Intelligent CIO LATAM Issue 17 | Page 58

CASE STUDY
An invaluable experience
To this growth , technology has become a fundamental tool . It is because it provides much more than just data and knowledge to help manage a business that demands satisfaction from its guests as they rest in their rooms or work in various spaces
such as restaurants , convention centers , co-working offices and others that arise following the demands of the market .
That is why we wanted to know first-hand how a hotel technology ecosystem as diverse and broad as this is managed and turned to Marcelo Salomão , Accor Group ’ s Vice President of Customer Technology Services in South America .
With over 26 years of experience , the last 21 of which have been in the hotel market , Marcelo Salomão has a degree in software development from the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro and computer networks from Estácio de Sá University .
In 2019 , he began his career at Accor as head of the technology area for South America , with the principal goal of expanding the department ’ s activity in the countries of Latin America , aiming to get closer to the hotels and facilitating technological innovation in the hotel group ’ s properties .
His journey through IT for the hotel industry allows us to understand the path hotels in Latin America must follow to increase quality indicators , especially in customer experience , which is a vital issue for this business .
What are the priorities for Accor in Latin America ?
Top and bottom : Novotel Santiago , Chile

THE STRATEGY IS TO TAKE OUR SOLUTIONS TO A CLOUD ENVIRONMENT . WE ARE MIGRATING THE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM ( PMS ) AND THE POINT OF SALE ( POS ) OF OUR HOTELS TO THE CLOUD .

It is maintaining cybersecurity , investing in updating equipment in hotels and migrating our solutions to the cloud .
How has IT management evolved in a hotel company the size of Accor ?
The strategy is to take our solutions to a cloud environment . We are migrating the Property Management System ( PMS ) and the Point of Sale ( POS ) of our hotels to the cloud , and the plan is to follow the same path with other systems in the coming years . We expect to be in the cloud with 75 % of the hotels by 2025 .
How does the IT arena adapt to improve the customer experience both before , during and after hotel stays ?
We are investing in solutions to anticipate the acquisition of personal information before online check-in to reduce bureaucracy . Today there are QR code menu solutions for guests to consume hotel services through an online platform . For example , it is
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