When will loyalty embrace the cloud?

It is in this context that the question arises –can we use loyalty software on the cloud? Will it deliver the same benefits that are often quoted for other cloud services?

The biggest benefit of the low cost of ‘cloud’ services results from scale of usage. Low cost is a result of multi-fold number of users sharing the same software, hardware, technical support, maintenance etc. Many customers who run loyalty programmes have utilised the ‘sharing model’ in a limited way through their outsourced service provider who services many other customers.

ITC Infotech, as a leading Oracle partner, has implemented Siebel Loyalty enterprise system for many airlines, hotels, and coalition loyalty programmes, readying them for possible future ‘sharing model’ as and when the customers feel confident to move to such a model. One of ITC Infotech’s customers is using Siebel Loyalty with multiple customer programmes in a single instance thus benefiting its customers from such a ‘sharing model’.

However, most loyalty programmes will not be able to move to a pure cloud service because of the following reasons: Loyalty applications of today are digitally integrated with tens and hundreds of in-house applications and partner applications. Such integrations can be complicated and need monitoring. Imagine the integration nightmare if ten loyalty programmes of ten different companies are brought on to a single application. Let us then extend the analogy to further hundred or thousand customer companies sharing a

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