INDUSTRY
Travel and Logistics
Data and AI in Travel Industry for a Memorable Passenger Experience
HIGHLIGHTS
- Travelport operates as a modern digital travel retailer by curating content from multiple sources and delivering it to agencies in an easy-to-consume format so that they can sell and service travel more efficiently.
- In partnership with TCS, Travelport transformed its billing, revenue, and incentive management system to support modern travel retailing.
- The transformation of the system will allow content suppliers, including airlines, hotels, and car rental companies to offer customers better options and high-value products.
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Overview
Travelport is a global distribution system (GDS) company that provides distribution, technology, and payment solutions to the travel and tourism industry.
Since 2017, TCS has played a pivotal role as Travelport’s strategic IT partner, delivering crucial services like application development, maintenance, and quality assurance.
Over time, this relationship has deepened, with TCS becoming a trusted partner in driving Travelport’s growth and transformation programs. In 2021, TCS started a new engagement with Travelport to transform its billing and incentive management systems, as the existing legacy system did not support the futuristic value-based pricing model.
Challenge
Travelport is a modern global travel retail platform that connects buyers and sellers through its next-generation marketplace.
In a bid to incentivize global distribution system (GDS) companies such as Travelport to better showcase and sell ancillary products and services (seats, baggage, meals, and Wi-Fi), airlines are adopting the new distribution capabilities (NDCs) of the International Air Transport Association (IATA). This shift pushes travel retailers to charge based on the value of the service provided. As a result, Travelport wanted to transform its billing and incentive management systems to align with this evolving business model.
Solution
Travelport partnered with TCS to transform its existing legacy billing and incentive management systems to SAP S/4HANA BRIM.
The goal was to support the transition to modern travel retailing by incorporating value-based pricing, new distribution capability (NDC) content, low-cost carrier (LCC) options, and curated content from multiple travel resources, all presented to agency customers in a streamlined, user-friendly format.
Since 2017, TCS has been Travelport’s trusted strategic IT partner. In this role, TCS has delivered out-of-the-box solutions grounded in design thinking principles and ERP expertise. After evaluating leading commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products, TCS helped Travelport select the SAP BRIM (billing and revenue innovation management) application, which was implemented on the AWS platform. Following this, TCS was awarded a multi-year, cloud-led, automation-driven transformation program for the platform. Leveraging the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe®) and advanced automation, TCS successfully supported this strategic initiative.
TCS played a key role in the program, contributing to the following areas:
- Business-critical outcomes: Leveraging its deep SAP BRIM expertise, TCS delivered innovative solutions to help Travelport achieve its business goals.
- Digital core enablement: TCS implemented the SAP BRIM suite on the AWS platform, using SAP Cloud Integration middleware and SAP BTP platform services to create a robust digital core.
- Implementation expertise: TCS led the deployment of Travelport’s new billing and incentive platform on SAP, providing a solution focused on simplification, automation, and best-in-class performance.
Benefits
TCS has helped Travelport significantly enhance productivity and improve time to market.
The key benefits of this transformation for Travelport include:
- Enhanced flexibility: The new billing platform will provide greater flexibility and accelerate the time to market for future commercial requirements.
- Customer-centric approach: It will help Travelport shift from a systems-driven to a customer-driven model.
- Increased innovation: By automating routine tasks, Travelport will free up time to focus on strategic innovation.
- Future-ready capabilities: This transformation positions Travelport for success in the era of modern travel retailing.
- Streamlined operations: It will simplify and speed up back-office operations.