Worldspan

and IBM

have signed a strategic technology agreement, valued at more than $350 million over five years, that will enable Worldspan to integrate additional IBM technology into Worldspanå‘s growing line of travel solutions and extend its use of IBMå‘s Transaction Processing Facility (TPF) platform. TPF is the high-bandwidth operating system and transaction processor that forms much of the software infrastructure for the travel industry.

Caption: Paul J. Blackney
, president and chief executive officer for Worldspan
Under the new contract, Worldspan expects to achieve the goal of lower costs and greater capabilities for its customers.
“The Internet has forever changed the dynamics of the travel industry and has challenged the IT strategies of most companies in this marketplace,” said Paul J. Blackney

, president and chief executive officer for Worldspan. “As the leader in the e-commerce arena, Worldspan is focused on providing increasingly robust, cost-effective solutions while addressing the higher processing demands in this fast-changing environment.

“Worldspan has long been committed to using and adapting the TPF operating system, and is a leader in opening up the TPF platform for greater Internet utility. Our renewed relationship with IBM will enable Worldspan to leverage our existing system with new technology to increase capabilities and continue to provide flexible, Internet-based applications for our customers,” Blackney noted.
“Deploying this open and integrated IT architecture will allow Worldspan to respond to the dynamic demands of online travel buying with even more agility and speed,” said Bill Diffenderffer, vice president, IBM Travel & Transportation for IBM Global Services. “This infrastructure transformation moves Worldspan closer to being a true ‘on demand’ e-business with technology that is able to scale more easily and economically to meet the variable needs of the marketplace.

“Utilizing the open WebSphere technology framework for its Java-based development will allow Worldspan to leverage its investment in its existing TPF system while using state-of-the-art Web interfaces to branch out into newer areas,” Diffenderffer noted. “In terms of scalable, fast, high-end, high-volume, high-bandwidth computing, there is nothing comparable to the IBM TPF operating system. It is a serious transaction processor which IBM is very committed to.”

“This agreement enables Worldspan to broaden the selection of technologies we use and continue to cost effectively integrate TPF into a distributed environment. We can now also use other IBM technologies to develop flexible Java-based applications that can grow with our needs,” said Worldspan’s Blackney. “Scalability, flexibility in deployment and the ability to deploy across multiple platforms will all be more important than ever in Worldspan products going forward. Our renewed relationship with IBM gives us more of the best choices for the future.”

Related stories on ITN:

(09/01/2003) TravelHero.com Selects Worldspan for e-Pricing

 

(02/12/2002) OTC Launches Envoy & Signs Deal with Worldspan

(02/11/2002) Worldspan Threatens to Remove US Airways

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