Having data is great, but being able to use it is even better. Travelport, the online service provider for travel managers, wants to put the information collected during business trips to good use with the artificial intelligence Watson developed by IBM. The technology developed by the two partners, soberly named IBM Travel Manageraims to reconcile data from suppliersand business travel agenciesand means of paymentand Travel & Expense tools (T&E), not forgetting of course data from the global distribution system (GDS) of Travelport.
Objective: to provide informationand advice and guidelines on the best ways to reduce costs or optimise travel programmeswhile enhancing the passenger experience. " While other solutions provide only part of the story, IBM Travel Manager combines standardised data from key sources, enabling it to provide insights and a stronger benchmark than other reporting solutions. "says Fiona Shanley, Travelport's Customer and Marketing Manager.
" Travel managers can use this information to facilitate negotiations with their suppliers thanks to this real-time updated data. In addition, it enables budget managers to better understand and change spending patterns, and to improve monitoring of compliance with travel policy. "says Elizabeth Pollock, IBM's industry leader for travel and transport. This information will be available in a dashboard that will keep an eye on travel expenditure, while also providing predictive analysis.
