The hospitality and gaming industry is a non-stop, 24/7 environment where the customer is key. Getting a unified view of daily performance, retaining good employees and dealing with a range of applications and technology platforms presents constant challenges.
To attract and satisfy customers, to keep them coming back, is not an easy task. However, it can be facilitated by having an experienced and knowledgeable business partner who understands the specific challenges of this dynamic industry and has the proven ability to meet them.
"With its SSA Infinium for Hospitality and Gaming offering, Labat is that partner in the South African hospitality and gaming industry," says Mark Alexander, MD of Labat Software Solutions, local distributor of a range of SSA Infinium products. "The SSA Infinium solution provides critical components for integrating front office with back office. It provides `out-of-the-box` financial, human resources, payroll, inventory, menu analysis, reservations and room management capabilities, along with reporting and analysis tools that provide a daily `snapshot` of the business."
Infinium software provides Web-integrated enterprise business applications optimised for the IBM eServer iSeries. It has been in business with leading hospitality and gaming organisations from San Diego to Williamsburg, and from the Las Vegas Strip to the Atlantic City Boardwalk, for 20 years.
In 2002, SSA Global Technologies, a worldwide provider of enterprise solutions and services, acquired Infinium, thereby bringing to market the SSA Infinium product range.
"In the US, SSA Infinium solutions are in use in more than 60% of the Fortune 500 companies in hospitality, 90% of the hotels and casinos on the Las Vegas strip, and 100% of the Fortune 500 companies in gaming," Alexander says.
Labat understands that companies in the hospitality and gaming industry need a solid financial foundation on which to run a synchronised, efficient and more competitive organisation. Continued efforts to control costs and increase profitability are important and there is a continuous need to find and retain capable employees who are willing and able to deliver the high levels of service that the industry demands.
Trends and issues that affect the industry include intensified competition; changing regulatory demands; mounting complexity and ever-expanding customer expectations, Alexander says.
"SSA Infinium`s Hospitality and Gaming solution is specifically designed to help hotels, casinos, resorts, restaurants and other hospitality organisations address these challenges," he says.
The hospitality and gaming solution enables organisations to ensure efficient, effective, 24/7 business operations; administer a complicated staff, wage, salary and benefit scheme; pay employees on time while keeping accurate track of scales, union rules, shift differentials and tax requirements; optimise the workforce with manager and employee self-service; comply with government regulations; track allocations for departmental structures; analyse and report on trends, patterns and exceptions; monitor account activity on a project-by-project basis and interface easily with reservation/property management, point-of-sale, inventory management/purchasing and other customer-facing systems.
Modules within SSA Infinium for Hospitality and Gaming include: Daily Operations Management; Back-Office, Front-Office Integration; Multi-Property Payroll, Tax, and Reporting; Recruiting and Employee Self-Service; and Dedicated Hospitality Team.
The Diplomat Resort Country Club & Spa, one of South Florida`s premier resorts, has implemented SSA Infinium`s Hospitality and Gaming solution.
The resort in South Florida has 1 000 rooms, 20 200 square metres of flexible meeting and exhibition space; an Italian-Villa style country club; a golf course; tennis centre; marina; world-class European spa and pristine beach.
"The Diplomat Resort Country Club & Spa faced major challenges with its existing enterprise systems, and so began evaluating cost-effective and reliable solutions to minimise the impact on their employees and financial resources," Alexander says. "As a result, the resort chose to implement several modules of the SSA Infinium Hospitality and Gaming solution."
In Las Vegas, the Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino implemented the financial management and human resources modules for its operations.
Mirrored after Renaissance Venice, the $2 billion resort spans 25 hectares and employs 10 000 people. Housed within the resort complex are 3 036 standard rooms, each averaging over 65 sq m. There is 11 000 sq m of casino space; 46 500 sq m of retail space; and a direct link to the 140 000 sq m Sands Expo and Convention Centre.
"The hotel-casino chose SSA Infinium to manage the complex accounting and human resources operations of this `city within a city`," Alexander says. "The Venetian needed a flexible, dependable and accurate system to streamline its expansive operation."
Harrah`s Entertainment runs the HR and financial modules of SSA Infinium Hospitality and Gaming. Harrah`s is said to be the most geographically diversified casino company in the US, with a combined database of more than 24 million players.
Mohegan Sun, a gaming and entertainment destination in the US, also runs the SSA Infinium HR and financial modules. Mohegan Sun is situated in south-eastern Connecticut on 98h along the Thames River, and offers 30 000 sq m of gaming space and a 10 000-seat sporting and concert arena.
"Burger chain Whataburger has been running the HR and financial modules since 1988," Alexander says. "Whataburger has grown since 1950, when it served Whataburgers, cold drinks and potato chips from a tiny portable stand in Texas. By 1995 it had opened its 500th venue."
On the resorts side, The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs has been using the HR and payroll modules since 1986. The Breakers in Palm Beach has been using the HR module since 1985.
The San Diego Zoo relies on SSA Infinium back-office solutions. Four thousand animals, representing 800 species, call the San Diego Zoo home. Some of the world`s rarest wildlife, including giant pandas and koalas, reside there. There is also an African rain forest housing buffaloes, hippos, otters, okapis, colourful birds and monkeys.
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