One property that's confident that it made the right decision to move to a Windows PMS is the boutique Westin Demeure property known as 47 Park Street, in London.

"When we switched to the AremisSoft DOS product from an earlier DOS system, the staff were pretty unimpressed, and quite resistant," reports Ian Merrick, GM. "The new system was different, not better. But when we switched to Aremis' Windows system, the rise in enthusiasm was palpable; "this is really good!""

What prompted the switch? "We were beginning to use more and more Microsoft products around the office, and it just made sense to move to a PMS that had a tighter integration with them. Yes, there was a learning curve, especially since some of us had never used a mouse before. But the power and flexibility of the system very quickly became apparent, no more so than in the area of custom, ad hoc reports. The benefit of being able to get at the information you need now - which is different than what you needed last month - is incalculable."

How about performance and stability? "We did have some challenges to start with, because we were trying to run the system on older equipment," says Merrick. "But our new NT server has enough power to make the Windows products really fly. Any current hang-ups are usually triggered only by such things as the e-mail program, or a modem that sometimes locks if left on but unused for some time, and rebooting the PC fixes that easily. And Aremis' support has been really pro-active."

"Certainly there's a lot to consider with the new system; the power is far greater, and you're moving far more data around than you could before, so sometimes you're trying to keep too many balls in the air at once. But as you become more familiar with it, you drop the occasional ball far less often, and recovery is very straightforward."

Staying focused on the system's needs, and learning everything it can do, has paid off in Park Street.

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