| Case Study - Hyatt Services GmbH Germany:
Decreasing Costs and Increasing Efficiency With the Scala Hospitality Centralized
Accounting System
Hyatt Services GmbH Germany, a subsidiary of Hyatt International Corporation,
was in need of a centralized accounting system. Regional headquarters in
Mainz needed access to all of the financial
data of the hotels in Germany managed by Hyatt International (EAME)
Ltd.: Hyatt Regency Mainz, Hyatt Regency Cologne, Park Hyatt Hamburg and
Grand Hyatt Berlin. What they got was much more than they bargained for.
What they got was Scala Hospitality.
The Problem
Since the late 80�s, the Hyatt Regency Cologne had been running its
own in-house proprietary front and back office systems. With the construction
of three new hotels in 1998, these systems could no
longer grow with the company. The old systems were technologically
outdated and no longer adaptable to Hyatt�s changing business requirements.
The search began for a system linking every hotel in order to monitor each
property�s financial performance.
The Hyatt Regency Cologne originally selected a local application to
provide the required technology and functionality for the German hotels.
However, mid-way through the implementation the vendor went
into receivership. Consequently, the Hyatt Regency Cologne was left
with a partially installed system and no available support to see the project
through to a satisfactory conclusion.
Colin Lubbe, Director of Finance - Germany, was in the middle of preparing
a detailed analysis of Hyatt�s business requirements when he heard about
Scala Hospitality from another Hyatt hotel: the Hyatt Regency Almaty.
The Solution
The Hyatt Regency Almaty, Hyatt�s luxury hotel in Kazakhstan, had been
successfully using Scala since March 1995. Not only had Scala Hospitality
integrated the hotel�s financial systems, it also included reporting and
planning tools providing management with accurate information crucial to
running a successful hotel. After further investigation, Scala Hospitality
was chosen as the new financial Integrated Management Information Solution
provider for the hotels managed by Hyatt in Germany.
Scala Hospitality, a fully integrated financial management application,
implemented one central accounting system providing access to real-time
financial data among all four of the hotels. Utilizing user-friendly interfaces,
Scala Hospitality integrated Property Management Systems (PMS), Point-of-Sales
(POS) systems and financial accounting systems. This integration eliminated
time-consuming double and manual entry functions.
�The decision to implement Scala Hospitality was facilitated in October
1997, when Scala confirmed they would meet our January 1998 objective of
having the system up and running,� Lubbe recounts. �We are very happy
with our choice of Scala Hospitality.� Other reasons for Hyatt�s choice
of Scala Hospitality include their EMU solution and Year 2000 compliance.
�The partnering of Scala Hospitality and Hyatt is a good match. Hyatt�s
participation and interaction in the implementation process improved end-user
results and solutions and facilitated the customization of a standardized
template rollout specific to the Hyatt�s European, African and Middle Eastern
hotels,� explained Alan Wielunski, one of Scala Hospitality�s industry
consultants.
The Technology
Today, all four Hyatt hotels in Germany are linked to one central system,
located in Hyatt Services GmbH, Mainz, configured as a Wide Area Network
(WAN) and using a Citrix WinFrame server. The
Scala Hospitality database is located on a Microsoft Windows NT 4.0
server. Scala Hospitality users in the Mainz office network their workstations
on to the NT server. Users in the Berlin, Hamburg and
Cologne offices are able to access the system through two Citrix Winframe
servers that are connected to the Scala Hospitality database server with
dedicated 100 Mbit segments. The 64 kbit leased lines enable the connection
between the different cities to the Citrix server in Mainz.
�Even at peak times we are able to obtain sub-second responses with
Scala [Hospitality],� says Lubbe. �The WAN configuration has allowed us
to remotely manage the business of each hotel with greater control, as
we can log on directly to the system, check the hotels� financial status
at any time and run comparative reports between the different hotels.�
At any given time, 25 users may connect to the system concurrently.
The Results
Scala Hospitality has enabled Hyatt to centralize its accounting processes
by linking the hotels to one central system. The Regional office in Mainz
is able to run customized and comparative reports
between the different hotels on an online real-time basis with Scala
Hospitality�s industry specific Reporting and Planning Tool (RPT).
�We have also seen a reduction of cost in our accounting departments
since the central linking of the systems means that we can employ fewer
staff to do the same amount of work,� says Lubbe.
Earlier this year, Hyatt Services GmbH upgraded its centralized accounting
system to Scala Hospitality�s version 5.1 and enhanced the Inventory Management
system. Scala Hospitality also received BASDA (Business & Accounting
Software Developers Association) certification for its EMU compliant version
5.1, in accordance with its advanced requirements concerning multi-currency
and triangulation on business accounting software.
The Future
What�s ahead for Hyatt and Scala Hospitality? Hyatt Germany is currently
planning to implement Scala Hospitality�s new reporting and planning tool
called Raptor. The combination of Raptor with
Scala Hospitality�s version 5.1 will enable Hyatt to produce tactical
action plans measurably increasing profitability.
�The standardization of the implementation phase not only expedites
the process but will significantly reduce costs for future Hyatt implementations.� |
