This is the second article in a five part series on how the cloud is helping to improve the hospitality industry. Read part one.

Cloud services eliminate the need for hoteliers to staff large IT departments to buy and manage premised-based servers and enterprise software because those servers and programs can be managed by cloud services companies. Hotel staff and resources can be re-dedicated to core services rather than maintaining software and equipment or paying for and managing unpredictable server and network upgrades. Hotels may even save money on electricity costs thanks to a reduction in on-site equipment. And the money saved can be passed on to customers, or reinvested back into the business to improve existing services or add new ones.

Many cloud services organizations operate on a “pay as you go” model, so there is no need for hotels to invest large amounts of money in upfront costs. Some properties may even realize a tax benefit by using this “pay as you go” model as an operating expense rather than a capital expense.

Next week: The Case for the Cloud: How the cloud makes smaller hotels competitive