Northwind selected New Jersey based Ramesys as its first Solution Provider, to assist in sales, installations and support in the United States and Canada.  A year later, in 1999, Northwind added its second global partner, Anker Data, a Capetown based firm that services Northwind accounts in South Africa.  Following in the footsteps of these successful joint ventures, Northwind in the past nine months has recruited a half-dozen more dealership partners and plans to cover the globe with nine similar additional ventures by year�s end.

Software Solution Providers joining Northwind�s expanding global orchestra include:

• Asystech � A Santo Domingo based company handling Maestro accounts in the Caribbean, the Dominican Republic and parts of South America;
• Southern Point Inc. � A San Juan based company developing business opportunities for Northwind in Puerto Rico and areas of South America;
• MCS � A Cairo based company nurturing Northwind�s market opportunities in Egypt and the Middle East;
• e-clipse Computer Systems pl � A Sydney, Australia-based firm marketing Maestro, ResEze and Silverware solutions in Australia and New Zealand;
• Karpad Systems plc � A London-based POS software developer marketing Northwind solutions in the United Kingdom and parts of Europe; and
• Upsilon Systems � A Singapore-based dealership partner servicing accounts in Asia and the Pacific Rim.

�We spent considerable time and effort ensuring that our software solutions can be all things to all properties, meeting their unique operating needs and eliminating common global barriers such as language and taxation,� he added.  �It wasn�t easy, but our forethought in an up-front development investment is paying big dividends now for Northwind�s growing band of global clients.�

According to Dehan, Northwind�s development diamonds such as the Maestro suite of front-office products are why dozens of software developers and resellers around the globe now are eager to become part of Northwind�s global dealer network.  However, Dehan said only the top dealers � proven performers and local leaders in hotel, restaurant and corporate environments � will make the cut because Northwind is committed to seamless service and support processes.

�We are being extremely selective in whom we choose to partner with, requiring the utmost expertise and a like commitment to exceeding each client�s every expectation,� Dehan said.  �We have built our strong reputation one client, one project at a time, and we�re not willing to compromise in any manner our good name and the strong solutions, service and support we deliver.

�All Solution Providers undergo extensive training and certification on the sale, installation and support of our products and must be onboard 100-percent with our culture of Customers Come First,� he said.  �Although each Solution Provider is well schooled in our solution offerings and trained and staffed to consistently deliver professional service and support, we will participate in all project implementations in some level and will immediately take the lead role if any key issues arise.�

David Warren, Business Development Director for Karpad Systems, said the London-based POS software developer rounded out its solution offerings by adding Northwind�s entire Maestro suite of products to its sales portfolio.  Warren said Karpad in just a few months has landed three Maestro clients (independent hotel properties) and is in discussions with a dozen more as well as quite a few larger, regional-based hotel chains and operating companies.

�Before partnering with Northwind, for the past 12 years we were missing the PMS, Sales & Catering and on-line booking pieces of the solutions puzzle,� Warren said.  �By adding both Maestro Enterprise and bundled operating solutions to our portfolio, we are positioned as a single-source integrated solutions provider.

�Northwind�s Maestro solutions are installed at hundreds of properties in North America and these proven products now are beginning to capture similar significant interest overseas,� he said.  �Put simply: No one overseas offers everything that Northwind and Maestro do � a comprehensive package of Windows-based operating solutions that are fully functional, yet entirely flexible � and so many of our clients and prospects are in dire need of these products.�

Warren said Maestro�s Yield Management module and integrated Sales & Catering solution are opening doors for Karpad, and its hospitality clients� staff and guests in ways only before imaginable.  �In head-to-head competition, Maestro stands alone,� Warren said.  �That�s why we decided to partner with Northwind and offer our first PMS through our first dealer partnership.

�We�re not just saying this because we want to believe it,� he said.  �Our clients have told us as much. The level interest being generated in Maestro is sweeping across the United Kingdom and Europe and will only get stronger as more local installs and dealers are added.�   

Bob Lowe, a partner with e-clipse Computer Systems in Sydney concurred, saying that Maestro & Silverware are becoming as big a hit in Australia as the �Survivor� show taped in the Outback was in North America earlier this year.   
 
�Northwind provides all the training and resources we need to market and support Maestro so that we all, clients especially, can be much more successful in our day-to-day jobs,� Lowe said. 

�The single-database feature of an integrated Maestro PMS and Sales & Catering module alone is prompting many clients and prospects to request product demonstrations,� he said.  �When we throw in the Maestro Yield Management & Reporting capabilities, ResEze on-line booking and true thin-client ASP Enterprise solutions just to name a few features, many operators react like kids in a candy store � wanting to know how many solutions they can deploy how fast.�

Markham, Ontario-based Northwind, Inc., is a leading global supplier of software and eCommerce solutions that satisfy the requirements of virtually any size hotel, resort, meeting/conference center or multi-property corporate headquarters. In addition to providing complete true integration with Forsys� SilverWare suite of POS tools, Northwind�s Maestro, Maestro Enterprise and ResEze products provide complete Web-enabled suites of PMS, Sales & Catering, Web Reservations and Corporate Solutions. Northwind�s Enterprise Solutions span the gamut, helping hotels optimize core operations in areas such as the front desk, accounts receivable, sales and catering, global on- and off-line reservations, club/spa and tee-time management, centralized operations, yield management, corporate booking facilities, point-of-sale systems, work order maintenance and back-office accounting, among others.