Adapt or Die! That has been the cry of every motivational speaker and future-world analyst through the ages, and never has it been more true than today. There are so many examples of adaptation in the business world.

However, the one that is the most amazing to me is Nokia. As they say on their website: Nokia has had to adapt to the needs of an ever-changing world for over 155 years.

From humble beginnings as a paper mill operation through rubber boots to mobile phones, you don’t get more diverse adaptation than that.

So, how is your business and how are you adapting?

I guess you have learnt to adapt and deal with:

• Staff working from home;
• Resorts that have been shut down and then opened up, only to be closed and then opened again;
• Travellers reluctant to travel; and
• Owners struggling to pay annual maintenance fees. 

And you are still there, in business, adapting, and with a focus on the things that keep you in business.

I know we at Merlin have been adapting too.

In fact, our entire business life has been one of adaptation. So while our story is not as impressive as that of Nokia, and while we do not have the 155-year pedigree, we can look back over nearly 40 years and trace a fine history of adaptation to the challenges that have been placed before us. 

But enough of looking backwards. Instead, let’s look forward.

What does the future hold for Merlin and our relationship with our valued clients?

We will continue to build on our twin pillars of Software Development and Support. We are fanatical about both. So you can expect the continuation of new features that should benefit your business.

You can also expect to see new services from us, which we will share the details of in the coming months. Services like helping you obtain more rentals, generate minivac leads and assist with resales. 

We are also expanding into the non-timeshare market with a PMS for hotels. Merlin has been chosen as the booking engine for a new rental program for small hotels in Mexico, and our Hotel PMS will be installed in multiple hotels across Mexico, with a Spanish front end.

But our most significant adaptation will be totally outside of the leisure industry. We are launching a new app that will cater to all the businesses whose staff work from home. We have been trialling this within our own business and will offer this to you, our clients, shortly to trial.

We have some unique features built into the App, which we have found nowhere else and which we believe will make Merlin’s “Work from Home App” a winner.

So here’s to adaptation and the future.

May 2022 be the year we all hoped for – the year in which we all continue our onwards and upwards momentum toward success through adaptation.

Mike Pnematicatos

Merlin Software CEO & Chief Architect