Informix Powers Five New Enterprise Database Applications for Choice Hotels International
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Informix Software, Inc., a provider of innovative database technology, announced that Choice Hotels International, one of the largest hotel franchisors, is deploying five new enterprise database applications using INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server, including its ChoiceCentral intranet, PeopleSoft financials and ICBM (Informix Choice Business Management) system.
Once all deployments are completed by December, Choice Hotels will power a total of 10 business-critical applications -- ranging from OLTP to intranet/Internet to resource planning -- using Informix's high-performance, scalable database technology.
The leading hospitality chain chose Informix seven years ago as its corporate standard because of Informix's ability to assist in meeting its goals of cross-continent franchise management and customer service. In 1995, Choice Hotels was the first hotel company to provide real-time access to inventory and rates over the Internet from its Informix-based central reservation system.
Since the first full year of its Web-based reservation service, Choice Hotels has seen more than a 500 percent increase in Internet bookings -- $1 million in 1996 to more than $5 million worth of reservations year-to-date, signaling continued growth. In the first three months of 1997, Choice booked more than $1 million in hotel rooms via the Internet, a traditionally slow time of year for hotel reservations.
"With Informix as the backbone of our information processing infrastructure, we have been able to enhance our existing database applications -- for example, by Web-enabling our mission-critical reservation system -- as well as expand our capabilities," said Gary Thomson, vice president of information systems at Choice Hotels International.
"An Informix database is used by almost every Choice Hotel franchise employee and is behind every customer reservation transaction, a statement as to how prolific and business-critical data is within our company. We trust Informix to meet our information needs today and in the future."
Five New Ways of Improving Business
Choice Hotels is in varied stages of deploying five new Informix-based applications: ChoiceCentral, Informix Choice Business Management (ICBM), Kronos time clock, PeopleSoft financials and Remedy help desk. ChoiceCentral, Choice Hotels's intranet, serves as the company's knowledge management system, allowing employees to collaborate and share information. Currently in production, this application is going to be expanded via an extranet so that all franchises can obtain additional corporate information, such as that found today in printed reports, in a more timely manner.
Informix Choice Business Management, which assists users with property management and business analysis, and the Remedy help desk applications are being implemented this month. Choice Hotels's PeopleSoft financial application was implemented in June 1997, while the Kronos time clock application will be rolled-out by the end of November.
"Choice Hotels has been able to evolve its business leveraging the power of Informix's database technology with its single-architected solution," said Brett Bachman, vice president and general manager of enterprise products at Informix. "We are committed to delivering that level of value to our customers so that they, in turn, may leverage their Informix-based infrastructure for competitive advantage."
In addition to powering five new enterprise applications for Choice Hotels, Informix's database technology is the cornerstone for five existing applications, including guest relations, the Web-enabled central reservation system, report generation, reservation support and property support.
The latter two applications allow reservation and property managers access to business-critical data on room configurations, number of available room, property maintenance records and more to keep operations fluid and provide accurate information to customers.
Choice Hotel's Web-enabled reservation system, accessible at http://www.hotelchoice.com allows end-users to check hotel rates and inventory in addition to booking rooms and providing feedback. Additionally, Choice Hotels provides travel agents with a section on the Web site that features information on commissions, packages and special rates.
Based on Informix's Dynamic Scalable Architecture, INFORMIX-OnLine Dynamic Server is the company's multithreaded flagship database server designed to exploit the capabilities of both symmetric multiprocessor and uniprocessor architectures to deliver database scalability, manageability and performance.
Choice Hotels International is one of the largest hotel franchisors with 4,268 hotels open or under development in 33 nations and includes the following well-recognized, national hospitality brands: Comfort, Clarion, Quality, Sleep Inn, Econolodge, Roadway Inn and Mainstay Suites.
More information about Choice Hotels is available via the World Wide Web at http://www.hotelchoice.com Informix information is accessible via the World Wide Web at http://www.informix.com