Virgin Atlantic and EDS Sign New IT Services Agreement

Virgin Atlantic and EDS have signed a new Information Technology (IT) services agreement. Through this partnership Virgin will get a new airline reservation system - the EDS (News - Alert) Reservation Services, a part of EDS' Transportation Applications that EDS hosts and maintains on behalf of its clients.

 

EDS, an HP company, is a technology services provider, delivering business solutions to its customers.

 

At present, airlines are facing mounting challenges with rising fuel prices, a failing economy and falling customer satisfaction. Amidst all of this, they are also under pressure to reduce costs and sustain profits. To address these problems, they need information systems that provide flexibility and help alleviate system downtime, passenger delays and unnecessary expenditures.

 

EDS claims that its EDS Reservation services are designed to ensure that IT systems provide airlines with the flexibility they need, while ensuring that their systems are reliable, secure, and cost-effective.

 

"We are impressed with EDS' vision for their new reservations platform and how this will enable Virgin Atlantic to exploit a service-oriented architecture (SOA) to provide improved customer services, greater agility and lower costs," said Mike Cope, IT director at Virgin Atlantic. "This builds on our long-standing partnership with EDS during which time Virgin Atlantic has grown to become Britain's second-largest airline serving the world's major cities."

 

The Electronic Miscellaneous Documents (EMD) in the Reservation services will allow Virgin Atlantic employees to electronically capture and account for ancillary sales, and Ticket Re-issue and Refund (TRR) software that automate a formerly labor-intensive function and helps to improve customer service.

 

EDS’ services are based on service-oriented architecture (SOA) which streamlines and modernizes its IT structures while addressing legacy systems and application issues – with minimal or no disturbance to their business.

 

With this, the airliner can offer improved customer services, greater agility and lower costs. The overall benefits are a higher return on investment (ROI) and a more agile technology system.

 

EDS Agility Alliance partner Microsoft will provide select tools, software and resources to EDS in support of Virgin Atlantic. Together, EDS and its Agility Alliance partners collaborate to design, build and run a market-leading services platform and develop technology-based services to deliver tangible client results.