http://www.microsoft.com/BackOffice/reading/mirage.htm (PC Press Internet CD, 03/1996)COMPUTERWORLD
Where Distributed Computing Meets Business Objectives
Client/Server Journal
February 1995
Las Vegas resorts spend lavishly on guest comforts and atmospherics. The theory: The more plush the accommodations, the more inclined people will be to gamble. And gamble big.
The same normally doesn't go for business information systems. Many resorts operators stick with monolithic, stove-pipe architectures that cater to stand-alone business functions. Until recently.
Mirage resorts, Inc., a billion dollar-plus resort holding company that manages the Mirage and other resorts, is betting that client/server can help deliver improved guest services. It also helps to make managers and operations staffers more productive and help them make better, quicker decisions with near real-time access to enterprise data.
Last month, Mirage went live with a system built using Microsoft Corp.'s Visual Basic to analyze product sales at the company's 50-plus gift shops.
The goal: help buyers and managers stock appropriate merchandise and receive quicker inventory turns.
Business results are extracted daily from a Unix-based Data General Corp. Aviion system over a TCP/IP network onto an Intel Corp. I486-based server running Microsoft's Windows NT and SQL Server95. The data is analyzed on Pcs running Microsoft's Excel.
"Users can drill down, for example, to see what size of what t-shirt sold well in what color, sold by what vendor," said Walid Abu-Hadba, a Microsoft consultant involved with the project.
Meanwhile, a Visual Basic-built yield management system is enabling Mirage to maximize room occupancy and rates while matching guests' budgetary and travel needs. The system pulls reservation data off a Tandem Computers, Inc., database, allowing management, for instance, to forecast the types of rate structures needed to keep the resorts near 100% occupancy.
The 9-month-old system is already having an impact. "Management recently said the application resulted in a revenue increase of $5 million for 1994," said Julie Koentopp, IS project manager.
Mirage hopes to eventually replace its hodgepodge of platforms with a consistent client/server architecture built around Microsoft products and jointly developed solutions. It is even exploring moving its reservation system to client/server. "Our success is helping to educate executive management on how technology can be an enabler to business improvement," said Karen Bozich, systems development manager.
Alper is editor of Computer-world Client/Server Journal.
