Business Specialties Technology
Aptech Unveils Latest Execuvue Software
July 8, 2008
By: Judy Feldman, Contributing Correspondent

Aptech Computer Systems demonstrated the newest version of its Business Intelligence Execuvue at the HITEC 2008 conference, held this June in Austin, Tex. Pittsburgh-based Aptech's Business Execuvue is now used by many hotel companies, including Starwood Hotels and Resorts, Extended Stay Hotels, Innkeepers Hospitality, Ashford Hospitality Trust and Peabody Hotel Group.

The new version provides for flexible analysis and reporting solutions in the hospitality industry. The platform is web-based, making for easier maintenance and access.

Getting information might not be difficult in today’s fast-paced market, but information overload makes it challenging to decipher the data and decide what you need to know. Execuvue Business Intelligence systems automates data gathering, analysis, organization and management. It offers customized, easy-to-read graphic performance displays that include year-to-date and also same-day comparisons to the previous year’s data, in categories that include market, brand, RevPAR, ADR, occupancy and other budget-to-forecast metrics for each property, and for regions--as well as other user-specified criteria. It also can manage data drawn from a wide variety of systems including Smith Travel Research. With its real-time access to key operation information, the system helps hotel managers build budgets and make adjustments quickly.

Aptech’s new version is based on the most recent Cognos 8.3 technology, which now provides a much wider arena of data delivery options and formats. Users can interface with Blackberries, email or dashboards and select how, when and what they want to see. All the various interested parties, such as corporate asset managers, investors, property general managers, revenue directors and regional controllers, can each look at what they need to see in a format suited to their own needs.

Recent new clients include the Atlanta-based Noble Investment Group. Previously Noble collected their data from a variety of systems. Aptech has provided them with an integrated platform, and is the only enterprise-database business intelligence system designed specifically for hospitality, according to Nelson Garrido, vice president of IT at Noble.

 
Recent Technology Headlines
card First U.S. Wooden Key Cards to Debut in Denver at Democratic National Convention
At the Democratic National Convention in Denver this year, "green" key cards will be used in Denver hotel rooms--their debut in this country, according to Sustainable Cards and their manufacturer CPI Card Group. More than 70,000 biodegradable cards will be issued and used in area hotels.
Mixed-Use Project Housing Fireman’s Fund Aims for Carbon Neutrality in 10 Years
American Assets Inc. has revealed plans for The Commons at Mount Burdell, a green mixed-use project on a 65-acre site in Novato, Calif., about 30 miles north of San Francisco. According to the San Diego-based real estate company's calculations, the 1.5 million-square-foot development and redevelopment endeavor will be able to achieve carbon neutrality within a 10-year period. The Commons will evolve on the site of a Class A office complex on San Marin Drive. Home to the headquarters of the Fireman's Fund Insurance Co., American Assets acquired the property last year and will incorporate the existing buildings into the project. Ultimately, The Commons will encompass 800,000 square feet of new development that will include a premier hotel, retail space, meeting venues, a fitness facility and daycare accommodations. Additionally, 710,000 square feet of existing space will undergo renovation.
'New Generation' of Synthetic Ice Gains Popularity
On a planet that’s getting gradually warmer, it could be one of the coolest, slickest recreational amenities, and although it’s white, it’s also quite green.
Nation’s Bridge Infrastructure Still Shaky One Year After I-35 Collapse in Minnesota
Just one year after the catastrophic collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minnesota, it isn’t a matter of whether another bridge will crumble, but when, according to an infrastructure expert. The danger goes beyond the mere safety of individuals traveling on that bridge, but also to the infrastructure of the nation’s business environment, too. “Infrastructure is the backbone of our whole commercial world. It keeps us competitive around the globe by moving products and people safely,” Barry B. LePatner, founder of the New York City-based law firm LePatner & Associates L.L.P., which advises on business and legal issues affecting real estate, design, and construction industries, as well as the author of Broken Buildings, Busted Budgets: How to Fix America 's Trillion-Dollar Construction Industry, told CPN.