Switching to a new Property Management Software (PMS) is fully supported by the Oliver platform, but it involves much more than simply connecting a new API. While establishing the new software connection only takes a few minutes, ensuring your website, historical data, search functionality, and reporting continue to work correctly requires significant planning and development.

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Overview

At a high level, the process consists of:

1. Creating a new PMS connection in Oliver CMS.

2. Downloading properties from the new software.

3. (Recommended) Merging the new properties with the existing properties in Oliver.

4. Remapping website search filters and landing pages.

5. Testing the entire website and data integration.

The initial connection is straightforward. The majority of the work involves preserving existing data and ensuring your website functions exactly as expected after the conversion.

Preserving Historical Data (Recommended)

One of the most important considerations during a PMS conversion is whether you want to preserve your historical information.

Every property in Oliver is connected to years of valuable data, including:

• Reservations

• Guest records

• Analytics

• Historical reporting

• Performance metrics

• Marketing attribution

When properties are downloaded from a new PMS, they are assigned new software identifiers. If those new properties are simply imported as new records, they will have no relationship to the historical data already stored in Oliver.

The result would be:

• Historical reservations no longer appearing with the property

• Guest history becoming disconnected

• Analytics and reporting resetting

• Historical trends becoming inaccurate or unavailable

To preserve this information, each newly imported property must be carefully merged with its existing Oliver property record so that all historical information continues to function seamlessly.

This step is recommended but is not required. If preserving historical reservations, guest records, and reporting is not important for your organization, we can simply import the properties as new records. Skipping the merge process can significantly reduce the amount of development time required for the migration. However, doing so means your historical data will remain associated with the old property records and will not carry forward to the newly imported properties.

Website Search Filter Remapping

Every PMS organizes amenities, features, and property attributes differently.

For example:

• Waterfront

• Pet Friendly

• Pool

• Elevator

• Hot Tub

• Gulf Front

• Boat Slip

Although two PMS providers may support similar concepts, they often use different field names, values, or structures.

Because your website search is powered directly from your PMS data, these differences require every search filter to be reviewed and remapped.

We recommend matching your previous setup whenever possible.

Before migrating, we strongly recommend configuring your new PMS so that its amenities and features closely resemble those in your previous software.

Doing so:

• Reduces development time

• Minimizes website changes

• Helps preserve the existing user experience

• Reduces the chance of missing or inconsistent search results

Even with careful planning, some remapping is almost always required.

Landing Pages Also Require Updates

Many websites use landing pages that automatically display properties matching specific filters.

Examples include:

• Pet Friendly Rentals

• Beachfront Homes

• Luxury Vacation Rentals

• Homes with Private Pools

• Homes with Boat Docks

These pages rely on the same PMS features used by the website search.

After changing PMS providers, those filter mappings often change as well.

Every landing page that uses property filters must be reviewed and updated to reference the new PMS fields. Otherwise, pages may display incorrect properties—or no properties at all.

Additional Items That May Require Review

Depending on your website, other areas may also need updating, including:

• Featured property collections

• Custom widgets

• Availability calendars

• Recommendation engines

• Automated marketing integrations

• Third-party integrations

• Reporting dashboards

• Custom API integrations

Each implementation is unique, so these items are evaluated during the conversion process.

Typical Project Effort

While the API connection itself is relatively quick, a complete PMS migration is typically a medium-to-large development project.

Typical development time:

20–50 hours

The total effort depends on factors such as:

• Number of properties

• Whether historical data is preserved

• Complexity of the website

• Number of search filters

• Number of landing pages

• Custom website functionality

• Differences between the old and new PMS platforms

• Third-party integrations

Project Billing

Because every PMS migration is different, software conversions are not included as part of standard support or maintenance.

Each migration is treated as a separate development project and is estimated based on the complexity of the website, the differences between the two PMS platforms, and whether historical data needs to be preserved.

We are happy to review your migration plans in advance and provide a project estimate before work begins.

Best Practices for a Successful Migration

To help minimize both cost and disruption, we recommend:

• Configure amenities and property features in the new PMS to closely match your existing software whenever possible.

• Notify our team as early as possible once you've selected a new PMS.

• Decide whether preserving historical data is important before the migration begins.

• Avoid making major website changes during the migration.

• Allow sufficient time for testing before going live.

• Verify search results, landing pages, and reporting after the conversion is complete.

Summary

Although connecting a new PMS to Oliver is technically simple, a successful migration involves much more than creating a new API connection.

Our goal is to preserve your historical data (if desired), maintain reporting continuity, ensure website searches continue to work correctly, and update all dependent functionality so your visitors experience a seamless transition.

Most PMS conversions require between 20 and 50 hours of development and testing, depending on the complexity of your website, the differences between the two software platforms, and whether historical data is preserved.