Hotels Expand Agilysys Footprints As Vendor Sells UK Business

May 12, 2014 Alex Woodie

Two major hotels, including the Caesar’s chain and a new 326-room Bahamas resort scheduled to open in June, recently licensed enterprise software from Agilysys, the software vendor announced this month. Agilysys also announced the disposition of its UK business as it pursues an international reseller strategy.

Agilysys says Resorts World Bimini will use its Lodging Management System (LMS) and the Visual One Condo Accounting System in the management of its 480-unit Bahamas resort. Resorts World Bimini will also use LMS to manage a new 326-room luxury hotel set to open in June, it said.

Representatives for Resorts World Bimini say they had very specific criteria when shopping for new technology. “First and foremost, we needed solutions that could manage our rather complex lodging mix,” said Chad Mostats, the company’s vice president of information technology, “and the combination of LMS and Visual One Condo Accounting provided the complete package.” The company, which is owned by the world’s largest destination resorts company, the Genting Group, was also looking for a “trusted advisor,” and found that in Agilysys.

The complexity stems from the fact that Resorts World Bimini is operating condos and hotel rooms. When the condo owners are not using the rooms, the company rents them out as regular hotel rooms. Agilysys has done this before, and knows how to combine and configure the IBM i-based LMS and the Windows-based Vision One Condo Accounting System in a way that optimizes this complex business.

According to Agilysys, owner information is readily available to LMS users and defaults from the Visual One Condo Accounting System when staff makes a reservation for a condominium owner. “The module calculates expenses and revenue and provides a variety of monthly reports that enable properties to oversee the financial positions of both the management company and condo owners,” the company says. “The solution is ideal for properties that have a mix of condominium units and hotel rooms, allowing both to be part of the same reservation system.”

Another longtime Agilysys user, Caesars Entertainment Corp., has also bolstered its big investment in the vendor’s IBM i applications, including LMS and Stratton Warren System (SWS), which is used for inventory management and procurement.

In March, Agilysys announced that Caesar’s has settled on the InfoGenesis point of sale system as the enterprise standard POS for all of its properties around the world. InfoGenesis is pre-integrated with other Agilysys solutions, including LMS, to support the delivery of a “cashless engagement” with customers in resort environments.

The POS package, which is available as an on-prem or SaaS solution, includes reporting features to give users insight into guest buying habits. It also supports prix fixe menus, signature capture, and multi-language capabilities.

In other news, the Alpharetta, Georgia, software company announced that it has sold its UK business to Verteda Ltd., a UK-based company. The companies have entered into a multi-year agreement that gives Verteda distribution rights for the InfoGenesis POS, its Eatec inventory and procurement system and its Workforce Management Solution in EMEA, with exclusivity in the UK. Agilysys, meanwhile, will manage all core property management system accounts, meaning existing users of LMS and VisualOne.

Agilysys CEO Jim Dennedy says the sale of the UK business is a reflection of the company’s decision to pursue a reseller strategy in international accounts. Sales from outside North America account for less than 10 percent of total revenue, the company says.