Company

Moving to Ellipse

Moving from another system is not a leap in the dark. First comes the plan, then the data import, then training, and only then go-live.

Plan (2–5 weeks)

The move is scheduled in advance. For a hotel or a more complex resort it takes 9 to 21 days on average. With a larger volume of data, or when the team has less time for the implementation, it can take up to 26 working days. The steps follow a fixed order, and each one builds on the one before.

The pace depends above all on how soon exports from the current software are available, and on how much time the operation can give the move. It works best when the hotel has one manager who knows Ellipse in detail and can guide colleagues.

Data import (API or XLS)

Data is imported, not retyped. First comes a setup file in Excel: the hotel name and address, company identification, bank accounts, VAT rates, payment types, users and permissions, and rate plans. Once it is processed, the base of the system is in place: stores and categories, suppliers, room categories and the rooms themselves, capacities, amenities, invoice number series and document templates.

Next come existing and future reservations, including multi-room stays, guest history for statistics and reports, CRM guests and loyalty cards with credit, stock items, recipes and costings, EAN codes, gift-voucher types, vouchers already sold but not yet used, and advance invoices linked to reservations. Importing guests again updates the records that are already there.

If the ellipse_migr application prepares the export, the same data goes straight through the API instead of files. Recipes from Blue Gastro are imported from an XML export. That export is arranged with ASSECO Slovakia or an authorised Blue Gastro service centre.

Training

Training is split into four blocks by role. Before the in-person session, the team watches the videos for that block. The session itself is then about practical work and the questions that come with it. Management is the exception: it is a consultation over the settings, and the videos are not required beforehand.

Management and settings are for owners, managers and accountants: users and permissions, document number series, tax settings, the link to accounting and the bank, and reports. Rooms and reservations are for reception and the reservations team: the tape chart, reservations, arrival and departure, stay changes, billing, groups and the channel manager. Food, beverage and stores are for the restaurant, bar and store: the till, goods in and stocktake, recipes, external tills, charging to the room and the daily close. Marketing and online sales are for marketing, sales and management: the booking engine, stay packages, gift vouchers, CRM, emails, the loyalty programme and reviews.

Go-live

Go-live comes only after preparation, the Ellipse setup, the batch files, training, the data import and the integrations. In the minimum plan the start itself is a short window, about three hours. The remaining add-ons follow after the start.