02.01.2003 Printemps.com has chosen Fi SYSTEM to overhaul its wedding activities information system. Applications are built on the Microsoft .NET platform.

Printemps.com, interactive subsidiary of the France Printemps group, has implemented a new system for administering and managing wedding lists. This system, developed by Fi SYSTEM on the Microsoft.NET business platform, manages all the Printemps wedding activities. It is a multichannel web application which is available in-store as an intranet integrated with the paying-in system, as well as via Internet and Minitel (French electronic directory terminal). It has also been extended to the outlets of partner brands, Fnac and Conforama, via an extranet. This project marks the start of a complete technological overhaul of the Printemps wedding list management system.

With 16,000 wedding and PACS* lists registered in its shops in 2001, Printemps remains the top source for gift lists among young couples. Customers can register and manage their lists, receive donations from family and friends and make their purchases in a network of 20 shops.

The lists were previously managed by a mainframe system that the DIT of France Printemps no longer wished to maintain. A business project was launched in 2000 to expand the wedding list concept via the group’s multiple brand structure in order to extend Printemps’ product offering and geographical coverage.

France Printemps placed its Printemps.com subsidiary in charge of this project to migrate an important component of its information system to web technology. Fi SYSTEM was selected for the initial functional scoping mission, followed by the integration and technical development phase of the project.

Fi SYSTEM provided consultancy on migrating to the new system, determining inter-brand modes of operation, managing supplier relations, creating the on-line catalogue and implementing the project. Approximately twenty people were involved in the project.

In January 2002, Printemps.com and Fi SYSTEM chose the .NET platform to develop industry applications specific to the wedding sector. These applications were created in C# using VisualStudio.NET and fully exploit the .NET framework. Windows 2000 Advanced Server load-balanced servers handle both web presentation, with IIS, and the execution of these applications. Data is managed by SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition, where failover clustering ensures high availability.

Printemps.com only wished to invest its resources where they would generate value. Accordingly, the project team decided to keep parts of the site already deployed using the former ASP technology. Printempsadeux.com therefore constitutes a model example of gradual migration and coexisting old and new programming models.

Integration with the mainframe system was carried out by exchanging XML data on HTTP links. The project team considered that, in the present context, it was not necessary to implement an infrastructure of web services based on the SOAP standard. However, this approach will be adopted in future developments of the site. The objective is to make the printempsadeux.com product offerings available through a network of partners. The .NET platform offers great potential for this type of application development as it provides native support for web services protocols.

The .NET platform was chosen due to the development speed, functional flexibility, sustainability and scalability possibilities it offers.

The “Printemps à Deux” program/platform was launched on 1 October 2002 and is accessible via intranet from the 20 Printemps stores, the printempsadeux.com web site, the “3615 printemps” Minitel address and other partner stores, including the Citadium shop, 23 Conforama stores, 19 Fnac stores and 9 Printemps Voyages agencies. Since its deployment in June 2002, the new information system has managed more than 350,000 donations and 200,000 sales transactions and is used by more than 850 employees in intranet and extranet modes.

*Partnership contract open to both heterosexual and homosexual couples


  • France Printemps – www.printemps.com


    • Printemps enjoys an international reputation through its flagship Haussmann store (Paris) and 16 other stores, centrally situated in major cities in France. With its brands selected according to lifestyle and personalised services, Printemps is the top department store in France and positions itself as a true trendsetter. Market leader in the expanding sector of ready-to-wear clothing and accessories for men, with Printemps de l’Homme and Madélios, Printemps is continuing to modernise its image, stores, product offering and organisation. It is also using its Department Store expertise to develop new specialised brands, namely in the fields of sport (Citadium, Made In Sport), jewellery (Printemps Bijoutier Joaillier) and travel (Printemps Voyages). Printemps forms part of the PPR group (www.pprgroup.com). With 16,000 wedding and PACS* lists registered in its shops in 2001, Printemps remains the top source for gift lists among young couples. Customers can register and manage their lists, receive donations from family and friends and make their purchases in a network of 20 shops.

    *Partnership contract open to both heterosexual and homosexual couples


  • Printemps.com S.A.


    • Printemps.com, 100% subsidiary of France Printemps created in August 2000, manages the firm’s Internet activities. It specialises in web technology and managed, in particular, the project for overhauling the Printemps wedding list management system, “Printemps à Deux”.

    Bruno Teboul, Director of Printemps.com:

    “In line with our strategy to modernise and pool resources, reduce costs and increase profitability, we looked to the latest web technology developed by Microsoft to overhaul our wedding list management information system. This new platform provides us with a competitive edge in the market. Due to its flexibility, we have been able to expand our product offering to the Fnac and Conforama brands, thereby deploying this new tool and service to 63 stores…”.

    Press Contact – Valérie Dagand
    Printemps.com Marketing and Communications Director
    Tel. +33 (0)1 42 82 58 87
    fax. +33 (0)1 42 82 77 85
    Mail : vdagand@printemps.com



  • Fi SYSTEM – www.fisystem.com


    • Fi SYSTEM is a consultancy and services firm that integrates new technologies at the core of information systems in major European companies. It offers the experience and expertise of its teams to key accounts in France and abroad for projects involving distributed architecture, Web-based client systems and multi-accessing. This expertise, acquired over the past 10 years through more than 2,000 projects and missions, allows Fi SYSTEM consultants to assist clients in everything from consulting (technological, marketing and functional) to application management, by proposing comprehensive project ownership services for projects based on new technologies (J2EE and Microsoft .NET application servers; technical frameworks; Open Source; functional and technical structuring of Information Systems; dedicated software packages or specific application development). Fi SYSTEM is a “Microsoft Certified Partner”. It has been chosen by more than 60% of the French CAC 40 and 25% of companies listed on the Eurostoxx 50 and was ranked number 1 integrator specialising in e-business and new technologies (2001 rating by the PAC and Markess market research agencies) in the French Top 20 and European Top 120 fastest growing companies, all sectors included, in the European Fast 500 Trophy, organised by Deloitte & Touche. Fi SYSTEM has offices in France, Belgium and Italy. It is quoted on the Nouveau Marché of the Paris Stock Exchange (Euroclear 6588, Reuters FISY.LN and Bloomberg FIS NM) and is a member of the Euronext NextEconomy segment.

    Thierry Sainte-Claire-Deville, COO of Fi SYSTEM:

    “This new multichannel web application development project is no doubt one of Fi SYSTEM’S finest achievements :

    - Functional perspective : the application enables future couples to create wedding lists at several brands in the PPR group (Printemps, FNAC, Conforama). The donations and gift selections are made via the Internet, Minitel or in-store.

    - Technical perspective : the existing application has been completely overhauled from a mainframe to a final application. Based on Microsoft .NET architecture, this solution communicates in real time with all the store cash desks and payment authorisation systems and is synchronised with the product inventories of the different brands and the Printemps automated payments back office.”

    Press Contact – Virginie Heuzé
    Fi SYSTEM Marketing and Communications Director
    Tel. +33 (0)1 58 17 71 57
    Fax +33 (0)1 58 17 71 74
    Mail : virginie.heuze@fisystem.com



  • Microsoft – www.microsoft.com/france


    • Founded in 1975, Microsoft (quoted on NASDAQ under the symbol MSFT) is world leader in software for personal computers. The company develops, sells and supports a wide range of software and accessories for professional and home use. The aim is to enable everyone to access the power of computers from any place and at any time, using the digital medium of their choice connected to the Internet. Microsoft France, created in 1983, employs nearly 900 people.

    Since 15 May 2001, the position of CEO has been held by Christophe Aulnette :

    "Printemps.com has used the full potential of .NET by capitalising on their existing applications and integration with their partners. The proven expertise of the Fi System teams, who invested in the .NET development platform at a very early stage, was a guarantee that the very short deadlines would be met. I am very happy to see that this project has been a success, all the more so as it is a model for the type of partnerships that we wish to develop in order to serve our customers best”.

    Press Contact – Alain Le Hegarat
    Microsoft France .NET Marketing Director
    Mail : alainle@microsoft.com