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If you cross-posted this to Desktop_acms, you probably got a more
detailed answer, but I can say this much: The acmsdi_ (desktop
services) API is designed to be presentation-neutral--- any
presentation service which can call a .dll (or link with static
libraries for DOS) can submit tasks. Things as diverse as Hypercard
on Mac and Motif on SCO unix and OpenVMS have been used.
Basically means that all have to do is write a CGI interface or a Java/
ActiveX applet which calls the acmsdi.DLL from your Web browser.
Some experiments and examples WWWeb-to-ACMS interface are available
on the desktop_acms notes conf--- It is not so big a deal that you
need an SI partner or something-- any old coder can do this <grin>.
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Patrick,
You may want to check this out. Customer doing what you want...
Drop mail if you need more detail or need contacts
rgs
Mick
The article below appeared on "Livewire" on 24 February 1997.
Thrifty becomes first to offer car rental reservations via the Internet
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Using its existing VAX and Alpha systems and the DIGITAL
transaction processing monitor, ACMS, Thrifty Car Rental recently became
the first car rental company in the world to offer direct online
reservations capability via the Internet.
Recognizing the capability of the Internet to expand to new markets
and improve customer service, Thrifty partnered with Perot Systems to
integrate its legacy ACMS car rental reservation system with the World
Wide Web.
Perot Systems had already developed the existing high-volume
reservation system utilizing a three-tier, distributed client/server
architecture. The architecture consists of MicroVAX clients, a highly
available VAX cluster server, an ACMS transaction monitor, and an Oracle
Rdb database to store millions of records.
The system supports the Thrifty reservation call center as well as
a real time connection to the airline reservation systems. Protecting
this investment while expanding the capability of the system was of prime
importance to Thrifty.
Jim Lamb, Perot Systems project manager, says the Internet was a
logical extension to the Thrifty reservation system. "The architecture
of the reservation system made it very straightforward to offer the
application services to an Internet client. At the same time, ACMS
provided the features needed to prevent Internet access from adversely
impacting Thrifty's core business processes. As a result, Thrifty was
able to quickly open a new channel for reservations without incurring
incremental data maintenance expenses, while at the same time maintaining
consistency with the call center and airline systems."
Perot Systems used ACMS Desktop as the interface from the World
Wide Web to the existing Thrifty reservation system. This gave Perot
the opportunity to integrate the Internet with minimal change required
to the existing car reservation system.
Thrifty is confident its ACMS-based reservation system will scale
comfortably to handle the additional volume.
"The need for Thrifty Car Rental to expand markets and take
advantage of new technology while protecting investments in existing
systems is an example of the challanges facing business today," said John
Ferguson, ACMS product manager. "The architecture and scalability of
an ACMS transaction processing system gave Thrify the ability to take
its current applications into the future quickly and easily."
Thrifty Car Rental is an international franchise network of more
than 1,100 locations in 50 countries around the world. Thrifty serves
both the airport market and the local car rental market, and is one of
America's largest airport parking operators with more than 11,000 spaces
in 54 U.S. cities.
Perot Systems is a leading information technology services and
business transformation company with an estimated 1996 revenue of US$600
million. The company serves major clients in the financial services,
health care, utilities, telecommunications, and travel and leisure
industries in North America, Europe and Asia. Privately owned, Perot
Systems has more than 4,300 employees worldwide.
For additional information contact:
Bob Slone, DIGITAL Marketing ([email protected])
Karl R. Taylor, Perot Systems ([email protected])
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