Select an Enterprise Property Management System in Hospitality

PMS requirements gathering is often siloed, with limited considerations of the end-to-end guest and employee journey, leading to poor system integration across functions.
Many organizations lack visibility into what is possible, resulting in incomplete requirements that misdirect PMS selection and lead to systems requiring extensive workarounds.
PMS selection is complex and costly, and organizations often find that systems fail to fully meet their needs, delivering only marginal ROI.
Organizations often lack the expertise and capacity to effectively evaluate, select, and implement a PMS, resulting in agreements that fail to meet operational and strategic needs.

Our Advice

Critical Insight

In hospitality, the success of a property management system transformation is determined less by the capabilities of individual platforms and more by the organization's ability to design for cross-system guest journeys and operational coherence from the outset.

Impact and Result

Property management system selection must be driven by organizational strategy, building for cross-system guest journeys and operational coherence.

Develop a cross-functional selection team and align on strategic business objectives to define how a new PMS will enable their achievement.
Define and prioritize functional and non-functional requirements using business capabilities.
Develop the PMS RFP, conduct structured demos, and evaluate vendors to select the best fit.

Select an Enterprise Property Management System in Hospitality Research & Tools

1. Select an Enterprise Property Management System in Hospitality Deck – Use this deck to select the best-fit PMS vendor to enable integrated guest journeys and operational coherence.

Selecting a property management system is a complex and costly process with significant impact on organizational success. Select a PMS through a structured, defensible comparison of vendors based on requirements, demos, and cost to ensure seamless integration and consistent guest experiences.

2. PMS Requirements Prioritization Tracking & Evaluation Tool – Evaluate vendors based on requirements and demonstrations to objectively evaluate PMS and select the best-fit vendor.

This tool enables consistent vendor evaluation by structuring requirements, priorities, written responses, and demo assessments into a standardized scoring framework. This approach ensures vendors are evaluated on what matters most, while maintaining traceability and transparency throughout the process.

3. PMS RFP Template – Elicit vendor responses through a structure written RFP.

Leverage this template to create a customized PMS RFP and invite vendors to participate in the RFP process. This template will help to elicit vendor responses in an organized and comprehensive manner.

4. PMS Vendor Pricing Workbook – Compare vendor costs consistently and objectively, producing a consolidated five-year TCO model for confident decision-making.

This deliverable provides a structured, transparent framework for analyzing PMS costs, capturing vendor pricing, allocating costs by property, and calculating a consolidated five-year TCO. By breaking down one-time fees, recurring costs, integrations, and savings, the workbook enables consistent, multiyear vendor comparisons and supports informed, strategic PMS selection.

5. PMS Vendor Comparison Tool – This tool helps organizations objectively compare PMS vendors by combining RFP responses, demo scoring, and financial analysis into a clear, side-by-side evaluation of overall fit.

This deliverable provides a structured framework for evaluating PMS vendors by consolidating RFP responses, scoring demonstrations, and comparing financials, including TCO. It produces a weighted, side-by-side comparison of qualitative and cost fit, guiding users from detailed inputs to a summarized dashboard for confident, transparent vendor selection.

6. PMS Vendor Evaluation & Selection Presentation – This template helps organizations deliver consistent, executive-level updates on PMS project progress, requirements insights, and vendor selection outcomes.

This executive-ready presentation template communicates key insights from the PMS selection process, including project readiness, requirements findings, and vendor scoring, leading to the recommended vendor. Fully customizable, it enables clear, consistent, and persuasive updates to executive stakeholders.

Select the best-fit PMS through a structured, requirements-driven approach.

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What Is a Blueprint?

A blueprint is designed to be a roadmap, containing a methodology and the tools and templates you need to solve your IT problems.

Each blueprint can be accompanied by a Guided Implementation that provides you access to our world-class analysts to help you get through the project.

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Guided Implementation 1: Build organizational alignment

Call 1: Align PMS needs to business objectives.
Call 2: Assess PMS selection readiness and scope.
Call 3: Assemble a cross-functional team.

Guided Implementation 2: Define and prioritize PMS requirements

Call 1: Discuss and document functional requirements until all areas are completed (as many calls as necessary).
Call 2: Discuss and document non-functional requirements until all areas are completed (as many calls as necessary).

Guided Implementation 3: Build the RFP, evaluate vendors, and select PMS

Call 1: Prepare the RFP overview and coverage.
Call 2: Document the detailed services and support required within the RFP.
Call 3: Finalize RFP instructions for respondents and configure the template.
Call 4: Establish evaluation criteria for vendor assessment.
Call 5: Prepare the pricing workbook as part of the RFP Package and issue the RFP.
Call 6: Evaluate written RFP responses and compare vendors.
Call 7: Analyze and compare pricing with a five-year TCO.
Call 8: Pick top three vendors with the highest RFP score to conduct demos.
Call 9: Build demo scripts and conduct demos for evaluation.
Call 10: Score demos and scenarios.
Call 11: Select the preferred vendor based on highest combined score consisting of the RFP response and demo evaluations.
Call 12: Inform vendors whether they were accepted or rejected.

Author

August Hummelbrunner

Contributors

John Forelli, Chief Information Officer , Ocean Casino Resort
Patrick Tinklenberg, Vice President Information Technology, Sycuan Casino Resort
Anonymous Contributor of a Global Enterprise Hotel Chain
Anonymous Contributor of a Canadian Integrated Resort
Anonymous Contributor of a US Integrated Resort