Experienced Hospitality IT Consultants

IT Services for the Hospitality Industry

Experience & Resources

Convergent Services was built on a straightforward principle: every client engagement should draw on the most qualified expertise available for that specific project, not on whoever happens to be on payroll. Our virtual delivery model is what makes that possible. Rather than carrying a large fixed staff, we maintain a network of specialized resources that can be assembled around the requirements of each engagement, keeping quality high and overhead low.

At the center of every project is a single point of contact, a principal with the experience to understand the full scope of the work and the relationships within the resource network to staff it correctly. That combination of broad accountability and deep specialization is what has allowed Convergent Services to deliver consistent results across properties ranging from 12-room boutique resorts to 1,500-room conference centers.

Team Experts

Our team of hospitality professionals customize each engagement to fit your particular needs.

Martin Thornros
Founder & Principal

Martin Thornros founded Convergent Services after more than two decades working at the intersection of hospitality and IT infrastructure, experience that gave him both a deep understanding of what hotels actually need from their technology and a strong conviction that independent advice is the only kind worth having.

Earlier in his career, Martin partnered with an IT pioneer to develop one of the earliest PBX voice mail system interfaces in the hospitality industry. That product evolved through several iterations to become InnTel Communications; later Contact LLC, one of the largest hospitality-dedicated interconnects in the United States. Throughout this period, Martin’s focus was on infrastructure, PBX, and high-speed internet access engineering and sales, working exclusively with hundreds of hotel properties.

As the trust Martin built with those clients grew into requests for help with adjacent systems, the case for a broader consulting practice became clear. Convergent Services was founded on the premise that hotels deserve an advisor whose only interest is their outcome, not the outcome of any vendor supplying them.

Martin brings a dimension to this work that most IT consultants cannot claim: he has been a hotel owner and operator. As part-owner and primary operator of a seventeen-room property in the Napa Valley, he guided the hotel through an extensive renovation and repositioning as a high-end destination property. That experience, understanding a hotel from the inside, as a hands-on operator accountable for the guest experience and the bottom line, informs the practical, operations-aware perspective he brings to every client engagement.

Jerry Kellinger
Principal

Jerry Kellinger has spent more than 35 years establishing a reputation for technical precision and a standard of service that his clients have come to expect and rely on. A computer minor in college, Jerry went on to serve in the United States Army as an electronics instructor, a foundation he built upon with certifications across dozens of specialized electronic systems over the course of his career.

When sophisticated converged technology systems began to reshape the hospitality industry, Jerry was well-positioned to meet them. As Vice President of Operations for multiple companies well-known to hotel operators, he was among the early pioneers of hospitality interconnect technology, frequently developing custom solutions where the market had not yet caught up with the need. The lodging facilities he worked with benefited not only from his direct expertise, but from the standards he instilled across the teams and technicians he managed throughout those years.

Jerry’s experience spans the full range of hospitality low-voltage systems, from infrastructure and telephony through high-speed data and closed-circuit television, and it is precisely that breadth that makes him effective in the complex, integrated technology environments that define today’s hotels. He brings the same discipline and forward-thinking approach to Convergent Services clients that has characterized his work throughout his career.

When not working, Jerry volunteers at his local food bank and has served for more than twelve years as an IT professional at a local school, a commitment that reflects the same investment in doing things right that defines his professional work.

Ben E. Matanga
Principal

Ben Matanga brings a perspective to Convergent Services that is genuinely rare in hospitality IT consulting: he has spent a substantial part of his career on the ownership and investment side of the industry, working alongside the people who ultimately make the decisions that consultants advise on.

With more than 40 years across hotel technology, operations, brand management, third-party management, and hospitality real estate, Ben’s career spans the full arc of the modern hotel industry. He began with Trusthouse Forte, handling the selection, sourcing, installation, and training of PBX, POS, and accounting systems. He went on to lead IT for Japan Airlines/Nikko Hotels across North America and later joined HEI Hotels in a finance role, before spending nearly 25 years with Baring Private Equity, Cornerstone Properties, and MassMutual working in hotel asset management.

That asset management background sets Ben apart. He understands hotel properties as investment assets, and he understands how ownership groups, investors, and developers think about the technology decisions they are asked to make, which is not always the same way that operators or IT professionals think about them. The ability to connect those perspectives, and to translate between the world of hospitality technology and the world of hospitality investment, makes him a uniquely effective contributor to the Convergent Services team.

Ben continues to work with hotel and restaurant owners, developers, and operators on the design, selection, procurement, installation, and operations of low-voltage systems across a broad range of project types: hotels, restaurants, resorts, fitness centers, and others.

Brand Experience

Convergent Services has supported properties across nearly every major hospitality brand family, from global full-service flags to independent luxury collections.