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Products... StepUp Accounting™...
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PROGRESS PARTNERS COLLABORATE TO OFFER SMALL FRANCHISES BIG OPTIONS:
BUY OR SUBSCRIBE, ADD FUNCTIONALITY AS NEEDED |
Dollar, Budget, and Thrifty Endorse Integrated Application Suite From Bluebird Auto Rental Systems and Innov8 Computer Solutions
BEDFORD, Mass. - September 24, 2002
- The Progress Company, a business unit of Progress Software Corporation
(Nasdaq: PRGS) and a leading supplier of technology for building business applications, announced today that Bluebird Auto Rental Systems, has selected the Progress® OpenEdge™ platform to support its new AutoMate2 suite of vehicle rental applications. Additionally, Bluebird has teamed up with Progress partner Innov8 Computer Solutions, LLC (ICS) to offer ICS's StepUp
Accounting™
as a tightly integrated accounting module to AutoMate2. Bluebird provides auto rental systems globally to independent vehicle franchise operators of Dollar, Thrifty, Budget,
Rent-a-Vette and Triangle Rent-a-Car. The new technology will be unveiled during Bluebird's Users Conference on October 4-5 in Parsippany, NJ. "As a result of using Progress technology, we are able to offer easy-to-use, functionally rich applications to even the smallest operators," said Angela
Margolit, president of Bluebird Auto Rental Systems. "Our customers now have the tools to look and operate like their larger counterparts without the expense."
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Buy |
AutoMate2 has everything a rental franchise needs to manage their business. Features such as rental processing, reservation sales, fleet utilization, rate management and accounting interfaces, allow customers to deal with the vehicle availability, pricing and billing. AutoMate2 even takes advantage of OpenEdge's multi-language support, which allows global franchises to quickly adapt the application to meet local language requirements, making it even more user-friendly.
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Bluebird, a Progress partner since 1994 and a Progress ASPenSM Program member, has also extended the AutoMate2 system via the subscription model, on a pay per transaction basis. This option will allow even the smallest franchises to take advantage of technology they could otherwise not afford, without having to worry about supporting their system.
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Add Online Booking |
AutoMate2 now benefits from a new module based on OpenEdge's proven
WebSpeed® technology. WebSpeed is used to quickly build and deploy business applications across corporate intranets, extranets and the Internet. It will allow franchise owners to incorporate AutoMate2's auto reservation technology directly into their Web sites, offering consumers a 24x7 reservation option, while minimizing the opportunity for error. This Web-enabled module is the first auto booking system that provides real-time access to information instead of traditional static pages, as well as supporting more complex tasks such as checking on availability, blackouts, and rate rules.
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Bluebird and Innov8 Make "Cents" |
Bluebird wanted to provide customers with a complete financial package as well, but they quickly realized that in-house development could be time-consuming. StepUp
Accounting™, developed by New Jersey-based Progress partner ICS, was also built on the Progress OpenEdge platform and offers integrated accounts payable, accounts receivable, and general ledger modules scaling from the smallest to largest user. With features like Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Multi-Company, Multi-Currency, and Summary Accounts, it is perfectly suited to Bluebird's global customer base.
"Our customers look to us for a total solution, but we're not in the business of building financial packages," said
Margolit. "Incorporating StepUp
Accounting™ into our system just made good business sense. It's a local company with Progress-based technology that seamlessly integrates with our existing application. It's just one more service we can provide our customers."
"Because our system is horizontally focused and based on the same Progress technology, we could offer Bluebird customers of all sizes access to a great financial package that easily integrates with their AutoMate2 system," said Geoff Crawford, president of ICS. "Due to the flexibility of the Progress OpenEdge platform, we can also quickly and cost-effectively accommodate a more customized approach."
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About Bluebird Auto Rental Systems |
Bluebird Auto Rental Systems (BARS) is a provider of cost-effective, turnkey computer systems to vehicle rental operations worldwide. Founded in 1993, BARS was formerly the auto rental division of Bluebird Systems of Carlsbad, CA. BARS offers a wide variety of fully integrated software and hardware products, such as AutoMate2,
NetRent, and e-rez2, all designed to increase the efficiency and profitability of any size vehicle rental operation. BARS is committed to keeping pace with technology in order to offer the most advanced line of products possible, as well as providing fast, effective help-desk support and on-site hardware maintenance.
Bluebird Auto Rental Systems is a privately held company headquartered in Parsippany, NJ with regional sales and support offices located in San Diego, CA - Dallas, TX - Pompano Beach, FL - Madison, WI -Toronto, Ont.-London, England and
Dubaii, UAE. For more information about Bluebird Auto Rental Systems please visit www.barsnet.com.
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About Innov8 Computer Solutions, LLC |
Innov8 Computer Solutions, LLC (ICS) is a New Jersey based computer software developer serving the New York City Metropolitan area. ICS provides effective solutions to business requirements using the latest in Client-Server, Web, and e-Commerce technologies. They provide solutions to a wide variety of companies in a diverse set of industries from Global 100 Telecommunications Giants to International Governments to Small Manufacturers. For more information about Innov8 please visit
www.innov8cs.com.
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About the Progress Company |
The Progress Company is a global supplier of software and services that simplify the development, deployment, integration, and management of business applications. The Progress® OpenEdge™ platform, with the industry's leading embedded database, delivers lowest cost-of-ownership applications that are rapidly implemented and easily integrated with other enterprise, extended enterprise and Internet applications.
With the expertise of more than 2,000 independent software vendors
(ISVs) and application service providers (ASPs), the Progress Company and its application partners supply more than $5 billion annually in Progress technology, Progress-based applications, and related services. Progress customers span 50,000 organizations in more than 120 countries including 70 percent of the Fortune 100. The Progress Company, an operating unit of Progress Software Corporation
(Nasdaq: PRGS), is headquartered in Bedford, Mass., and can be reached at 1-781-280-4000 or on the Web at www.progress.com. |
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### Progress and WebSpeed are registered trademarks of Progress Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. ASPen and OpenEdge are trademarks or service marks of Progress Software Corporation in the U.S. and other countries. Any other trademarks or service marks contained herein may be the property of their respective owners. |
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