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’re investing in superior analytics, AI-powered help, and steady training to assist hoteliers keep forward of the curve.
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TDM has began a collection of interviews beneath the theme ‘Going Past’ that deliver to the forefront ‘a behind-the-scenes look’ on the experience of Agilysys APAC workforce members throughout product engineering, companies, HR, and gross sales, highlighting how every perform performs a strategic position in delivering worth to hospitality purchasers.
This collection of interviews explores how these groups contribute to key enterprise outcomes — enhancing the visitor expertise, driving RevPAG, enabling seamless, interoperable options, and so forth. — whereas offering a deeper understanding of the folks, processes, and innovation that energy Agilysys’ impression throughout the hospitality sector.
In Half 3 of the ‘Going Past’ collection TDM interviews Raja Rajarajan, Senior Director Companies, APAC, Agilysys.
Raja Rajarajan explores how the companies workforce helps hospitality suppliers via easy implementation, ongoing optimisation, and long-term success with Agilysys options. He shares how service excellence drives operational outcomes, allows seamless integrations, and immediately contributes to enhancing the visitor expertise and supporting RevPAG progress throughout the APAC area.
Journey Each day Media (TDM): As Senior Director of Companies, 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 to be?
Raja Rajarajan (RR): Because the Senior Director of Companies 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 carefully with resorts, resorts, and hospitality companies throughout the area, supporting them at each stage of their journey – from preliminary session via to onboarding, implementation, coaching, and ongoing optimisation.
Shoppers usually describe us as ‘revolutionary and responsive,’ and we take satisfaction in that. It displays our deep dedication to creating a significant distinction of their every day operations and guaranteeing that know-how by no means turns into a barrier to nice service.
No two days are the identical, and that’s one of many elements I take pleasure in most. A typical morning would possibly start with challenge updates, addressing any escalations, and reviewing useful resource planning throughout the varied 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 may be advanced, however I see it as a singular alternative to drive innovation and impression. It challenges me to remain adaptable, talk clearly, and stay carefully attuned to the native wants of every market. The variety inside APAC sparks contemporary pondering and helps preserve us aligned with the speedy evolution of the hospitality business.
On the core of every part we do is an easy, shared objective: to ship service excellence and assist our purchasers succeed.
TDM: Agilysys is thought for delivering seamless, end-to-end options. How does the companies workforce help hoteliers in reaching easy implementation and long-term interoperability throughout their tech stack?
RR: Our companies workforce isn’t simply targeted on deployment – we’re with our purchasers all through the complete journey. Our objective is to make sure every implementation not solely runs easily but additionally aligns with the property’s long-term operational and business objectives.
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 current know-how. This considerate, proactive strategy is a giant cause purchasers see us as responsive and reliable.
We work throughout a variety of hospitality environments, from unbiased resorts to resort teams, new openings, and properties transitioning from legacy methods. Whether or not it’s upgrading a single module or implementing a full end-to-end ecosystem, we collaborate carefully with every consumer to customize the strategy.
Importantly, our help doesn’t cease at go-live. We stay actively engaged via common upgrades, efficiency evaluations, system well being checks, and ongoing coaching. Our objective is to make sure Agilysys options proceed to evolve alongside our purchasers’ wants – changing into 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 companies excellence play in enhancing visitor experiences and supporting RevPAG-focused methods?
RR: In hospitality, know-how ought to by no means be a barrier – it needs to be an enabler. When methods are carried out and optimised with precision, they liberate employees to give attention to the visitor. This has a direct impression on satisfaction, loyalty, and finally, 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 suitable instruments, however through the use of them to their fullest potential.
Notably, our help doesn’t finish at implementation. We view each relationship as a long-term partnership. Our companies 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: Are you able to share a latest success story or widespread problem the place the companies workforce performed a key position in serving to a consumer enhance operations or drive income outcomes?
RR: One widespread problem we often 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 data and an incomplete view of the visitor journey. This not solely impacts employees effectivity but additionally limits personalisation and focused advertising alternatives.
We lately labored with a multi-property resort group dealing with precisely this difficulty. Their entrance desk employees couldn’t entry visitor preferences or previous bookings from spa or eating retailers, lacking essential upselling moments and alternatives to personalise the expertise. In the meantime, their advertising workforce lacked a consolidated view of visitor spend throughout departments, making focused campaigns ineffective. Employees spent far an excessive amount of time manually cross-referencing knowledge – time that might’ve been spent with company.
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 move evaluation, figuring out gaps and delays in how visitor data was captured and shared. Working carefully 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. Right now, entrance desk brokers can immediately entry a visitor’s earlier spend, dietary preferences, or favorite actions, no matter the place that knowledge originated. Actual-time updates from new bookings – like a last-minute spa appointment – are captured instantly and mirrored throughout the system.
Past the tech, we targeted closely on cross-departmental coaching. It wasn’t nearly adoption, it was about workflow transformation. Entrance desk groups realized find out how to act on visitor insights to supply significant upsells. F&B employees have been skilled to recognise returning company and tailor service accordingly.
The transformation was important. Handbook processes have been diminished dramatically. Employees grew to become extra empowered, visitor engagement improved, and operational effectivity elevated. Over time, these enhancements translated into measurable positive aspects – stronger visitor satisfaction, extra ancillary income, and better confidence in utilizing know-how to drive outcomes.
TDM: Wanting forward, how is the position of companies evolving within the hospitality tech house, and the way is Agilysys positioned to help hoteliers in assembly the expectations of right this moment’s – and tomorrow’s – company?
RR: The position of companies is changing into more and more consultative and perception pushed. 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 help, and steady training to assist hoteliers keep forward of the curve. Our companies mannequin is designed to evolve with our purchasers – guaranteeing they can’t 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 or not 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 Past’ imply to you?
RR: For me, Going Past is about committing to consumer success in ways in which lengthen 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 nicely 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.
Finally, Going Past is a mindset. It’s about displaying up persistently, standing by our purchasers via change, and constructing partnerships rooted in long-term progress. That’s what drives us – not simply delivering software program, however delivering confidence, continuity, and shared success.
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