Today at the International Hotel/Motel & Restaurant Show, Microsoft Corp. announced Smarter Hospitality, a comprehensive solutions framework designed to help lodging and foodservice organizations dramatically improve the way they interact with their guests and operate while meeting the expectations of digitally enabled guests and employees.

Leveraging Microsoft's core strengths in consumer, industry-specific and enterprise technologies, the initiative is composed of three key areas -- the Smarter Guest Experience, Smarter Service and Smarter Operations -- focused on providing a personalized guest experience, improving work-force productivity and streamlining operations.

Microsoft� Smarter Hospitality is built on proven Microsoft platforms and offers comprehensive solutions through its industry partners to address the current market pressures hospitality operators face -- including the dissipation of brand loyalty, increased competition, employee attrition, changing customer expectations, and outdated and disparate technology systems -- while providing a path for simple and affordable integration of future innovations.