A data warehouse (DWH) can support decision-making. We show you how.
As the saying goes, “You can’t manage what you can’t measure.” It is the same in the business travel sector. The basis for this is the collection and consolidation of data in order to obtain the relevant information.
Many times I am asked: “What are the characteristics of a good, flexible, modern Online Booking Tool (OBT) for travel?” Some of the existing ones carry a lot of baggage, which makes them less flexible. They are and in constant competition with rapidly changing consumer applications. But those ‘legacy’ OBTs provide stability, even though they may not look nice. Manufacturers try to facelift or re-develop them, but I ask the question: Does a business travel online booking tool really need to be fancy and compete with all the consumer apps out there? Continue reading
In October 2017, I wrote a blog about the technical and commercial challenges of NDC. The title was “The reality behind NDC: Why NDC won’t break down the GDS oligopoly – yet”; A year later, I guess one can say for sure that the last word “yet” of the title can be erased. The New Distribution Capability – or in short NDC – will come that’s for sure, but primarily through the GDSs! Continue reading
It sounds so easy to use NDC, but the reality is: Not too many bookings are being made. Why?
Airlines including Lufthansa, British Airways, Iberia and American have announced direct connect initiatives via NDC. They either introduced charges to book through a GDS or will be offering additional capabilities if booked directly through their NDC interface. When it comes to costs (or certain fares not being available in preferred channels) it affects everybody. It sounds so easy to use NDC, but the reality is: Not too many bookings are being made – especially for business travel. Why is that? Continue reading
A German magazine reports that politics may pave the way for ground transportation intermediaries such as Uber, Lyft etc. to legally challenge the legacy taxi monopoly in Germany – the largest travel market in Europe.
Laws from the 1960s or even 1930s are not appropriate for innovation as part of the digital age. Some laws protect an industry that failed to innovate over years. Also, chauffeur driven ride sharing is currently not allowed in Germany, even though it would relieve heavily congested road significantly. Continue reading
Laura Kempf
At the Google I/O developer conference that took place in mid-May, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced to around 7,000 guests nothing less than a change of course towards artificial intelligence. But the company’s objectives remain virtually unchanged: to collect data and win over new customers.
The topic dominating the conference: intelligence, or more specifically, artificial intelligence (AI). With the help of AI, devices will understand their users in the future even better than before, making their lives much easier. Continue reading
Gabi Rabl
Migration, new product development, standard software, outsourcing – or perhaps a mix? My decision guidance for your IT modernization.
In my last blog post, I illustrated the central challenges to IT modernization and concluded that due to growing lifespans, legacy systems can increasingly become liabilities. Have you also come to the conclusion that your applications and development technology need to be modernized, and have you worked past all concerns that stood in the way of reorganization? Then it is now time to consider the “how”. Continue reading
Gabi Rabl
Never change a running system: Our old IT landscape (still) works – so why should we change it? Some companies are highly skeptical. Let’s take a glance at the main obstacles in IT modernization.
At the beginning of 2015, I discussed modernizing IT landscapes and replacing legacy systems, something that often accompanies the process. Back then, I concluded that IT modernization is nowhere near close to completion, despite new technologies and automatic migration processes. Even with digitization putting more and more pressure on the situation. Continue reading
Gabi Rabl
Many companies’ application landscapes have grown over time and were added to time and again. Complex interfaces, insufficient documentation, and obsolete development environments result in more and more effort. Changing requirements make an IT modernization necessary – does this apply to you, too?
Some time ago, I presented you the four ways of IT modernization in an infographic. Back then, I suggested that deciding which path to take requires careful consideration and can’t happen overnight. Quite often, however, IT administrators already have difficulty in deciding whether to modernize their IT or not.
Let the corporate travel war begin? The market for business-trip booking tools is moving forward – one might even say it’s one “jumbo merger” after another.
What began in 2014 with the takeover of Concur by SAP continued in 2016. KDS will become part of American Express Global Business Travel (GBT) and Amadeus is well on its way to completely take over I-Fao with its online booking engine “Cytric”. At the same time, Sabre is increasingly pushing towards European markets. The winds of change are getting stronger: this is also demonstrated by the fact that GBT and SAP Concur have terminated their reseller partnership. Continue reading
In the European Community the handling of individual-related data is regulated by the Directive 95/46/EC, which is deemed as one of the safest data protection standards in the world. It prohibits the transfer of individual-related data from the EC to countries without a comparable level of protection. Continue reading
We are all aware of the fact that Kerosene hasn’t been this inexpensive in years. So why is it that we have to pay surcharges on cab rides and flying hasn’t gotten any cheaper, too? Continue reading
Sounds familiar? Correct – Amazon and Uber share some common tactics. So why not join forces and let private people deliver packages to your home? Maybe deliveries with drones were a bit futuristic, but cut down delivery times to hours with private drivers seems pretty realistic. Do you think UPS is nervous? Continue reading
The survey makes clear that personalization and mobile are two important areas of the travel industry and will experience the most disruption. Continue reading
It does not only create jobs, but also lead to a better cultural understanding and improvement of the infrastructure. Tourism generated sales, employment, taxes and many other factors do have a great economic impact and effect the GDP noticeably. Our colleagues from online-accounting-degrees.net recently created an interesting research graphic which I would like to share with you. Continue reading
PASS based its findings on a complex study it had conducted in 2014 about the quality of 27 German travel websites. Continue reading
Steve’s point was, that it’s all about convenience these days. If you search for a trip, the system should not spit out 10,000 results but rather a couple of options according to travel policies and personal preferences.
The travel market is based on supply and demand. On the supply side we can find providers for rental cars, hotels, cruises, rail and of course air travel. Continue reading
