Highpointe Installs NextGen Business Intelligence

Gulf Breeze, Florida (USA) – 3 May 2012 – ‘Big Data’ has changed the world for hotel operators. The days of faxed night audit reports and hand built end-of-month spreadsheets are in the rearview mirror. Highpointe Hotel Corporation is leading the industry in its move to global same-day performance analysis and reporting. The company’s coming business intelligence system (BI) upgrade implementation will automate data gathered from its Hilton and Marriott property systems, STR comp-set input, and other performance sources to create management oversight.

“Highpointe is respected for its use of the most advanced hotel software technology to give our company and properties an edge based on accurate, timely data analysis,” said Mark Pate, assistant controller and director of IT for Highpointe Hotel Corporation. “We originally installed our Execuvue® business intelligence system in 2001 for better performance analysis. There are several reasons for our decision to upgrade our BI now. Number one, our president wants Highpointe at the leading edge of system innovation. In addition, our VP of operations found the new Execuvue version, which utilizes the Cognos 10 platform, provides state-of-the art BI features that would put many new processes at our fingertips.” Highpointe’s goals for its business intelligence upgrade project include:

Automated daily flash reporting customized for specific properties, divisions, owners, and distributed automatically in mobile-ready formats.

Automated distribution of its Daily Labor Tracking & Forecast Report; interface with Kronos time and attendance for current labor data.

Add MTD, YTD, and budget numbers to reporting for performance comparisons.

Create seamless interfacing to BI from Marriott and Hilton PMSes, and Highpointe’s Profitvue enterprise back office accounting for daily combined reports.

Make all monthly financial reports electronic to give property managers, owners, and partners the flexibility to have reports delivered by email or to their mobile devices.

Develop a one-stop online portal where managers and operations teams can go to receive financial information, labor updates, guest satisfaction and comp set data or other information necessary to improve property performance.

Highpointe’s business intelligence system upgrade will also relieve its corporate team from system responsibility and provide greater data security. “Aptech will host our new Execuvue BI system at its secure network hosting facility. Since the system is cloud-ready, our team will access all reports and functionality from browsers,” explained Pate. “We learned lessons from hurricanes Katrina and Ivan with many of our properties located on the Gulf of Mexico. Aptech specializes in hosting large multi-property BI implementations with extensive data storage and our information will be safer off property.”

An added advantage of Highpointe’s remotely-hosted BI strategy is that Aptech can easily pull operating information from Highpointe’s Hilton and Marriott properties, as well as from Smith Travel Research’s files, and consolidate it in one place where Execuvue can analyze it. “I expect to roll out the new BI system with my VP of ops. I will oversee report configuration and delivery. We will develop our own custom report formats that will be clearly defined and based on Highpointe’s decision criteria. In short, they will be actionable and broken out by managers, flags, regions, and ownership.”

BI results pushed to executive iPads gives managers greater freedom

“An additional benefit of moving to the new Execuvue version is that our reports will be mobile-ready,” Pate said. “Having iPads will enable our executives and managers to be mobile and still have their finger on the pulse of their properties and divisions to act effectively. By having more performance information in our managers’ hands, they will be able to proactively respond to changes in their business while events are still unfolding.”

“A true business intelligence tool with multiple property management system interfaces and professional training has to be done right to be effective,” Pate said. “Aptech does it right.”

About Highpointe Hotel Corporation
Based in Gulf Breeze, Fla., Highpointe Hotel Corporation is an award-winning, full-service hotel management and development company specializing in downtown hotels. The company, founded by Darryl Lapointe, Dave Cleveland and Bob Cleveland in 1982, provides professional management services for third-party investors and its own portfolio, employs approximately 500 people companywide, and currently operates 15 hotels in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, and Pensacola, Florida. For more information, please see www.highpointe.com/flash.html.

About Aptech Computer Systems
Aptech Computer Systems, Inc., based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, leads the hospitality industry in leveraging change by valuing human relationships and applying technology to solve business problems for people. Incorporated in 1970, Aptech is a financial and operations technology solutions and service company whose products include state-of-the-art back office, business intelligence and enterprise planning products: Profitvue®, Execuvue®, and Webvue®. Over 2,500 properties, including very large chains, multiple-property management companies, and single-site hotels utilize Aptech solutions to understand their financial and operational data. Execuvue and Profitvue are registered trademarks of Aptech Computer Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are owned by their respective holders.

Media Contact:
Highpointe Hotel Corporation
Dave Cleveland
311 Gulf Breeze Parkway
Gulf Breeze, Florida 32561
Phone: 850-932-9314
Email: dave@highpointe.com
www.highpointe.com