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Sabre to move off TPF
- Special Feature
This is how it is described
on the Sabre website @ http://www.sabre.com
Sabre Holdings Corp. (ticker: TSG, exchange: New York Stock Exchange) News Release -
August 28, 2001
Sabre and Compaq Join Forces to Advance State-of-the-Art Travel
Technology
HOUSTON and FORT WORTH, Texas, Aug. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Sabre Holdings
Corporation (NYSE: TSG), the leading provider of technology, distribution and
marketing services for the travel industry, and Compaq Computer Corporation
(NYSE: CPQ) today announced an agreement under which Sabre will begin
migrating its mainframe applications to Compaq's NonStop(TM) Himalaya(TM)
server and database environment to create the next generation travel technology
platform. Compaq's technology will play a key role in transforming travel by
enabling Sabre to more efficiently address customer demands and make travel
shopping, planning, and managing easier and faster.
Compaq's open system will provide Sabre's customers a continuously available
(24x7) platform to power its dynamic air shopping system. Sabre becomes the first
global distribution system (GDS) to take advantage of an open systems environment
to power critical air shopping applications, which have helped fuel the explosive
growth of Internet travel distribution. The NonStop platform offers superior response
time and availability, enabling Sabre to meet the demands resulting from
exponential growth in the use of its shopping application. Sabre anticipates this
demand to grow as much as 70 percent year-over-year.
Once Sabre's dynamic air shopping application is fully integrated onto the Compaq
NonStop platform, airlines and travel consolidators will be able to update their
fares in the Sabre system faster and with greater frequency and reliability than with
any other e-commerce system in the industry. Sabre's ability to instantly update
airfare changes and seat availability through the NonStop platform will provide the
most accurate, up-to-the-minute information without interruption.
"Our customers will have access to state-of-the-art air shopping algorithms, based
on the most accurate and timely data in the industry, running on the best
computing platform for the job," said Craig Murphy, chief technology officer at
Sabre. "The move to Compaq's NonStop system represents a huge leap in travel
distribution technology that will ultimately transform the way travel is shopped and
booked, and enhance the interaction between travel suppliers and travel
consumers. Sabre's ability to be first to identify and implement new technologies
enables us to fulfill our vision for the travel industry and maintain our leading
position in each travel distribution channel."
"This partnership with Sabre demonstrates how Compaq delivers world-class
solutions for the most demanding business environments," said Howard Elias,
Compaq senior vice president and general manager, Business Critical Solutions
Group. "Compaq understands the complexity of Sabre's business and is working
with them to build the most advanced real-time enterprise that will provide
tremendous competitive advantage in the travel industry."
Online travel providers using Sabre's dynamic air shopping system will benefit from
greater access, availability and content, along with new innovative shopping
products, to provide the lowest airfares for travelers worldwide. This access to fare
information includes a vast, ever-changing database averaging over 45 million
fares and over 5 billion constructed fares (which are dynamically created for unique
travel itineraries) that are available through the Sabre system.
"Maintaining this database of fares and complex fare rules is no easy task with over
300,000 changes on a typical day and up to 2 million fare changes in a single fare
load during fare specials," said Murphy. "Now, with the NonStop platform, Sabre
moves its technology leadership to the next level by providing the best, fastest
solution for our customers."
With the new dynamic air shopping system, updates can be instantaneously
reflected, since the NonStop platform continues to process transactions even as the
new fares are being loaded into the system.
"Compaq's NonStop platform provides unmatched levels of scalability in a
high-performance, open environment at a reduced total cost of ownership. These
factors are absolutely crucial for Sabre as we continue to aggressively pursue and
implement new technologies that address industry trends and vastly improve the
customer experience throughout the entire travel chain," concluded Murphy.
Announcement Overview
Highlights of the announcement include:
Sabre's selection represents one of the largest Compaq NonStop
installations ever. The value of the deal (including Compaq Global
Services) is in excess of $100 million over the multi-year term of the
agreement.
Sabre is moving its air shopping system from a legacy mainframe
environment to an open platform that provides availability and scalability,
and decreased total cost of ownership (TCO).
The dynamic air travel shopping application is aimed at providing the
industry's best fare shopping algorithm on the best enterprise computing
platform.
Implementing the dynamic air travel shopping application on the Compaq
platform is expected to reduce Sabre's total cost of ownership by 40
percent, improve development productivity by 100 percent and reduce
cycle time to update fare requirements (rules) by 75 percent.
The open systems platform will significantly speed time-to-market for
integration of new technologies and third party applications. Moving to
common industry standard programming languages also means greater
access to a trained workforce.
The Himalaya platform will support the exponential growth of Sabre
applications as the consumer online channel continues to expand.
The NonStop platform will provide the travel industry's next evolution of
24x7 availability -- no downtime or system degradation for database loads.
Sabre's decision was bolstered by Compaq's strategy to move its 64-bit
computing platforms to Intel(R) Corporation's Itanium(TM) Processor
Family (IPF), providing a clear long-term roadmap for the NonStop
platform.
Sabre's decision was significantly influenced by Compaq's unique Zero
Latency Enterprise (ZLE) capability, which allows the integration of
immense volumes of information -- such as low fare and availability
information -- into one database for up-to-the-second accuracy and
real-time use.
About Sabre
Sabre is the leading provider of technology, distribution and marketing services for
the travel industry. Headquartered in Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas, the company has
approximately 6,000 employees in 45 countries. Sabre maintains an ownership
interest of approximately 70 percent in Travelocity.com (Nasdaq: TVLY), the world's
leading online B2C travel site; and it owns GetThere, the world's leading provider
of Web-based B2B travel reservation systems. Sabre is traded on the New York
Stock Exchange (NYSE: TSG). More information on Sabre is available on the
World Wide Web at http://www.sabre.com .
About Compaq
Founded in 1982, Compaq Computer Corporation ("Compaq") is a leading global
provider of enterprise technology and solutions. Compaq designs, develops,
manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions and services, including
industry-leading enterprise storage and computing solutions, fault- tolerant
business-critical solutions, communication products, and desktop and portable
personal computers that are sold in more than 200 countries. Information on
Compaq and its products and services is available at www.compaq.com .
Compaq and the Compaq logo are trademarks of Compaq Information
Technologies Group, L.P. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks
and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. This press release may
contain forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties that could
cause actual results to differ materially include: worsening global economic
conditions, increased competitive environment and pricing pressures, disruptions
related to restructuring actions and delays in the expansion of Compaq's solutions
business model. Further information on these and other factors that could affect
Compaq's financial results is included in Compaq's Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) filings, including the latest Annual Report on form 10-K and the
latest quarterly report on Form 10-Q.
SOURCE Compaq Computer Corporation and Sabre Holdings Corporation
/NOTE TO EDITORS: Sabre and Compaq are providing an on-demand "webshow"
with additional details on today's announcement, beginning August 28 at 8:00
a.m. EDT: http://webevents.broadcast.com/compaq/sabre01 /
CONTACT: Jim Finlaw of Compaq Computer Corporation, +1-281-514-6137, or
jim.finlaw@compaq.com; or Kathryn Hayden of Sabre Holdings Corporation,
+1-817-963-8086, or kathryn.hayden@sabre.com/
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