Noxum and CheckMyBus implement a Cloud-based web portal for an intercity bus search engine in Windows Azure with a mutual development team.

The founders of hotel.de had the idea for CheckMyBus: an intercity bus search engine in which the visitors can receive information about departure times as well as arrival times, travel duration, availability, prices and features of all relevant bus lines free of charge to find the best possible bus connection. Decisive for the success of the business idea was the speed of the market penetration. The development team from CheckMyBus and Noxum realized the web portal within the shortest time.

Würzburg, November 22, 2013 – Noxum GmbH, specialist for content management and editing systems, implemented the web portal CheckMyBus inside only a few weeks in the Windows Azure Cloud. The PIM and content management system used to manage the content of the web portal, as well as web technology and Cloud services of Noxum are all used in the Azure Cloud.

Project goals

• Online portal / search engine for intercity busses
• Cloud-based CMS running under Windows Azure
• Flexible architecture for future extensions
• Availability of the web offer even with high load and automatic, load-dependent scaling
• Management security in the system and continually updated data on the intercity bus lines

Project implementation with Noxum

CheckMyBus purchased all-inclusive developer and consulting capacities at Noxum and provided their own output like graphic/interface design/usability, testing, website crawler, project management and content editing.

The exact service level was iteratively determined in close cooperation with one another and implemented with priority-oriented software development. The responsibility for the time budgeting lay was agreed upon by Noxum and CheckMyBus.

Noxum conceived the IT architecture. For this, standard software from Noxum was configured, a website programmed and rolled out in Windows Azure. Additionally the website was built with responsive web design concepts: special attention was given to an ideal display on the iPad and mobile telephones.

Project success

www.checkmybus.de went online on schedule and within budget. The IT architecture delivers a fast web connection and the latest data of the intercity bus lines on the web portal. For this purpose there is an interface to the systems of the intercity bus lines created by the developers from CheckMyBus. All routes are additionally checked and released by the CheckMyBus online editors in Noxum Publishing Studio. As soon as a route is released the information is immediately and automatically updated.

The capacity of the web servers can be load-dependently scaled. This is important since the web offer must stay available even when the number of simultaneous hits increases greatly. And this is to be expected in the future: the founders of CheckMyBus plan to quickly expand the European content and to attain mid term an internationally leading market position.