July 9, 2015 Owner & Franchise Communications, GPMS

Global Property Management System (GPMS) | July 2015 Update

Below is an update on the Global Property Management System (GPMS) project, including a change to the financials.

Financial Update

In May, we announced the 4G network installation requirements. Cost details related to this change, as well as additional updates to the GPMS implementation costs, are included below.

One-Time Costs: Due to lower than anticipated costs for installation, the one-time costs have decreased by $1,000-6,000, depending on property size.
Hosted Interface Costs: An on-property device is required to communicate between the property-based interfaces and the PMS application hosted in the Oracle data centers. The original intent was for this system to reside on-property, however, this model has not functioned as expected and too frequently, properties have been the first to identify service issues. As a result, we will move the interface hosting to the Oracle data centers to enable better service and support. This addresses the stability challenges that led to the pausing of the GPMS rollout. The cost impact of this change is $.32 per room per month for CFRST properties and $.40 per room per month for full service properties, with a cap at 800 rooms (note: these costs were not included in the original model).
MPLS: This cost includes the 4G Installation costs that were announced in May. The 4G network is required to ensure network connectivity is not interrupted during an outage. The original model estimated $150 per month for these costs. Revised cost estimates show slight declines for CFRST properties with 120 or fewer rooms and a slight increase for full service properties with 300 or more rooms.

When compared to the original estimates, total costs for the first year have decreased $5,200 for a 120-room hotel and $800 for a 300-room hotel. For details, click here to view updated cost estimates on MGS.

User Readiness

During the pause in rollout, we revised the training to focus on the tools that will help the property teams be successful. In addition to revamping the training, we are adding job aids and tools to assist with using GPMS. It is vital that all GPMS users complete the eLearning training as it provides a foundational knowledge of key functionality within the application. The training is included in the property task list and, moving forward, we will be tracking the training completion for all GPMS users and will escalate any issues as appropriate.

Rollout Schedule

FOSSE conversions are still scheduled to resume in mid-July, with new opening installations expected to follow in October. As a reminder, an updated rollout schedule for Phase 1 can be found on MGS.

Additionally, updates have been made to the full service rollout schedule and, as we move through the testing of the full service release, there may be additional schedule changes. We anticipate issuing a final full service schedule for 2016 in August. In the meantime, interim updates/changes to the rollout schedule will be posted on MGS.

As you know, we are continuing to address the critical issues that caused the interruption of the Phase 1 rollout. The second patch, which was released last month, is expected to resolve the remaining software defects. In addition, the call response time from the Service Desk has steadily improved. We appreciate your continued commitment to this project. It is our goal to ensure that properties have a stable solution that meets their operational needs moving forward. If you have any questions about the GPMS project, please contact Kermit Littlefield.