OpenGrid names Adrian van Haaften CEO

SAN FRANCISCO -- OpenGrid, a provider of wireless applications to the lodging and travel industries, has named  Adrian van Haaften president and CEO. He was the CEO of Laptop Lane until that company was sold to Wayport in August 2001. Since leaving Laptop Lane, van Haaften has been working as a strategic consultant with with start-ups in the enterprise software and mobility arena, developing business plans, identifying opportunities and securing funding.

"We are on the verge of the next big wave of technology innovation in travel," van Haaften said, "this time in wireless. I believe that the growing pervasiveness of wireless devices and the improvement in mobile data networks make this a foregone conclusion. The Internet's impact on brand loyalty will steer lodging and travel companies to add a targeted, on-demand information and booking channel to its product distribution and marketing arsenal. The end-user, in turn, will be looking for information on-the-go, that is both highly personalized, relevant and served when they want it."

OpenGrid's flagship product, FastBook offers mobile reservations and wireless information exchange for the lodging, travel distribution and meetings markets.

Mobile distribution

FastBook was specifically designed for mobile travel distribution and information exchange, accessible from virtually any mobile device and easily integrated into existing CRS, GDS, e-commerce and property management systems to offer real-time travel inventory and loyalty program access for travelers. The platform also deploys as an internal lodging application, giving hotel operations and sales teams access to time-sensitive data and room inventory on the go. FastBook is currently deployed at Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

In addition to his work at Laptop Lane, Van Haaften brings over 15 years of travel industry experience from companies including Westin Hotels & Resorts, Pan Pacific Hotels & Resorts and the Riser Travel group, combined with a recent background leading technology organizations in both wireless and enterprise software arenas.

"I am thrilled to join an organization with OpenGrid's history of technology innovation," van Haaften said. "The growth in mobile data devices -- particularly within the frequent traveler community -- and the increased availability of wireless data networks make our solutions ever more relevant and critical to the lodging, travel and meetings industries. Mobile reservations represent the next frontier for cost-effective travel distribution and OpenGrid is perfectly positioned to be the leader in this area."

Hotel bookings

OpenGrid’s Fastbook, as the first true wireless hotel booking platform, is accessible from any mobile device, with full integration capability into existing GDS, CRS or single-property PMS and Group Sales systems. Fastbook allows hotels, global travel distribution companies and travel companies to offer their customers real-time travel reservations, loyalty program access and location based services like hotel directions, from mobile devices including Palm, Pocket PC, RIM and WAP-enabled cell phones.

For hotels, Fastbook finally enables true "management by walking around," van Haaften said, offering hotel managers real-time mobile access to crucial property management information. For sales and catering staff, Fastbook can be used to access and hold group space while conducting site inspections or sales calls around the globe, all from a mobile device.

Van Haaften cited a report by IDG that meetings and conferences represent 42 percent of all business travel. Organizations are heavily investing in automation tools to streamline the event management process, and OpenGrid can bring this automation to mobile devices, he said.

On the sale of Laptop Lane to Wayport, van Haaften said it was "a great fit for them, given their success on the hotel side of WiFi. The deal to sell made good business sense for us as well -- they were well funded and could expand the footprint, and it gave them an instant airport presence."

Founded in 1999, OpenGrid was the first wireless applications company to focus exclusively on the lodging and travel industries. OpenGrid leverages its travel industry knowledge and proprietary technology in mobile messaging, contextual information and travel transaction solutions to offer its core product, FastBook.