Award Winning Web Platform for a Leading International Hotelier

EPAM Systems recently developed and deployed a new Web Platform that has been ranked #1 in 2012 among Digital Solutions for the Hospitality Industry.

The Customer

The Customer is a network of nearly 100 global luxury hotels and resorts. The properties are renowned for their combination of highly personalized service and authentic surroundings with high quality, luxurious accommodations.

Customer’s Business Situation

The company operates hotels in 35 countries. To better respond to clients’ expectations and deliver their brand promise on a global scale, the Customer undertook a task of re-inventing their Web presence. The company turned to EPAM to build and implement a Web Platform that will have the industry-leading features and comply with Customer’s sophisticated branding requirements.

The Challenges

The new Web Platform required:

• Increase productivity within the content management lifecycle of both copy and media streams enabling the marketing and Web support teams to produce rich and locally tailored content
• Enable easy creation and support of high-value products such as multi-property packages and group reservations and bookings
• Provide multi-lingual features to support international personnel and customers of the hotels
  

The Solution

As a base point of the new platform, the market leading Adobe Day CQ CMS technology stack was chosen for its ability to scale to both business and technology demands. Web pages, components, widgets, and various workflows were configured using standard features of Day CQ or developed custom with Java, HTML, and CSS.

In order to develop the appropriate reservation booking workflow, EPAM used Web services to create linkages with OpenJaw xDistributor (a product of OpenJaw Technologies), which was leveraged as an external rules engine.

Multilingual capabilities were enabled using translation automation software connected to the Web site engine through a bi-directional interface. The end solution allows for fast and convenient translation of Web pages into multiple languages.

Additionally, integration of internal and external systems was a significant focus of the overall effort. EPAM’s deep systems integration expertise enabled the various technology stacks and functional components to seamlessly connect as a unified single solution. A number of Web service-based modules were developed and configured to handle the online booking and additional services at the hotels. Apart from that, EPAM created rich content and media components that serve as building blocks for the Web site structure. Our team assembled more than 4,000 pages of the new Web site within 8 months.

As with all EPAM software engineering projects, the Continuous Integration and Build Release Management practices were supported by the company’s internal tools and processes.

The Outcome

The Customer has deployed a new Web site that has been thoughtfully designed to provide an industry-leading user experience. By partnering with EPAM Systems, the Customer was able to:

• Execute a new branded Web site with a scalable architecture
• Use a rich transactional functionality that supports online booking, management of user profiles, configuration and maintenance of properties’ inventories, services, and amenities
• Utilize powerful yet simple content/media creation and editing capabilities
• Leverage various embedded Web services: social media components, maps, weather widget, etc.
• Easily create user friendly mini-sites and event pages

A major Hospitality industry rating agency issued a survey on how a hotel’s overall digital competence translates into more revenue. It has awarded the Customer with the highest Digital IQ points and ranked them #1 among the hotel brands, stating that their new Web Platform has a clear positive influence on the shareholder value.

Technologies

• AWS
• Adobe Day CQ5
• J2EE, HTML, JavaScript, AJAX, CSS
• OpenJaw xDistributor
• OpenTravel Alliance standards