Corsica Ferries relies on IBM Informix Dynamic Server 365 Days a Year

In 40 years Corsica Ferries has become the leading private ferry company for trips to Corsica and Sardinia, delivering more than 3 million customers each year to exotic Mediterranean destinations at a reasonable cost. Their business runs 365 days a year with a 24 hour reservation system that relies on IBM Informix Dynamic Server.

“We looked at all of the competitive database products, including Oracle, when we originally chose Informix Dynamic Server in 1994. The decision was based on high performance with a reliable database engine. After 15 years IDS still covers all of the needs of our company. We use Informix online transaction processing for our 24 hour reservation systems and decision support with our data warehouse and data mining. The IDS engine is 100% reliable – as if it were part of the operating system.” states Jean Michel Savelli the Chief Information Officer for Corsica Ferries. “The support and assistance from experts at ConsultiX from the beginning has helped us reach a high level of reliability, The production databases only stop when we shutdown the operating system. The IBM acquisition in 2001 has been a guarantee of continued existence for the product and serenity for the client, and the recent announcements from IBM comfort us in our choice.”

Support and systems expertise from IBM Business Partner ConsultiX keeps Corsica Ferries up to date and running smoothly. Khaled Bentebal, CEO of ConsultiX, has been using IDS for over 22 years. As he sums up his evaluation of the latest new features in IDS:

“The latest release of IBM Informix Dynamic Server continues the Informix tradition of being easy to use, with new features that will bring significant business benefits to our customers. The new compression capabilities can reduce disk space by a factor of 4, with no changes required by the application. Combined with the long awaited graphical tools, this release is all benefit, meeting the modern demands of the fast-paced IT environment. IBM continues to surprise us with a bag of new features for IDS. Like fine wine, Informix keeps on improving with age.”

Corsica Ferries agrees that the recent announcements about Informix Dynamic Server from IBM proves that their confidence in IDS is well positioned for the future. “I hope we are still using Informix when I retire, “ says Jean Michel Savelli.