Macy's Parade Ditches MS Access for FileMaker Pro

by , 9:40 AM EDT, May 29th, 2008

Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group, the arm that manages the retailer's annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, has given up on Microsoft Access and is moving its databases to FileMaker Pro 9. The company plans to use its new databases to manage every aspect of the popular parade from organizing volunteers to keeping floats and balloons on schedule.

According to Robin Hall, Macy's Parade & Entertainment Group senior vice president, Microsoft's database offerings were too complex and often required days to extract important information in a usable form. For many tasks, the parade organizers found it was easier to export data into Excel spreadsheets instead.

"With our new FileMaker database system, time-consuming tasks such as assigning volunteers parade responsibilities have been reduced from about 10 days to just one or two days, and more important, we can better meet the needs and specifications of each individual, group and staff member," Mr. Hall said.

The group plans to expand its reliance on FileMaker pro with Web-based content that includes online volunteer registration.

Macy's move to FileMaker Pro shows that big companies are starting to rethink their "always Microsoft" choices from the past and are more willing to consider software options that may better suit their needs.