DATABEACON KEEPS PLANES ON TIME LIKE A SWISS CLOCK

World’s most capable airport operations application adds .NET - powered Databeacon Smart Client Reporting and Analysis software

More than 17 million passengers pass though Zurich International Airport every year.  Jetliners and cargo planes land and take off more than300,000 times. 15,000 people work there, employed by nearly 200 different companies.  It’s a staggeringly complex operation and keeping things running safely, smoothly and efficiently is no small task.

But now the job of keeping the planes running on time has been made a little easier thanks to a partnership between a Swiss consulting firm, a Canadian Web reporting and Data Analysis software company, and the US-based technology giant Microsoft.
NeuroPie Consulting AG of Zug, Switzerland, has incorporated Ottawa, Canada’s Databeacon Smart Client Standard into its flagship product Zeus, an “airport steering system” based on the Microsoft .NET Framework.  Zeus was developed for Unique, the Airport operations company of Zurich Airport.  Zeus monitors and manages everything from arrivals, departures, scheduling and punctuality, security management, suppliers and more.  It is, in NeuroPie’s words, “the entire airport on a desktop.” The integration of Databeacon Smart Client Standard adds powerful reporting and analysis functionality to what was already the most capable airport operations application available.

Databeacon Smart Client Standard and Smart Client Professional are the newest versions of Databeacon’s proven Web reporting software based on the Microsoft .NET Framework.  In addition to its well-known self-serve explorable reporting capability, Databeacon Smart Client products offer easy one-click, “no touch” deployment over the network, near-seamless interoperability with Microsoft desk-top applications such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel, and an improved end-user experience.

The Microsoft .NET Framework is the foundation architecture for the newest generation of Windows-based applications that are easier to build, deploy, and integrate with other net-worked systems.  No touch deployment software designed to run on
.NET resides on the network in one location only.  When an end-user clicks on a link to access a file, the Databeacon end-user software, bundled together with the file data, comes across the network as a fully executable application.  The user performs whatever reporting and analysis is required then exits the application, leaving no software behind on his PC.

“That’s the beauty of .NET’s ‘no touch deployment approach’,” explains NeuroPie’s Managing Partner Walter Zünd. “There’s none of that mess with downloading a file, then going someplace else to download an application, then installing, and worrying about security certificates and viruses.  The user doesn’t need to know and doesn’t care that he’s using a new piece of software.  As far as the user is concerned, he opened a file and got some work done.”

For IT staff, .NET means that software applications need only be installed once, in one location, on the network. Modifications and upgrades are quick and easy as there’s no need to maintain dozens or hundreds of far-flung desktop computers.  With .NET, IT simply maintains one version of each application in one location.  Every time an end user opens a file, he or she automatically receives the very latest version of the application.

“Databeacon Smart Client products point the way to where software is going,” Zünd says.  “It’s the best of the thin client model and the best of the rich client model all in one sweet smart client package.”

Databeacon is continuing to offer and support its Java-based smart client products, now re-named Databeacon Open Client Standard and Open Client Professional, but based on feedback from reseller partners and customers around the world, expects to see a significant shift towards .NET.

Databeacon Smart Client Standard has an overall look-and-feel that blends very nicely with Microsoft’s desktop products. Interoperability between Databeacon and MS Office is as smooth and hassle free as, say, between Word and Outlook or Excel and PowerPoint.  Charts and tables created with Databeacon Smart Client products can simply be cut and pasted into a presentation or dragged and dropped into an e-mail.

It was this enhanced comfort level between Databeacon and the Microsoft-centric end-user applications that most impressed the team at NeuroPie.  The firm’s senior partners were well familiar with Databeacon, but it was only after the firm rolled out its .NET offerings in the fall of 2004 that they felt comfortable building it into their Zeus offerings.

“A software application must not only fulfil its functional needs, “ declares Zünd, “it must operate intuitively. The look and feel of Databeacon Smart Client products is a Microsoft style of design.  And this is a style that our customers are very comfortable with.”

That comfort is further enhanced with a much stronger end-user experience. Microsoft’s .NET Framework has made it possible for Databeacon to offer three completely different interfaces right out of the box.  The Databeacon Insight viewer is a multi-dimensional (OLAP), full- featured interface designed for the top-level power analyst.  At the opposite end of the spectrum, the Web Reporter viewer is a simple interface for casual users who want look-but-don’t-touch reporting.

Between the two, Databeacon Player is the perfect viewer for data explorers who want to do more than just look at a chart, but haven’t the time or inclination to become power analysts.

“When you view a report using Databeacon Player, it’s very attractive and invites easy exploration of data,” explains Zünd. “The interface is very much like that of the many media players millions of people use daily to listen to online music or watch video.  So there’s this real natural tendency just to click around and see what you can do.  And there’s enough power in it that you can really get some serious insight out of the data in your report.”

Zünd offers an example.  “Zeus offers a Performance Management overview where users can explore airport delay data. Airport delays cost mil- lions of dollars a year and understanding them is vital to operations.”

“Getting insight out of this data is incredibly simple with Databeacon.  And if a user wants to know more, they can easily explore the reports to dig into the details.”

This ability to easily create self-serve explorable reports using Databeacon is paying immediate dividends for Neuropie customer Unique, with estimated annual savings in excess of US$ 78,000 (90,000 Swiss Francs) because special report generation is no longer necessary.

Zünd says that Zeus’ power users will be using the full-featured Databeacon Insight viewer.  “But most of the data from Zeus will be going out in various reports to top level people in airlines and other companies within the system.  They’re not analysts.  But they all work on XP machines.  So if we can send them something with the Databeacon Player, they’ll be comfortable with it.  And if they’re comfortable, they’ll do a little exploring and discover new and exciting things about their airport operations which will increase the value they place on our system.”