ECI & the Hotel Software Market

Although ECI was the first entrant in the hotel software market, it is not the dominant company at this time, although it has a large market share. Through its efforts, the company has been able to attract large chains, including Four Seasons and Sheraton, but it has also lost a number of customers to other companies in this highly competitive industry.

Developing software takes a relatively long time, and companies must invest heavily in research and development if they are to have a long-term chance of success in the market. This research evaluates the company's performance to this point, and considers ways in which ECI could improve its marketing strategy in order to maximize its long-term performance.

The product being evaluated is computer software for the hospitality (hotel) industry. The software is designed to track reservations, print confirmations, assess rates for guests, handle telephone information (which guests are in which rooms), track the occupancy rate and assist housekeeping in determining which rooms need what type of cleaning (deep cleaning after a guest checks out, or

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ng the OS system. This is due to a reluctance on the part of hotels to change hardware when they have a system which works and on which their personnel are trained. The GuesTrak system is designed for smaller (under 100 rooms) properties who do not need all of the features or power of the UX systems. This is a PC-based product which requires little formal instruction or custom setup, and which does not include custom programming as a part of the sale (such programming is often included with the larger UX contracts). Occasional upgrades are made to the GuesTrak system to keep competitive and to keep customers from changing to the competition. The UX product is the flagship of the ECI product line. It is designed to run on minicomputers with distributed terminals and printers. Onsite instruction for hotel staff is negotiated as part of the contract, as is custom programming projects. The UX product is sold by computer hardware manufacturers as well as by the company's own sales force and provides the bulk of the company's new sales revenues. Selling takes place through the company's direct sales force as well as through joint selling with the hardware manufacturers. On particularly large sales, where the hardware may well
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Some common words found in the essay are:
GuesTrak UX, Recommendations ECI, Techniques ECI, Strategies Fundamentally, Description Product, Strategy Customer, Sheraton Hilton, Value Product/Service, Seasons OS, Benefits Product, customer service, ux product, customer support, market research, highly competitive, os product, hardware manufacturers, customers receive, sales force, annual support, annual support plan, customer service provided, customer support center, automation hotel industry, computer hardware manufacturers,
Approximate Word count = 2485
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)