Business services provider Travelport and IBM have extended their relationship with a new hardware and software agreement. 

The new agreement continues Travelport’s ongoing program and investment in technology and includes upgrades to existing systems architecture and software infrastructure. 

Through its newly extended relationship, Travelport will continue the transformation of its industry-leading technology platform to vastly increase the amount of information and transactions it processes, while delivering the most efficient next generation travel transaction processing system.

Commenting on developments, Gordon Wilson, president, Travelport, said:  “This agreement extends a 35-year business relationship between Travelport and IBM.

“Using the latest IBM hardware, software and middleware allows us to support the more sophisticated functionality required by our customers and the continued growth of Travelport’s business.” 

Specifically, Travelport is implementing a cluster of eight new IBM zEnterprise mainframes, a system designed to secure and manage critical information. zEnterprise will primarily be used to run Travelport’s new IBM z/TPF transaction processing system, which enables extremely high transaction volumes and supports Services Oriented architecture services that delivers travel reservation functions through multiple channels including mobile devices, kiosks, and the web. 

These improvements will benefit customers in all segments of the travel industry, while delivering the most efficient next generation travel transaction processing system.

The company’s zEnterprise cluster will be integrated with IBM System x and Power System servers in a hybrid architecture.