they live. “It is great to have a fresh look and feel, which is much more modern and up-to-date, and in line with our own hotel product. It is also good to see that not just the design has been improved, but that functionality as well as forecasting and optimization have also been enhanced,” said Berengere Brohan, group revenue director, The Hoxton. “A key feature is that the solution remembers the reports we looked at, and can easily be referred back to, which saves a lot of time. It is also great that the regional module has become so intuitive, giving far more flexibility. The additional filter and selection options give us a tool with which we can really make use of the wealth of data that we have in EzRMS. We are excited to take advantage of the results of the new algorithms and how much better our forecasts, pricing and optimization can be.”

Part of the Infor Hospitality suite of solutions, Infor EzRMS is designed to help hoteliers better optimize revenue by automatically calculating demand forecasts and recommending appropriate selling strategies based on data such as day-of-week patterns, lead time figures and the number of guests per room.

“The hotel industry is in a constant struggle to boost profits, while remaining focused on providing guests with a personalized experience. Leading organizations understand that a revenue management solution should not only allow its teams to be more strategic by automating routine forecasting and pricing tasks, but also by providing them with the accurate, real-time information they’ll need—when they need it—whether they work at a large global company, smaller chain, or independent hotel – to improve the bottom line and help maximize occupancy and revenue,” said Bernard Ellis, CRME, CHTP, vice president, Industry Strategy, Infor Hospitality. “Infor has invested in staying at the forefront of revenue management solutions, and by finding ways to harness the mass amounts of data available to the industry, is delivering an even more agile system that can help customers navigate through rapid changes in market conditions and demand trends.”