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Thrifty Car Rental Centralizes Australian Information Systems Network

9 March 2000

Thrifty Car Rental Centralizes Australian Information Systems Network on The SCO Platform SANTA CRUZ OPERATION LOGO SCO Company Logo. (PRNewsFoto)[DM] SANTA CRUZ, CA USA 04/21/1999    

    Leading Car Rental Company Now Runs a More Efficient, Round the Clock,
                        Business-Critical Environment


    SANTA CRUZ, Calif., March 9 SCO today
announced that Thrifty Car Rental, one of the world's largest vehicle renting
companies, has implemented SCO OpenServer Release 5 to consolidate the rental
operation systems of its Australian corporate locations. Later this year,
Thrifty plans to rollout the same system to its large installed base of
250 franchise operators across the country.
     (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990421/SCOLOGO )
    The backbone of Thrifty's new centralized system is a combination of SCO
UNIX operating systems and Compaq ProLiant Intel processor-based servers. This
new consolidation allows a single view, enabling the quick identification of
potentially under-performing servicing operations. This also allows for more
efficient parts procurement and management; avoids cost duplication; and helps
ensure rental optimization by having vehicles available where and when they
are needed.
    Newman Emanouel, Financial Controller of Kingmill Pty Ltd., chief
operator, Thrifty (Australia), said, "Thrifty operates around the clock and
must be able to satisfy a prospective renter the moment he or she walks up to
the customer service desk. We can't promise this kind of customer service
without a reliable operating system running our in-store applications. Without
this, we risk losing the would-be Thrifty renter to the competition."
    The project was designed and carried out by Blue Sky Industries Pty Ltd.,
an Australian-owned systems integrator who continues to provide ongoing
systems support for Thrifty's processing center.
    Christo Simeonoff, Managing Director, Blue Sky Industries, "We depend on
the high availability and reliability that the SCO platform offers. This
system has run 24 hours a day, seven days a week for several months, without
ever once failing. This level of availability would be unheard of on the Intel
platform were the operating environment anything other than an SCO operating
system."

    In-Store Benefits
    -- Greater visibility of store operations
    -- Instantly track rental cars through various pick up and drop off points
    -- Speeds reporting of status of individual vehicles on "one environment"
       rather than reports from different store locations
    -- Quicker and more complete view of cost-performance of vehicles
    -- Central site link to Thrifty's nine corporate locations across the
       country via dedicated ISDN lines

    Thrifty's next objective is to expand the benefits of the "one
environment" by connecting every franchisee to the Internet. Customer service
desk operators will thereby have access to e-mail and electronic fax, as well
as Thrifty's national toll-free number, from every sales point.

    About SCO
    SCO is a global leader in server-based software for networked business
computing. SCO is the world's number one provider of UNIX server operating
systems, and the leading provider of network computing software that enables
clients of all kinds -- including, PCs, graphical terminals, NCs, and other
devices -- to have Webtop access to business-critical applications running on
servers of all kinds. SCO designed Tarantella Web-enabling software, the
world's first Web-enabling software for network computing.
    SCO sells and supports its products through a worldwide network of
distributors, resellers, systems integrators, and OEMs. For more information,
see SCO's WWW home page at:  http://www.sco.com.
    NOTE:  SCO, The Santa Cruz Operation, the SCO logo, SCO OpenServer, the
Tarantella logo, Tarantella, Express and UnixWare are trademarks or registered
trademarks of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. in the USA and other countries.
UNIX is a registered trademark of The Open Group in the US and other
countries. All other brand or product names are or may be trademarks of, and
are used to identify products or services of, their respective owners.