Global distribution providers next month plan to start replacing their legacy hosted traveler profile systems with GDS-independent platforms, which will create singular profiles, massively expand on data elements and become the foundation for travel management companies and other suppliers to develop the next level of personalized traveler services.
The GDS profile system overhauls follow development initiatives by travel management companies and other technology suppliers to create alternatives to the traditional GDS technology model. In recent years, the mega travel management companies and other large agencies have developed their own profile management systems to break free of the limitations of not controlling their own data files and operating in a relatively static user environment.
By revamping their profile systems, the GDSs seek to offer an off-the-shelf product set that typically takes tremendous amounts of TMC development and maintenance resources.
With the move off of the GDS-host mainframes and into relational databases, profiles can pool and transfer data from multiple information systems to create master profiles that will serve as the starting point of the reservation process on the front end. On the back end, the migration away from the legacy, cryptic environments permits the free flow of profile data to integrate with online booking tools, corporate payment systems and human resources databases, which often carry redundant profiles for the same employee.
The next-generation profile management systems are built on open, Web-enabled, configurable architectures with graphical user interfaces that further pull the agent off the traditional green-screen, coded environment and mirror the look of the new point-of-sale agent desktops planned to hit the marketplace this year
(BTNonline, Aug. 11, 2008). Profile information also can be transferred to new passenger name records, keeping reservations consistent, reducing reservation processing and enabling quick builds of group bookings.
Sabre Travel Network next month plans to begin transitioning agencies to its PowerPlus Profiles system, which some large corporate clients and travel management companies have been testing since November, said product marketing manager Brad Bennett.
Sabre's initial system release is free. Next year, it will release new at-cost services and tools, including data and reporting tools and a Web-based portal. The first phase will have 1,600 data elements and be available in three languages. Sabre eventually plans to migrate all customers from its legacy Stars profile system. Some of the elements, including the green screen, are integrated with the new user interface.
Travelport GDS in the second quarter plans to begin beta-testing its new profile system based on acquired technology from G2 SwitchWorks with a more general rollout later this year, according to Travelport GDS group vice president and head of products and services Neal Sunners.
Amadeus last year began building customized GDS-independent profile systems in 15 languages for travel management companies, based on its core airline IT profile technology in use for several years, said Amadeus Americas regional director of travel technology Sebastien Gibergues.
In the past several years, some travel management companies began developing their own profile management systems in an effort to end reliance on GDSs for their data housing. Other agencies and some corporations integrated with customized third-party travel management systems from the likes of Farelogix, Sureware and Trondent Development.
In the traditional environment, profile management was labor-intensive and time-consuming, and it was often difficult for TMCs and corporations to extract profile data and migrate it with other databases, such as online booking tools. "Where an online travel agency would already have control over most of its profile data as part of its core business, a travel management company in many cases has almost outsourced profile management to online booking tools, and they need to get this control back because that is key to the evolution of their models," Gibergues said.
American Express Business Travel is building a proprietary system, based on similar architectures and Web services as the new GDS profile products, that is scheduled for beta testing later this year and global rollout next year, according to Americas director of marketing and product management Rich Chinitz.
BCD Travel in December released the latest version of its profile system with an enhanced user interface and other performance improvements. The TripSource: Profile Manager now has more than 800 traveler and 500 corporate data elements.
As those elements expand and TMCs take more configurable control over profiles, agents will be able to use profiles to deliver new personalized services to travelers based on their trip behaviors and supplier preferences. "TMCs don't have the level of control necessary to minimize that fragmentation today, but in the future that may change," said BCD senior vice president of emerging technology solutions and application development April Bridgeman.
HRG's profile system resides in its GDS-independent Universal Super Platform and is in limited testing with a broader rollout planned for later this year. HRG has been using some proprietary profile technology. For some clients in Europe, the company uses the technology to link with its proprietary HRG Online booking tool, said HRG North America executive vice president of technology Ted Brooks.
The new profile systems enable users to build the master profile through data replication with third-party technologies, fraught with difficulties in the GDS-hosted environment.
With the ability to constantly update data, expand profile sizes and link across a multitude of information systems, TMCs can work with clients to manipulate data based on corporate hierarchy, generational groups and policy levels, then pull new layers of reporting.
American Express Business Travel senior vice president of global marketing and product management Lisa Durocher said the new profile systems would become unique identifiers, like personal mobile phones. "Suddenly, you can envision a world where you can push any type of content to any traveler wherever they are," she said.
In a practical sense, these technology advancements can enable an agent to push more information to a traveler about schedule changes, flight and security alerts, then offer alternatives based on traveler and corporate preferences.
"You can start to really introduce services that are customized to traveler preferences, which is an area where there is still some work by the TMCs to be able to build their own strategy of servicing the corporation versus serving that traveler as a potential leisure customer," Amadeus' Gibergues said.
The ability to integrate across other profile databases, including airline profile systems, also creates a new customer relationship management arena in which TMCs, airlines and other suppliers can tailor offerings and services to travelers or groups of travelers. In one scenario, the profile could create the link between a high-level frequent flyer membership and an agency's VIP services to upsell to the traveler or provide added support throughout their trip.
Agencies gain efficiency and new selling and service opportunities and avoid fees incurred accessing profiles on the GDS, and the GDSs benefit operationally. The server space required for profile storage cost GDSs large sums of money, and while an agency may house thousands—or hundreds of thousands, in the megas' case—of profiles, the GDSs can hold hundreds of millions. According to Gibergues, Amadeus hosts more than 120 million profiles across its systems, including those housed for airline customers, and retrieves 3 million daily and processes 5,000 hourly updates.