Navigant International has decided to close down its Santa Ana, Calif.-based Aqua Software Products subsidiary and has let go its top executives, president Mark Ferguson and executive vice president Sarah Campbell. "We're bringing it in under CIO Ken Migaki, and so as part of that reorganization we're eliminating the two positions," Navigant chairman and CEO Ed Adams told Business Travel News Tuesday afternoon. "The market to sell or promote third-party middleware to other traditional travel management companies has shrunk." In a survey last year, Aqua said it had 24 agency clients. The largest are Carlson Wagonlit Travel and Navigant itself. Adams said Navigant will "continue to support" existing clients.
Aqua's marketing initiatives planned for the National Business Travel Association convention have been canceled. An e-mail sent to BTN on July 12 indicated Aqua had planned to introduce "Aqua Enterprise, a completely new quality control platform deploying advanced .NET technology that will change the standards and economics of QC systems far into the future. We will also exhibit our new Hotel Enforce product, an application to help agencies manage negotiated hotel rate solicitations and the GDS auditing process."
Ferguson joined Aqua at its inception in 1988, accepting the role of president in 1997, the same year Campbell joined the company.