SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Oct. 18, 2011 – When you visit a major convention the sparkle and excitement of the show floor seems effortless, but behind the scenes exhibitor and convention center staff are buzzing. Whether exhibitors need a scissor lift to hang a sign, an electrician for power, or just a new carpet, there is no time to waste. At the Austin Convention Center (watch the video), home of the world famous South by Southwest Music, Film, and interactive Festival, maintenance and technical services teams now rely on FileMaker Go for iPad, to manage work orders. Determined to deliver the world’s best quality exhibitor services, convention center management turned to the world’s most innovative tools, arming floor staff with iPads running FileMaker Go, the top-selling business database app for iPhone and iPad.

How it works:

Previously, work orders were based solely on faxes and paper — lots of paper. Exhibitors came to a service desk or tracked down a staff member on the show floor and ordered the requirements for their booths – electricity, power strips, Internet services, water and drainage — using printed forms. Orders were keyed into a work order system, printed out and placed in a cumbersome inches-thick binder that included diagrams and other paperwork needed to start deployment or fulfill changes.

Before using FileMaker Go on iPads, convention center maintenance and technical teams — darting from one end of the giant 880,000 square foot facility to another to fulfill exhibitor requests — had to tow along the heavy ring binder of work orders and diagrams. It was not an efficient way to help exhibitors get their booth and meeting room assignments completed on schedule. Something needed to be done and the decision was to go with iPads.

Within just days, IT staff were able to extend the convention center’s existing FileMaker Pro database billing system by creating a new iPad-based work order system on FileMaker Go for iPad.

Business benefits:

* $12,000 in savings annually because teams do not have to travel back to the service desk to fulfill orders
* Five hours per event — another $10,000 in annual costs — conserved by having booth diagrams right on hand
* Up-front expense for iPad systems and FileMaker Go was only about $5,500, resulting in an annual ROI of more than 200 percent

Watch the video and read the full story

Customer quote:

"With FileMaker Go for iPad, the project payback is less than four months with an annual ROI of 200 percent or more. Any CFO would love that."
— Joe Gonzalez, IT Services Manager, Austin Convention Center

Resources:

Learn why FileMaker Go is the fastest, most cost-effective way to develop custom business iPhone and iPad solutions.

* Read the guide for "The Fastest Path to Custom Business Solutions for iPhone and iPad."
* Download the free FileMaker iOS Deployment Kit.
* Find other FileMaker Go customer stories, from companies as large as Merck & Co., Inc. and Johnson Controls to small businesses like Acorn Rentals and PMD Promotion.
* Listen to our podcast series "Business & Database Solutions for iPhone & iPad" to learn how companies are using FileMaker Go to manage business contacts, track inventory, review documents and more.
* Visit FileMaker's "Business and Database Solutions for iPhone and iPad" Facebook Fan page. The site offers customer stories, YouTube videos offering how-to advice and much more. Visitors can also see photos of how to mobilize inventory management, contacts, and events.

About FileMaker, Inc.

FileMaker is the leader in easy-to-use database software. Millions of people, from individuals to some of the world's largest companies, rely on FileMaker software to manage, analyze and share essential information. The company's products are the FileMaker Pro line - versatile database software for teams and organizations, for Windows, Mac, iPhone, iPad and the web - and Bento, the personal database for Mac, iPhone and iPad. FileMaker, Inc. is a subsidiary of Apple.

Customer contact:

800-325-2747
http://www.filemaker.com