Cendant Travel
Distribution Services (TDS), a division of Cendant Corp. , and IBS
Software Services, a leader in software solutions and services to the
global travel, transportation and logistics industry, today announced the
formation of a business alliance to jointly market “iRes”. “iRes” is IBS’s
innovative new technology designed to replace less flexible, more
expensive “legacy” Passenger Services Systems and dramatically improve
airlines’ efficiencies, profitability, service quality, and ability to
respond more quickly to market changes. The alliance is part of TDS’s
commitment to expanding the services and products it provides to airlines
to enable them to compete more effectively in the evolving travel industry.
Under the agreement, IBS will have primary responsibility for product
development and support, and Cendant TDS will have primary responsibility
for product management, sales, marketing, and customer relationships. IBS
will continue to develop the “iRes” application suite, and provide
software maintenance and support services to “iRes” customers; while
Cendant TDS will manage the worldwide rollout and promotion of “iRes,” and
provide hosting services in an application service provider (ASP)
environment.

“iRes” is an innovative integrated system utilizing a new generation of
technology developed by IBS, which efficiently and comprehensively
addresses the full range of business functions that airlines typically
manage through Passenger Service System technology—including passenger
reservations, check-in, baggage control, inventory control, fares,
ticketing, and flight control. The open architecture platform of this new
technology is easy to customize and has the flexibility to support the
business models of all sizes of carriers, from low-fare carriers to
full-service airlines. The technology enables airlines to integrate their
distribution channel with other travel services such as car rentals and
hotels.

“iRes” can also enhance an airline’s revenue-earning potential by
providing sophisticated inventory and yield-management capabilities. The
multi-hosting capabilities of the technology effectively support ASP
operations as well as stand-alone, in-house operations. Unlike legacy
applications, “iRes” enables airlines to easily make changes and provides
flexibility to quickly respond to changing market conditions. In addition,
it is substantially less expensive to own, operate and maintain, allowing
the savings to go to the bottom line.

Flo Lugli, senior vice president, Airline Solutions, for TDS said, “The
airline industry has long needed a new Passenger Services System that more
effectively supports rapidly changing business processes and evolving
business models that can give airlines the ability to innovate. ‘iRes’
meets these needs superbly.”

According to Lugli, the legacy applications developed over the last 40
years are expensive to operate and maintain, as well as difficult and time
consuming to alter. In addition, even current providers of hosting
solutions to low-fare carriers are struggling with legacy architecture
issues. “We are delighted to offer this innovative technology to the
airline industry as a way to help carriers successfully respond to
constantly changing consumer needs and the continued evolution of their
business models. ‘iRes’ world-class technology and architecture, supported
by the IBS CMM Level 5 certified processes, far surpasses any solution
available today, and enables airlines to move to new innovative business
processes and away from outdated business models, while reducing costs and
improving service quality. ”

In addition to “iRes,” Cendant TDS offers a host of products and services
that provide competitive advantages to airlines. These include Galileo’s
360 degree Fares, the world’s premier in-house fare-quote service for
airlines, and Reservation Sales Solution, a technology which enables
airlines to connect to the reservation systems of nearly 300 other
airlines through Galileo for instant and secure reservations, seat
assignments and other special travel-related services, as well as leading
business intelligence solutions through Shepherd Systems.

V. K. Mathews, chairman and managing director of IBS, said the alliance
represented a realization of the strategic partnership the company had
envisioned as a way to fulfill its global mission for “iRes”: “Our vision
is to make ‘iRes’ the Passenger Services System of the future for
airlines. To do that, we needed a strong partner in the travel industry to
help us promote and establish ‘iRes’ as the leading technology. Cendant
TDS fills this role exceptionally well. Our domain expertise,
technological competence and resource strength, coupled with TDS’s global
presence, customer relationships and credibility in the airline industry,
will make this alliance particularly rewarding.”

Lugli said, “We comprehensively researched a more flexible, more
responsive solution that could continue to evolve with the airline
industry. In addition, we considered a number of potential business
partners who could partner with us to bring such a solution to market. It
was IBS’s world-class technology and CMM Level 5 certification that led us
to conclude IBS was the right partner.”

“iRes” is being developed and released in stages through three major
product releases- with the first release already available to the market.
TDS is already in discussions with several of the industry’s leading
low-fare carriers to become the launch customer for “iRes.”

Lugli added, “We believe that hosting remains a viable component of the
travel distribution business and we will continue to explore ways to
present a strong value proposition to airlines. Through our longstanding
partnership with United Airlines, we have extensive experience in hosting
and are pursuing a strategic path of investment and expansion that will
enable us to provide solutions to carriers of all sizes, from traditional
full-service airlines to the growing class of low-fare carriers.”
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