Worldspan technology development team integrates Trip Manager into Ariba Buyer, enabling PNC to offer travel through its PNCBuys enterprise e-procurement system.
ATLANTA, July 23, 2002—Worldspan, the
leader in global reservation systems and e-commerce for the travel industry, today announced an
agreement with The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. to integrate the
Worldspan Trip Manager® online travel
management solution into PNCBuys, the company's electronic procurement platform.
Based on Buyer
e-procurement technology from Ariba, the leading provider of
Enterprise Spend Management (ESM) solutions, PNCBuys automates and manages the
purchase of corporate goods and services for PNC, one of the nation's largest diversified
financial services organizations.
“The customized integration of Trip Manager with PNCBuys will bring us one step closer in our efforts to successfully merge all of PNC's corporate commodity purchases, including travel, into one cost-effective procurement solution,” said Troy Baker, Chief Financial Officer for PNC's Technology and Processing Services Group.
“The integration of Worldspan Trip Manager functionality into Ariba Buyer, a market leader in enterprise e-procurement technology, extends and strengthens Trip Manager's competitive advantage over other online corporate booking tools, which do not integrate with Ariba Buyer,” commented Mike Parks, senior vice president and general manager Worldwide Travel Distribution for Worldspan. “We are very pleased that The PNC Financial Services Group selected Trip Manager as their online travel management solution, and we commend the diligence and expertise of the joint Worldspan-PNC technology development team in integrating the Trip Manager and PNCBuys solutions.”
In addition to enabling PNC to offer travel through the PNCBuys platform, the Trip Manager solution provides pre-trip authorization using PNCBuys integrated approval hierarchy and integrated user authentication.
“We evaluated a number of competitive booking tools and were very impressed with Worldspan's turnkey approach to online travel management, encompassing cost efficiency, integration capabilities, implementation services, and long-term support,” said
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Integrates Trip Manager into PNC’s E-Procurement Platform—page 2
Baker. “Worldspan has established a strong team dedicated to the development and support of our travel program. That's the level of commitment we need to ensure a seamless integration and successful implementation.”
Worldspan's Enterprise Integration Solutions (EIS) group played an essential role in the Trip Manager/PNCBuys integration. The EIS group brings together cross-functional expertise in all key e-commerce processes, including business planning, product development, technical operations, and sales and marketing. This team of experienced professionals provided the consulting services and project management necessary to make the Trip Manager/PNCBuys integration successful.
Development work for integrating Trip Manager into PNCBuys has been completed. PNC is in the process of piloting the integrated solution with a defined set of PNCBuys users, with a company-wide launch scheduled for next month.
Today, more than 1,100 businesses have chosen Worldspan Trip Manager® as their online travel management solution. By migrating their travel procurement process to Trip Manager, companies can maximize compliance with corporate travel policy and strengthen preferred supplier relationships, reducing corporate travel costs significantly. With Trip Manager, corporations can realize savings of 20 percent or more on travel management expenditures.
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC), headquartered in Pittsburgh, is one of the nation’s largest diversified financial services organizations, providing regional community banking, corporate banking, real estate finance, asset-based lending, wealth management, asset management and global fund services.
Worldspan provides global electronic distribution of travel information, Internet products and connectivity, and electronic commerce capabilities for travel agencies, travel service providers and corporations worldwide. The company's three lines of business are travel supplier services, e-commerce, and global distribution systems for the worldwide travel industry. The Worldspan reservations system provides nearly 20,000 travel agencies and other users worldwide with travel data and booking capabilities for hundreds of the world's leading travel supplier services. Worldspan is the market leader in e-commerce for the travel industry, processing more than 50 percent of all online travel agency bookings. The company maintains world headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. Worldspan is owned by affiliates of Delta Air Lines, Inc. (NYSE: DAL), Northwest Airlines (NASDAQ: NWAC) and American Airlines. Additional information is available at www.worldspan.com.
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CONTACT: Patricia Cooledge, Worldspan, 770-563-7885,
email: patricia.cooledge@worldspan.com