How a visit to Alka - The Lakeside Hotel, Nainital changed to an impactful interview

Today, the matter of the topic is a bit different. Today, I am going to share with you all a beautiful example of how our youth is changing the world with the knowledge and power we have and how they are revolutionizing the world. 
Actually, it's nothing but I travelled to a hotel named Alka - The Lakeside Hotel in Nainital in the month of February this year and I found the place a bit interesting. Although it was only my second time to Nainital, I was totally fascinated by the glory of the landscape the hotel was located in. Well, things apart, the hotel I stayed in felt like a bit ahead of the time, it was some kind of automated one.
So, what happened next was when I got time to interact with the manager of the hotel about if there was some kind of modification work done in the hotel. He answered with a warm node, telling with pride that the hotel was modified by a company named Parallel Connect Pvt. Ltd. and was the first in the area to be modified in such a way. So, with a heart full of excitement, I asked him to give me the contact number of anyone in the company so that I may clear my doubts on what's all going in the world, technically. Seeing my enthusiasm, he gave me the contact number of the founder of the company Mr. Karan Thapliyal.
On  my return from Nainital, I, prepared with a lot of questions, called Mr. Karan and asked him to answer my doubts that I had.
So, that's how a visit to the hotel turned into an amazing interview with the founder of a company. Here, have a look at the conversation, most probably a QnA, I had with Mr. Karan Thapliyal.

Question 1. How old is Parallel Connect as a technology startup and what is its core competence ?
Answer. Parallel Connect Pvt. Ltd. is a about an year old, having commenced operations in around 2019 completely bootstrapped. The specificity of our competence lies in employing the technologies of Industry 4.O like Artificial Intelligence, Cyberphysical Systems, Big Data Analysis etc. into behavioural aspects of life. We are based by expertise in understanding human interactions and user experience by employment of data driven models. Thanks to the dedicated and extremely proficient team, Parallel Connect is capable of drafting innovative operational strategies and managerial affairs.

Question 2. Where it is based and which are your targeted industries for your solution ?
Answer. Parallel Connect Pvt. Ltd. is based out of sector 57, Gurgaon. The specific sector that we target at the moment in the industry, is the hospitality industry in general and  especially the 4 star and 5 star hotels. The decision why we target the 4 star and 5 star hotels stems from the fact that they, being the industry leaders drive a healthy race in the innovation. And it becomes, kind of necessary for them as they are the prime ones and the face of the industry in one way, or the other.

Question 3. When was Core-X as a product launched in the market and introduced to the hospitality sector ?
Answer. Core-X as a product and a solution, was launched and executed about 6-7 months ago back in the year 2019, with the renewed operational initiation of the Alka Hotel in Nainital, a truly beautiful tourism spot, in the state of Uttarakhand. The ambitious initiative began as a beta product at Alka Hotel, and thus continues to explore and access the technological implementations, in and around various other premium hotels across the country, as mentioned earlier, the 4 star and the 5 star hotels.

Alka Hotel, Nainital,  Uttarakhand

Question 4. Who are your initial customers in the hospitality industry ?
Answer.  The very first customer to have the total integration of Core-X as a solution, is the Alka - The Lakeside Hotel in Nainital with its operations commenced in the year 2019 itself. Following the success of the Alka Hotel, Misty Oaks in Bhowali, Uttarakhand become the second hotel to receive Core-X solution. The Hyatt Regency in Delhi also have its name in the list as it employed the Parallel Connect's voice interface modules for errands such as ordering meals and resolve queries, all as a part of enhancing its guest experience. Besides all this, about 10 hotels are in line with our solution, most notably the Clark's Inn at Ramgarh and Aahana at Corbett, Uttarakhand. We aim to alliance with the leading hotels in the specified region and the good news is that we are so far successful in doing this till now. Core-X voice interaction module has also been installed on about 4 hotels in Europe , crucially expanding the business outreach of the company, which is a good thing for us. What's the another important thing is, Parallel Connect does not aim to build a scalable business in terms of number of customers like a SAAS model, rather than we intend to industry through innovation and sustainability, just as the industry demands right now. All we need is a innovative idea to drive things forward.

Inside the Hotel - Alka - The Lakeside Hotel, Nainital

Inside the Hotel -  Alka - The Lakeside Hotel, Nainital

Clark's Inn Ramgarh

Inside the Hotel - The Clark's Inn, Ramgarh

The Hyatt Regency, New Delhi

Question 5. Is Core-X a single integrated solution/platform or deliver separately as standalone application as well ?

Answer. Core-X was initially planned as a totally integrated solution addressing the overall needs of an entire lineup of Smart Hotels across the country. However, when we came to realize that hotels have their individual needs according to their infrastructure and operation, and that hotels were in need of specific solutions, rather than the entire transformation, it was decided to deliver Core-X in parts, according to the necessity and affordability of the hotel. Such hotels that acquire isolated solutions for specific requirements from Parallel Connect, are not considered members in the lineup of Smart Hotels as envisioned by the company.

Question 6. What are the differentiating features of your solution that existing tools and solutions are not addressing right at the moment ?
Answer. The hospitality industry lags extremely in comparison to global standards, not just in the terms of technology, but other aspects of the matrix of travel and tourism. Guest experience is very limited to where we are now as an industry with innovation driven technologies. Moreover, the conventional approach to hotel operation requires unification of close to 30 different modules, each servicing various aspects of hospitality.               This strains the overall brand, in that it doesn't let the brand resonates uniformly. Parallel Connect aims to revolutionize this by unifying all the core requirements of guest experience, market presence and hotel operations into one single DATA DRIVEN SOLUTION with the help of our partners in terms of providing individual services.
               As such, the prime factors of hospitality industry are essentially part of a single core system. Implicit to this customization, we exploit the use of a single user interface to its fullest, as visual human interaction can possibly connect multiple data points and connect it to guide guests in a particular mental model based on hotel requirements. The user interface, in the form of a progressive web application which user doesn't have to download anymore, he jumps from hotel to hotel and can use their personal devices as a full-fledged application, deliver services to the user on the go, ranging from controlling appliances to ordering meals, requesting housekeeping etc. In addition, the interface also helps the guest explore the nearly landscape allowing a greater exposure of the local culture to the outside world, while also enabling him to delve deeper into a sense of customised stay.

Question 7. Which is the potential market segment in the hotel industry you want to target initially ? How easy the solution to be incorporated into the existing technology infrastructure of a running hotel ?
Answer. The entirety of our target is the hospitality industry of India, and in particular, the leisure and business segments of the hotels. Hotels that fall in these categories hold more prospect for Parallel Connect, because of their long term standing and establishment in the industry.
               As the name of the company suggests, we deliver the solution parallel to the systems available in the hotel. After the initial establishment of agreement, an end to end inspection of the hotel is carried out in the presence of some hospitality experts. All round aspects of the hotel are assessed including infrastructural maintenance, operations, revenue generation and financial management, workflow division etc so as to reduce the failure rate of establishment, and ensure successful integration with positive result.
               The inspection takes about 3 days for its completion. The entire period of integration is estimated at 2 months of buffer time from the date of contract. The installation required within an operational hotel, as in installing retrofit units in the rooms and tuning it with the hotel; technological infrastructure takes about 7 to 8 days for a 50-room hotel and about 10 days for a 100-room hotel.
               Irrespective of the landscape in which the hotel is located, whether urban or coastal, or mountain places, the integration of the solution takes place without essentially disturbing the natural workflow of the hotel.

Question 8. What is the promise of Return On Investment(RoI) ?
Answer. We have initially planned a chain of 20 beta phase hotels in India, not including the properties in Europe. The investment for the solution in such system is massive, but so as to not exert a strain on the finance of either the hotel, the RoI is based on a subscription model.

               The hotel isn't required to pay the entire bulk of the cost of the solution at once, rather a monthly ration, based on the customers acquired and served by the hotels. However, the hotel must pay a one time agreement fee and server cost, to cover the costs of the basic infra.
               This is a hotel friendly approach where the hotel pays back in a pay-per-room-per-month format for sophisticated data driven modules rather than paying a huge amount for decentralized and traditional service providers which also helps us to continuously update technology with time so the hotel doesn't have to face problems with the outdated technology. Parallel Connect effectively retrieves its investments and added profits in the long run so does the hotel through increase in average room rate, elevated brand value and revenue from food and beverages.