Skift Take
Oracle Hospitality's Alex Alt sees two gaps in his company's suite: distribution services and customer relationship management tools. Yet the opportunities with both are dynamic, not static, because of fast shifts in hotel company priorities and traveler behaviors. That will require Alt to be one very adaptable executive.
When Oracle acquired Micros six years ago for $4.6 billion. it gained virtually overnight the largest share of the hotel operations software market worldwide. Yet the merger faltered. So the company has looked to a series of leaders to help the unit regain its mojo.
In November, Oracle drafted Alex Alt to be the top boss of its hospitality unit. It wants Alt to revive the division's momentum and hone its execution. Alt, in turn, wants to add functionality in distribution and customer relationship management to the Oracle portfolio.
"Oracle has been growing both the top-line of the business and the footprint of installed customers," said Alt, whose title is senior vice president and general manager. "Part of the reason I'm here is to step on the gas."
Oracle's signature product is its hotel property management system, or PMS. This is a central database that keeps a master record on guest data.
Skift Research estimates that Oracle Hospitality is the largest player. Oracle's various property management systems have a 16 percent share of available hotel rooms globally, according to a report this week titled The Hotel Property Management Systems Landscape 2020. Oracle has a 6.3 percent share of hotels by property, though that figure underplays its high penetration among the best-known brands.
In an interview ahead of Oracle Hospitality's customer conference next week near its San Diego headquarters, Alt discussed the unit's long-term prospects, how his background relates to solving technology and business strategy problems, and what he considers the weakest points in the product suite.
New Boss, Old Problems
Alt knows both technology and operations. Alt led Sabre Hospitality Solutions, a division of North America's largest travel technology company. Alt also worked for a half-dozen years at Rosewood Hotels & Resorts.
Alt is Oracle Hospitality's third boss since 2014. He replaces Greg Webb, who led Oracle Hospitality for a year after having been a top executive at Sabre. Webb left to become CEO of technology company Travelport.
A wave of smaller rivals have been wooing hoteliers to cloud-based services billed via a subscription. Some say Oracle Hospitality has been slow to adopt that model because it cannibalizes its profitable sales of hardware and upfront license fees.
Portfolio Gaps to Fill
Alt said Oracle Hospitality needs a better offering to address distribution issues.
"Having a background in distribution is one
