As visitor expectations develop extra advanced – from hyper-personalised experiences to mobile-first interactions and seamless service supply – hospitality suppliers want extra than simply software program. They want strategic companions who can anticipate change, share finest practices, and unlock new alternatives. Raja Rajarajan shares that at Agilysys, they are investing in superior analytics, AI-powered assist, and steady schooling to assist hoteliers keep forward of the curve.
SCHEDULE A CALL WITH AGILYSYS HERE
TDM has began a sequence of interviews below the theme ‘Going Beyond’ that carry to the forefront ‘a behind-the-scenes look’ on the experience of Agilysys APAC workforce members throughout product engineering, providers, HR, and gross sales, highlighting how every perform performs a strategic position in delivering worth to hospitality purchasers.
This sequence of interviews explores how these groups contribute to key enterprise outcomes — enhancing the visitor expertise, driving RevPAG, enabling seamless, interoperable options, and many others. — whereas offering a deeper understanding of the folks, processes, and innovation that energy Agilysys’ influence throughout the hospitality sector.
In Part 3 of the ‘Going Beyond’ sequence TDM interviews Raja Rajarajan, Senior Director Services, APAC, Agilysys.
Raja Rajarajan explores how the providers workforce helps hospitality suppliers by way of clean implementation, ongoing optimisation, and long-term success with Agilysys options. He shares how service excellence drives operational outcomes, permits seamless integrations, and immediately contributes to enhancing the visitor expertise and supporting RevPAG development throughout the APAC area.
Travel Daily Media (TDM): As Senior Director of Services, how do you and your workforce assist purchasers throughout APAC maximise worth from Agilysys options, and what does a typical day in your position appear like?
Raja Rajarajan (RR): As the Senior Director of Services for Agilysys within the APAC area, based mostly in Sydney, my focus is on serving to purchasers not simply implement our options successfully, however maximise their long-term worth. My workforce and I work intently with lodges, resorts, and hospitality companies throughout the area, supporting them at each stage of their journey – from preliminary session by way of to onboarding, implementation, coaching, and ongoing optimisation.
Clients usually describe us as ‘innovative and responsive,’ and we take pleasure in that. It displays our deep dedication to creating a significant distinction of their every day operations and guaranteeing that expertise by no means turns into a barrier to nice service.
No two days are the identical, and that’s one of many points I take pleasure in most. A typical morning may start with undertaking updates, addressing any escalations, and reviewing useful resource planning throughout the various markets we serve. Collaboration with our product groups is a key a part of my position; bringing consumer suggestions immediately into the event cycle to repeatedly improve our options.
Managing groups throughout geographies and time zones could be advanced, however I see it as a novel alternative to drive innovation and influence. It challenges me to remain adaptable, talk clearly, and stay intently attuned to the native wants of every market. The variety inside APAC sparks contemporary pondering and helps hold us aligned with the fast evolution of the hospitality business.
At the core of the whole lot we do is a straightforward, shared purpose: to ship service excellence and assist our purchasers succeed.
TDM: Agilysys is understood for delivering seamless, end-to-end options. How does the providers workforce assist hoteliers in reaching clean implementation and long-term interoperability throughout their tech stack?
RR: Our providers workforce isn’t simply targeted on deployment – we’re with our purchasers all through your complete journey. Our purpose is to make sure every implementation not solely runs easily but in addition aligns with the property’s long-term operational and industrial targets.
We conduct detailed wants assessments to achieve a deep understanding of every property’s workflows, visitor interactions, and any third-party methods in use. With this basis, we create a tailor-made deployment plan that minimises disruption, reduces downtime, and ensures seamless integration with present expertise. This considerate, proactive strategy is an enormous cause purchasers see us as responsive and reliable.
We work throughout a variety of hospitality environments, from unbiased lodges to resort teams, new openings, and properties transitioning from legacy methods. Whether it’s upgrading a single module or implementing a full end-to-end ecosystem, we collaborate intently with every consumer to customize the strategy.
Importantly, our assist doesn’t cease at go-live. We stay actively engaged by way of common upgrades, efficiency evaluations, system well being checks, and ongoing coaching. Our purpose is to make sure Agilysys options proceed to evolve alongside our purchasers’ wants – becoming not only a software program platform, however an extension of their operation.
TDM: In your expertise working with a various vary of hospitality suppliers, what position does providers excellence play in enhancing visitor experiences and supporting RevPAG-focused methods?
RR: In hospitality, expertise ought to by no means be a barrier – it must be an enabler. When methods are applied and optimised with precision, they liberate employees to give attention to the visitor. This has a direct influence on satisfaction, loyalty, and in the end, income per visitor.
When front-of-house and back-of-house methods are tightly built-in and fine-tuned for operational effectivity, properties are higher positioned to personalise experiences, upsell intelligently, and reply to visitor wants in actual time. That’s how RevPAG is unlocked – not simply by having the fitting instruments, however through the use of them to their fullest potential.
Notably, our assist doesn’t finish at implementation. We view each relationship as a long-term partnership. Our providers workforce stays actively engaged, offering ongoing session, system evaluations, and tailor-made recommendation. This permits us to reply as wants evolve and ensures that our purchasers can proceed to raise the visitor expertise over time.
TDM: Can you share a latest success story or frequent problem the place the providers workforce performed a key position in serving to a consumer enhance operations or drive income outcomes?
RR: One frequent problem we incessantly see is fragmented visitor knowledge throughout a number of methods. Many hospitality suppliers depend on separate platforms for property administration (PMS), point-of-sale (POS), stock, and loyalty – which results in siloed info and an incomplete view of the visitor journey. This not solely impacts employees effectivity but in addition limits personalisation and focused advertising and marketing alternatives.
We lately labored with a multi-property resort group dealing with precisely this subject. Their entrance desk employees couldn’t entry visitor preferences or previous bookings from spa or eating shops, lacking important upselling moments and alternatives to personalise the expertise. Meanwhile, their advertising and marketing workforce lacked a consolidated view of visitor spend throughout departments, making focused campaigns ineffective. Staff spent far an excessive amount of time manually cross-referencing knowledge – time that would’ve been spent with friends.
Our workforce stepped in with a strategic strategy, not simply to implement Agilysys’ built-in PMS and POS, however to unify their broader ecosystem and create a single supply of reality. We began with a full knowledge movement evaluation, figuring out gaps and delays in how visitor info was captured and shared. Working intently with IT and operations, we developed a plan to import and sync legacy knowledge into the Agilysys platform.
This resulted in a totally unified visitor profile. Today, entrance desk brokers can immediately entry a visitor’s earlier spend, dietary preferences, or favorite actions, no matter the place that knowledge originated. Real-time updates from new bookings – like a last-minute spa appointment – are captured instantly and mirrored throughout the system.
Beyond the tech, we targeted closely on cross-departmental coaching. It wasn’t nearly adoption, it was about workflow transformation. Front desk groups realized methods to act on visitor insights to supply significant upsells. F&B employees had been educated to recognise returning friends and tailor service accordingly.
The transformation was important. Manual processes had been diminished dramatically. Staff grew to become extra empowered, visitor engagement improved, and operational effectivity elevated. Over time, these enhancements translated into measurable good points – stronger visitor satisfaction, extra ancillary income, and better confidence in utilizing expertise to drive outcomes.
TDM: Looking forward, how is the position of providers evolving within the hospitality tech area, and how is Agilysys positioned to assist hoteliers in assembly the expectations of right now’s – and tomorrow’s – friends?
RR: The position of providers is becoming increasingly consultative and insight driven. As visitor expectations develop extra advanced – from hyper-personalised experiences to mobile-first interactions and seamless service supply – hospitality suppliers want extra than simply software program. They want strategic companions who can anticipate change, share finest practices, and unlock new alternatives.
At Agilysys, we’re investing in superior analytics, AI-powered assist, and steady schooling to assist hoteliers keep forward of the curve. Our providers mannequin is designed to evolve with our purchasers – guaranteeing they cannot solely adapt to shifting visitor expectations however persistently exceed them.
We recognise that many operators are understandably cautious about system change. That’s why we prioritise empathy and collaboration all through each engagement. Whether it’s a phased rollout, a migration from legacy platforms, or a full digital transformation, we stroll alongside our purchasers at each stage – serving to them construct the arrogance and functionality to future-proof their operations.
TDM: What does ‘Going Beyond’ imply to you?
RR: For me, Going Beyond is about committing to consumer success in ways in which prolong far past contracts or service agreements. It’s about being proactive, anticipating wants earlier than they come up, and delivering outcomes that genuinely add worth.
It means staying engaged properly after go-live – being there when challenges come up, responding with urgency, and celebrating wins as a workforce. It’s not nearly fixing points; it’s about creating moments of belief, readability, and collaboration all through the connection.
Ultimately, Going Beyond is a mindset. It’s about displaying up persistently, standing by our purchasers by way of change, and constructing partnerships rooted in long-term development. That’s what drives us – not simply delivering software program, however delivering confidence, continuity, and shared success.
SCHEDULE A CALL WITH AGILYSYS HERE
