Impact of cloud computing on Travel Industry Somenath Nag Abstract The economic uncertainty, ever changing market dynamics, changing competition landscape, emergence of new channels of distribution, and increasing costs has created new challenges for travel companies, especially in the methods used to distribute travel products and still achieve profitable growth. Travel companies are now realizing the importance of adopting different strategies for effectively using multiple channels of distribution in order to maximize sales and revenues. To achieve the stated goal, companies need to manage the technology disruptions well by using them to create competitive advantages. This paper discusses how cloud computing, a disruptive force, has the potential to change the face of travel distribution systems and be leveraged for competitive advantage.
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8/6/2019 BSI-Impact of Cloud Computing on Travel Industry
integrating different social media components with their sites. Of course, more number of channels
also increases complexities in product management.
Cloud computing from a travel distribution perspective
The Cloud helps enterprises to have a dynamically scalable abstracted computing infrastructure that
is available on-demand and on a pay-per-use basis. This model not only saves the IT teams from
investing heavily on infrastructure, but also shields them from the intricacies involved in
infrastructure setup and management. Presently, apart from providing the on-demand IT
infrastructure, cloud service providers typically provide interfaces for other related IT managementservices.
To understand the application of Cloud computing to the travel industry, availability searching or
shopping is probably the best example; it is by and large the biggest resource consumer in a typical
travel process. In today’s circumstances, travel enterprises who run their entire travel application on
a single infrastructure platform put unnecessary stress on operational budgets. One of the probable
solutions to this problem is to decouple the availability search functionality from the traditional CRS
system transfer it on an infrastructure that can support flexible demand. At the onset, it seems to be
a complex and upheaval task, as it creates operational challenges such as latency. However, these
challenges can be handled through a cloud based solution which offers higher scalability by usingmodern architecture patterns.
On the other hand, mobility is witnessing an unprecedented growth in demand - this is another area
where a cloud strategy can bring in competitive advantages for travel organizations. The key
challenges that travel enterprises are facing today regarding mobile and social media channels are
manifold, viz.,
With the advancements of mobile devices such as iPhone, iPad, Android, Symbian, and
Blackberry, travel enterprises need to invest in leveraging these to further their distribution
and fulfillment channels.
Mobility, being a rapidly evolving technology, is difficult to predict in terms of short term aswell as long term demand. Due to this, travel enterprises are facing a challenge in scoping
the required infrastructure for supporting mobility channel.
Travel enterprises need to create a business model to measure increase in revenue and
profit against the costs incurred on mobility & social media investments.
Cloud based flexible and on-demand infrastructure enables a travel enterprise to offer mobility and
social media channels without incurring any fixed cost. Using a cloud infrastructure, a travel
enterprise can start in a small way and grow into these evolving markets with a lower risk and
financial strain.
A typical implementation of Cloud in a Travel Enterprise
The following diagram shows the typical implementation of a cloud based Travel Distribution system
8/6/2019 BSI-Impact of Cloud Computing on Travel Industry
and systems that interface with the core travel distribution system.
Key concerns in adopting cloud based system
Availability of a Service
Organizations worry about whether utility computing services will have adequate availability, andthis makes them wary of Cloud Computing. But in reality, cloud infrastructure providers such as
Amazon and Google have much lower outage compared to any internal IT system.
Data lock-in
The primary way to access the cloud platforms is through proprietary APIs. Thus, enterprises feel
that they cannot easily extract their data and programs from one site to run on another. But in
reality, all major service providers have an obligation in their contract to return the data to the
enterprise. These service providers also have data access APIs that can be used to extract data in
standard formats.
8/6/2019 BSI-Impact of Cloud Computing on Travel Industry
Improved operational efficiency due to low marginal cost
Ability to manage risks better by reducing fixed investment on any new initiative
About Blue Star Infotech Ltd.
Blue Star Infotech (BSI) helps global mid-market enterprises derive measurable business outcomes through
the use of IT. BSI partners with its clients to understand the business pain points, arrive at the appropriate ITled interventions and manage successful implementation. Using its deep understanding of the mid-market
segment, and drawing upon its long standing track record in creating IT solutions, BSI is able to deliver
affordable and relevant solutions through client-friendly flexible engagement models.
Blue Star Infotech’s dual expertise in building software products for industry -leading Independent Software
Vendors and IT solutions for enterprises provides it with a unique advantage to cross-leverage experiences increating solutions for enterprises- both custom and products – across domains and technology platforms.
Blue Star Infotech is a domain and technology expert in the travel industry. BSI enables travel companies toleverage technology to reach out to their target customers in multiple ways to gain market share, competitive
advantage and accelerate their time to market. BSI has a proven track record in providing travel distribution
solutions, mobility solutions, and other technology-based solutions to improve business outcomes of travelcompanies. Some of BSI’s clients are Costco Travel, Auto Clubs of America, Cleartrip, Groople, and Trisept.
BSI, an ISO & CMMi certified company, also has technology partnerships with companies like Microsoft,Oracle, Hewlett Packard, SAS, Kentico, Sitecore, and Platform Lab.
In addition, BSI is backed by the reputed Blue Star Group, ranked among Asia’s best sub billion businesses by
Forbes.
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