Next-gen Operational Intelligence = Operations + Business Intelligence + AI

Operational Intelligence has evolved considerably over the past few decades. Business Intelligence (BI) reporting platforms played a major role in this evolution, surfacing key operational metrics from source systems to web-based dashboards. But a key element has always been missing – analysis. Now, with access to powerful AI algorithms, we are on the precipice of Next-gen Operational Intelligence; a future when hotel property leaders will benefit from easy access to metrics and insights so they know why things are happening and what we can do about it.

To track key operational metrics such as Average Daily Rate (ADR), Occupancy %, Revenue Per Available Room (RevPAR), and Restaurant Covers, property leaders used to dig into systems such as hotel Property Management Systems (PMS) and restaurant Point of Sale Systems (POS). Over time, the brands, ownership groups, and third-party management companies aggregated this data across properties. This aggregated data was typically stored in databases (aka Data Warehouses, Data Lakes, Data Lakehouses) and made accessible through basic reports and financial forecasting/budgeting solutions. More recently, web-based Business Intelligence (BI) solutions surfaced key metrics to property leadership teams through web portals and mobile applications. That helped, but it didn’t tell the whole story.