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HotelManagementSystemIntegrationServices1.IntroductionItisgenerallyacceptedthattheroleofthewebservicesinbusinessesisundoubtedlyimportant.Moreandmorecommercialsoftwaresystemsextendtheircapabilityandpowerbyusingwebservicestechnology.Todaythee-commerceisnotmerelyusinginternettotransferbusinessdataorsupportingpeopletointeractwithdynamicwebpage,butarefundamentallychangedbywebservices.TheWorldWideWebConsortium'sXtensibleMarkupLanguage(XML)andtheXtensibleStylesheetLanguage(XSL)arestandardsdefinedintheinterestofmulti-purposepublishingandcontentreuseandareincreasinglybeingdeployedintheconstructionofwebservices.SinceXMLislookedasthecanonicalmessageformat,itcouldtietogetherthousandsofsystemsprogrammedbyhundredsofprogramminglanguages.Anyprogramcanbemappedintowebservice,whileanywebservicecanalsobemappedintoprogram.Inthispaper,wepresentanextgenerationcommercialsysteminhotelindustrythatfullyintegratesthehotelFrontOfficesystem,PropertyManagementSystem,CustomerRelationshipManagementSystem,QualityManagementsystem,BackOfficesystemandCentralReservationsSystemdistributedindifferentlocations.Andwefoundthatthissystemgreatlyimprovesboththehotelcustomerandhotelofficer’sexperiencesinthehotelbusinessworkflow.Becausecurrenttechnologiesarequitemature,itseemsnodifficultytointegratetheexistingsystemandthenewcomingsystems(forexample,web-basedapplicationsormobileapplications).However,currentlyinhotelindustrytherearefewtrulyintegratedsystemsusedbecausetherearesomanyheterogeneoussystemsalreadyexistandscalability,maintenance,price,securityissuesthenbecomehugetobeovercome.FromourstudyonGroupHotelIntegrationReservationSystem(GHIRS),therearestillchallengestointegrateEnterpriseInformationSystem(EIS),EnterpriseInformationPortalsystem(EIP),CustomerRelationshipManagementsystem(CRM)andSupplyChainManagementsystem(SCM)togetherbecauseofstandardization,securityandscalabilityproblems,althoughGHIRSisoneoffewintegrationsolutionstoaddorexpandhotelsoftwaresysteminanysizeofhotelchainsenvironment.Wedevelopedthissystemtointegratethebusinessflowofhotelmanagementbyusingwebservicesandsoftwareintegrationtechnologies.Inthispaper,firstlywedescribeascenarioofhotelreservationanddiscusstheinteractionbetweenGHIRSandhuman.Secondlyweanalyzedetailsofdesignandimplementationofthissystem.TheresultandimplicationsofthestudiesonthedevelopmentofGHIRSareshowninthelaterpart.Finallywediscusssomeproblemsstillneedtobeimprovedandpossiblefuturedirectionsofdevelopment.2.HotelReservation:ABusinessCaseStudyOurinitialthinkingtodevelopGHIRSistominimizethehumaninteractionwiththesystem.SinceGHIRSisflexibleandautomated,itoffersclearbenefitsforbothhotelcustomersandhotelstaff,especiallyforgrouphotelcustomersandgrouphotelcompanies.Grouphotelcompaniesusuallyhavelotsofhotels,restaurants,resorts,themeparksorcasinosindifferentlocations.Forexample,Shangri-Lagrouphashundredsofhotelsindifferentcountriesallovertheworld.Thesegroupshavecertaincustomerswhoprefertoconsumeinhotelsbelongtothesamegroupbecausetheyaremembershipofthegroupandcanhaveindividualservices.Thefirststepofascenarioofhotelreservationisthattheconsumerplansandlooksforahotelaccordingthelocation,priceorwhateverhiscriteriaandthendecidesthehotel.Thenhemakesareservationbytelephone,fax,internet,ormail,orjustthroughhistravelagent.Whenhotelstaffreceivestherequest,theyfirstlookiftheycanprovideavailableservices.Ifthereisenoughresourceinthehotel,theypreparetheroom,cateringandtransportationfortherequestandsendbackacknowledgement.Atlasttheguestarrivesandchecksin.Thebusinessflowisquitesimple;however,toaccomplishallthesetasksisburdensomeforboththeconsumersideandthehotelsidewithoutanefficientandintegratedhotelmanagementsystem.Telephonemaybeagoodwaytomakeareservationbecauseitisbeyondthelimitoftimeandspace.Guestscancallhotelsatanytimeandanyplace.However,itcostsmuchwhenthehotelisfarawayfromthecitywhereguestlives;especiallythehotellocatesinadifferentcountry.Moreover,ifthereisagroupoffourorfivepeopletomakereservationtogether,itwouldtakealongtimeforhotelstafftorecordalltheinformationtheyneed.Makingreservationbytravelagentsavesconsumers’timeandcost,butthereisstillmillionsofworkforagenttodo.Theygathertherequirementsfromconsumers,thendistributetoproperdestinationhotels.Becausethesehotelsdon’tuseasamesystem(thesethousandsofhotelsmayusehundredsofmanagementsystems),someone,agentorhotelstaff,mustfacetheproblemhowtohandleinformationfromdifferentsourceswithdifferenthotelmanagementsystemstodifferentdestinations.Webservicebecomesthetooltosolvetheseproblems.Ourwebservicesintegratethewebserverandhotelmanagementsystemtogether,andeveryonegetsbenefit.BookingaroomeasilyanywhereandanytimebecomespossiblebyusingGHIRS.ConsumerbrowseswebsitesandfindshotelusinghisPC,PDAormobilephone(WAPsupported),afterhisidentityisaccepted,hecanbookareservation.Twominuteslaterhecangettheacknowledgementfromthehotelbymobilephonetextmessageormultimediamessage,oremailsenttohisemailaccountorjustacknowledgementonthedynamicwebpage,ifhehasn’tleavethewebsite.Theresponsetimemaytakealittlelongerbecausewhenthehotelrec