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Planning and Budgeting - Targetvue is Newest Application for Driving Growth Goals, Profitability for Owners and Operators |
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PITTSBURGH, June 13, 2005 � Hospitality operators
gained a powerful ally this quarter when Aptech Computer Systems, Inc.
added Targetvue®, an enterprise planning application, to its suite
of Performance Management tools. Enterprise planning encompasses all elements
of budget creation as well as ongoing forecasting. Performance Management,
widely used in the manufacturing, banking and retail industries, is made
up of applications based on business intelligence that generate performance
data to guide business strategies.
The cornerstone of Aptech�s Performance Management Suite is the Execuvue Internet-based business intelligence system that captures data from hotel systems and other sources, like Smith Travel Research, and transforms it into easily understood graphics and reports. By combining and analyzing revenue, expenses, occupancy, ADR, and other statistics from a hotel company�s properties, Execuvue builds a database that gives users instant access to specific information for better decisions. Timely online information lets operators have direct control over the financial health of their investments. One of the first hotel companies to apply the new Performance Management business intelligence tools is Sage Hospitality Resources. Sage's Senior Vice President of Financial Services, Courteney Parker, explains, "Targetvue is the automated budgeting and forecasting part of our Performance Management philosophy going forward. We have the experience in-house that guides our strategies; now we will have a set of tools to automate the implementation of our forecasting and strategies, and improve monitoring of our effectiveness. We are integrating the Targetvue system with a new Business Intelligence (BI) system, Execuvue. Execuvue is interfaced to our property's front office applications allowing us to monitor and analyze our operations daily. The BI tool will also allow us to integrate third party financial and market data to better analyze all aspects of hotel performance. In addition to letting corporate executives perform real-time business analysis, the new Performance Management BI tools also provide a report card on management effectiveness, a key element of achieving goals. The result will be greater profitability for our owners and investors through increased efficiency and improved management." Most hotel companies still handle goal setting and budgets utilizing customized Excel spreadsheets. Though a useful personal productivity tool, spreadsheets are poorly suited for accurate, efficient enterprise planning and performance management. Targetvue delivers many operational functions not available with spreadsheet planning, including: Workflow Management � Targetvue tracks the status of each property�s contribution to the forecast and plan in real-time, and provides managers with a single combined view of the entire asset portfolio and where each property stands in the planning process. Collaboration � Successful enterprise planning depends on a high level of collaboration and property participation. Targetvue provides secured web access to budgets and performance analysis for remote stakeholders. Spreadsheet-based plans are rarely this flexible and often inhibit collaboration and participation. Version Control � Version control problems occur when properties and management are working from dissimilar or outdated spreadsheets. Poor version control limits effective business management and accurate analysis. Targetvue users work from a singe, real-time operations information database. Aggregation � Targetvue provides real time error-free consolidation for an entire portfolio and eliminates the necessity of aggregating inputs from multiple users and spreadsheets for enterprise rollups. In the changing hotel business environment, operators learned that simply monitoring financial and operational performance was not enough to maximize profitability. What hospitality executives needed was a way to monitor both goals and performance in real time to fine-tune strategies. Sage SVP Courteney Parker said, "Hotel companies like Sage Hospitality Resources are finally getting tools that let them draw on their corporate knowledge to make the most intelligent decisions based on accurate forecasting and reliable data analysis to increase efficiency, management effectiveness, and investor profitability." Performance Management in Hospitality Performance management is made up of three elements: planning goals, monitoring goals with balanced scorecarding, and analysis of performance on a real-time, actionable basis. Widely deployed across other industries, the concept is gaining acceptance in hospitality as a way to improve return on investment for owners through more efficient reporting, more accurate and actionable information for decision making, and improved customer management. In hospitality the three components of Performance
Management form a circle of processes that include budgeting and forecasting,
analysis measures to check performance against goals, and analytical tools
that drill down into all data sources such as Smith Travel Research, and
the property�s PMS, back office and point of sale systems. Hotel operators
can enter the circle from any point. The objective is to evolve accurate
decisions as quickly as operational data changes, which results in an improved
Performance Management capability and increased revenue. Aptech�s integrated
suite of Performance Management products for the hospitality industry combines
all three processes.
 About Aptech Computer Systems
Incorporated in 1970, Aptech is a financial and operations technology solutions and service company whose products include state-of-the-art back office, business intelligence and enterprise planning products: Profitvue® , Execuvue® and Targetvue. Over 1,100 users, including very large chains, multiple-property management companies and single site hotels, utilize Aptech solutions to understand their financial and operational data. By offering the hotel industry a solid resource of hospitality professionals, and through its proven ability to evolve technology offerings as the market dictates, Aptech is proud to have earned 100% customer loyalty. Execuvue and Profitvue are registered trademarks and MyExecuvue® is registered to Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders. HITEC 2005 Sponsorships and Tutorials At HITEC 2005 be sure to visit Aptech at Booth 719. Aptech will sponsor a Concurrent Session titled "Ask the Experts" on Tuesday 21st at 11:15am-12:30pm, that will feature a panel of experts fielding questions on property-based systems which is expected to be highly entertaining. Aptech will also offer a Tutorial titled: "Performance Management / Business Intelligence" on Wednesday, June 22nd from 10am to 10:30am in Tutorial Room A. |
| Contact:
Cam Troutman, Director of Sales
Media Contact
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