Limited Data Build

Limited Data Build enables properties with less than 365 days or no historical data to benefit from G3 RMS forecasts and decisions without a long wait. Here are some common examples:

• A property has not yet opened. It might take reservations or start taking them soon.
• A property opened recently and has very limited historical data.
• A property switched brands and lost its previous historical information.
• An open property has made large changes to its market segmentation and can't use the historical information anymore.

The missing historical data is replaced by two other data sources. You select another data source for Booking Patterns, for example a generic property. And you provide Projections for the expected demand by market segment. In the Limited Data Build process, G3 RMS combines these two sources to produce forecasts and decisions. For an overview of the purpose and benefit of a Limited Data Build, view this video.

Limited Data Build Stages

Below is an overview of the Limited Data Build stages. For detailed descriptions of each step, see the Work Flow below.

Note: If your property uses Component Rooms, you have to set those up before step 3).

Work Flow

Complete the steps in the following order:

1. Add Room Types: G3 RMS needs to know your property's room types and their capacity. If you are in Data Capture Mode A step that G3 RMS goes through when building a new property. During this set-up step, G3 RMS has received the property's data, but the data is not yet saved in the G3 RMS database. The System Date is today. or later, your Reservation System The primary reservation system, like a PMS or CRS, that provides data to G3 RMS. The data from that one system is used by the RMS to forecast, optimize and produce controls. The controls are sent to all selling systems, which for some integrations may exclude the reservation system. provides this data. Otherwise, add it in the Room Type tab.
2. Add Market Segments: G3 RMS needs to know your property's market segments. If you are in Data Capture Mode or later, your reservation system provides this data. Otherwise, add it in the Market Segment tab.
3. Complete Rooms Setup: includes mapping your room types to Room Classes, defining your Cost of Walk and other steps. If your property uses Component Rooms, it also includes their setup.
4. Set up Market Segments: Assign attributes to all your market segments. Review all Market Segment Setup steps. Some steps need to wait until after the Limited Data Build process.
5. Complete Your Projections: In the Projections tab, complete the following:
   1. Select dates for the projections:

      • The first arrival date for which system forecasts demand, often called the opening date.

      • When business patterns are normal and the system can use Actuals to forecast demand.
        See how to select the correct dates for your projections.

   2. Complete the projected rooms sold and revenue. Normally, when historical data is available, G3 RMS uses all demand history to calculate unconstrained demand. With Limited Data Build, your projections by market segment replace the demand history. Therefore, your projections aren't an exact forecast of the next year. Instead, they reflect the current typical business. See Best Practices for more detail. If you have usable history, you can provide projections for fewer than 365 days. The maximum is for 730 days.
6. Select Booking Patterns: This step helps G3 RMS understand the Booking Pace Measures how the occupancy changes as the arrival date approaches. It shows the speed at which reservations are booked. and Wash The drop in occupancy due to cancellations, no-shows, group cut-offs, etc. For future dates, the percentage is the expected drop for the Peak Demand. For past dates, it is the expected wash as of the last optimization. of each market segment. In other words, booking patterns show how your business picks up and cancels across the booking window. Since the system can't derive booking patterns from historical data, you select another source. For example, you can choose a generic property with similar booking and cancellation patterns. When your property has enough usable actual data, you switch to using your own data. Use the Booking Pattern tab for your selection.
7. Complete Remaining Setup: For details, see Rate Plan and Rate Shopping setup.
8. After you complete the setup, contact IDeaS to run the Limited Data Build process.
9. Limited Data Build Process: 
   1. In the process, G3 RMS uses your projections to simulate the missing Master Class The occupancy, revenue or ADR that the property achieved, once the day is in the past. Actual occupancy is also called Final Rooms Sold. data for the past year, by market segment. If you have more than one Room Class, the system distributes projections to them primarily according to their capacities. For distributing the revenue projections, your pricing structure and Price Ranking also matter. G3 RMS then uses the simulated historical data, the booking patterns, and on books data to create forecasts and decisions.
   2. After the process completes, the Projections and Booking Pattern tabs are unavailable. IDeaS tells you when you can continue with the next step.
10. Create and Commit Forecast Groups. See Forecast Groups Setup.
11. Forecast Review: Regularly review your projections to ensure that they stay accurate compared to actual pick-up, see review the projections for details. To change your projections, contact IDeaS to unlock that page and to request running a new Limited Data Build process. To see when the last process ran, click Important Information in the top right.
12. Manage G3 RMS in Limited Data Build: 
    1. After you switch to Decision Delivery Mode A processing status in which G3 RMS is producing forecasts and decisions, and sending them to the selling system., you are fully using the system in your day-to-day operation. If needed, manage changes that require re-running the process.
    2. After a full year of normal business, most clients contact IDeaS to end the Limited Data Build phase. See Manage the Move from LDB to Normal Build.
       Note: you can use Limited Data Build for longer, for example, if you expect very different business volume after the first year. For more details, see Limited Data After the First Year.

Best Practices

Understand Why You Need to Use a Limited Data Build

View this video to understand how a Limited Data Build helps you benefit from G3 RMS forecasts and decisions without waiting to build historical data.

Inform IDeaS of Milestones and Changes

The steps in the work flow rely on a specific order. You are responsible for most of them, but some must be completed by IDeaS. Therefore, when you complete Steps 1 to 6, contact us so that we can run the Limited Data Build process.

After the process completes, you can't change any of the Limited Data Build setup. To make a change to your data, contact IDeaS to unlock the tabs. After you complete your changes, contact IDeaS to request another Limited Data Build process. This reprocessing ensures that G3 RMS considers the changes in its forecasts and decisions.

If you upload a new Projected Rooms Sold and Revenue file, it overwrites the previous data. Ensure that the new workbook is accurate to prevent the loss of data.

Finally, contact us when you are ready to end the Limited Data Build.

Manage Limited Data Build After the First Year

Most clients use Limited Data Build only for a full year of normal business. But sometimes, new properties expect big changes in business in the second year. For example, business might change due to a better market presence or new corporate clients. In that case, forecasts might be too low when they reach into the second year because they are based on low actual production of the first year. In that case, continue using the Limited Data Build and update your projections, if needed.

Manage Changes that Require Running a New Limited Data Build

Following are examples of changes that require you to contact IDeaS to request a new Limited Data Build process:

Changes in the Opening Date or the Normalization Date

For details see Selecting the Correct Dates for Your Projections.

Your Actual Business Is Very Different Than Your Projections

For details see Reviewing your Projections.

Manage the Move from LDB to Standard Build

After a year of normal business, a property can switch from LDB to a Standard Build. Here is a list of what to expect and do. Note that if your property belongs to a larger enterprise, a corporate office might complete some of the steps for you.

1. When you are ready to switch, contact your IDeaS representative.
2. After IDeaS advises you that the property is ready, assign attributes to your market segments at a more granular level. This helps G3 RMS produce better forecasts and decisions.
3. Review your setup and, if needed, make changes to reflect what you have learned in the first year. For example, if you used the LDB for opening a new property, you might not have known who your true competitors are. Ensure that you review Pricing, Competitor Settings, Room Type, Price Ranking and Upgrade Path , and Cost of Walk.
4. IDeaS switches your property from LDB to a Standard Build.
5. Use the review process to check your forecast and your decisions closely, because they likely changed significantly. That's due to the configuration changes and the change in how G3 RMS forecasts:
   • During the LDB period, the system uses your projections and recent past trends to forecast.
   • With a normal build, G3 RMS uses recent seasonal performance and all the historical data that it collected during the LDB. See how transient forecasts vary by days to arrival.
     Note: the system does not use all historical data if you placed rooms out of order during your LDB period and resolved the related Alert with option C) Don't use the data to forecast. In that case, G3 RMS ignores the out of order period.

6. If after your review you disagree with the forecast in general or for long periods of time, open a case for a Forecast Review by Revenue Optimization Analysts. It illustrates the factors contributing to the forecast.

7. If you want to understand the past booking behavior which is the basis for G3 RMS forecasts, ask your IDeaS representative for a Market Segment-to-Forecast Group Analysis.

8. If forecasts don’t meet your expectations after steps 6. and 7., contact your IDeaS representative.

9. After the initial review continue to monitor forecasts and decisions regularly. Lessen the frequency and level of detail as you gain confidence.
   Notes:
   • Group forecasts improve over time. After the switch G3 RMS forecasts group demand based on the historical data and future definite groups. As more and more groups turn definite, the system learns to improve its forecasts.
   • If G3 RMS finds large performance changes in the first three months after the switch from LDB, they have a larger impact on the forecast than similar periods in the past. For example, bookings increase greatly one month after your switch to normal build compared to similar periods during LDB. The system then uses the stronger booking levels of the recent past to forecast demand.
10. Three to six months after switching to a Standard Build, you get an alert about switching to booked data. The switch helps G3 RMS improve the distribution of demand by Room Class. See booked vs. stayed for details.