The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically changed the way organisations operate and, according to a McKinsey survey, their response to COVID-19 has increased the rate of adoption of digital technologies by several years.[1] the organisations' response to COVID-19 has increased the rate of adoption of digital technologies by several years. Working remotely became the new normal almost overnight, and as such, there was a need to rapidly accelerate digital transformation.
One area where companies have had to adapt is customer deployment. As international blocking measures prohibited face-to-face interactions, digital delivery capabilities became a priority.
Sabre Corporation (NASDAQ: SABR), a leading software and technology company powering the global travel industry, recognised the needs of customers during these challenging times, including the need to innovate quickly. The company quickly took action and employed technology and resources to transform to a digital-only onboarding (integrating and familiarising customers with the Sabre platform), ensuring that delivery was fast, simple and efficient for customers from airlines to agencies.
Typically, implementation processes involve working hand-in-hand with the customer on data migration, conducting a full series of face-to-face meetings and training sessions, and quickly establishing good communication and trust between all parties, which is critical for change management. Having to move to a virtual-only implementation process almost overnight involved rapid transformation, innovation and adaptability.
«Cuando Sabre se vio empujado al entorno de trabajo remoto, no dejamos que nuestra incapacidad para trabajar físicamente lado a lado con nuestros clientes se interpusiera en el camino de cumplir con nuestros compromisos», dijo Cem Tanyel, Director de Servicios de Sabre Travel Solutions. «La forma en que nuestros equipos y clientes han colaborado para ser pioneros en migraciones complejas de manera virtual es realmente impresionante. A través de la adaptabilidad, la agilidad y la innovación, hemos sido capaces de brindar implementaciones exitosas en circunstancias nuevas y desafiantes. Hemos adquirido información valiosa que ha cambiado y seguirá cambiando la forma en que operamos en los próximos años».
On the airline side, since the start of the pandemic, several airlines, including ASKY (the first Sabre-hosted airline in the West and Central African market), Croatia Airlines, Gulf Air and Vietnam Airlines, successfully migrated to Sabre Revenue Optimizer, Sabre's leading revenue optimisation solution, through remote delivery.
Croatia Airlines migrated in August 2020. Implementation of this complex project was planned on-site for the first half of 2020, but when the pandemic unexpectedly halted all traffic, technology implementation and training had to be handled virtually. Remote sessions leveraging virtual collaboration tools allowed for a continuous stream of group conversations and live interactions, as well as project documentation accessible to all team members at any time. The Sabre and Croatia Airlinesproject teams adapted to the changed circumstances, bringing together and collaborating in a constructive, transparent and productive manner, reducing geographical distance and ensuring project success.
In addition, Japan Airlines' migration to Sabre Crew Manager, which helps airlines control total crew costs while improving productivity, was also completed remotely.
En el lado de las agencias, a pesar de los tiempos turbulentos, Sabre entregó una implementación a tiempo con BIDTravel, la red líder en viajes de negocios y de ocio en el sur de África, y cabeza del grupo de Rennies BCD Travel, Quadrel Travel Management t/a CWT, Travel Connections y Harvey World Travel. Sabre movilizó virtualmente equipos globales a través de cinco zonas horarias diferentes para acelerar la «activación»; proporcionándole a BIDTravel la tecnología adecuada para ayudarlo a reconstruir la confianza de viajar del consumidor, y ayudándolo a su vez a crear experiencias diferenciadas.
«Teníamos recursos en más de 18 países, de forma remota en todo el mundo, y pudimos lograr un proyecto que normalmente toma entre nueve y 12 meses en solo tres meses», dijo Herby Seedat, CIO de BIDTravel. «Operar en una multitud de países de forma remota, cumplir con un cronograma acelerado de entrega de proyectos y lograr todo esto virtualmente es la transformación digital en su mejor momento».
In addition, Royal Travel, one of the UK's leading travel companies, signed a multi-year agreement with Sabre in December. Royal Travel implemented Sabre's intelligent GDS platform, Sabre Red 360, which allows it to leverage more data, content and greater flexibility to differentiate its offering, manage its operations and workflow more effectively, and help agents offer their travellers an enhanced, more personalised experience.
Despite the challenging environment, Royal Travel's business successfully migrated to Sabre using a fully digital programme, including virtual outreach that was completed before the contract was signed to increase the speed of project development. before the contract was signed to increase the speed of project development. The delivery was particularly complex as, in addition to a website and call centre, Royal Travel has a vast network of sub-agents that had to be considered in the implementation process. Sabre delivered virtual training to many of these sub-agents in their native language of Urdu, helping to minimise change management risk.
«Sabre ha demostrado un gran compromiso y apoyo hacia nuestras necesidades en rápida evolución durante estos tiempos retadores», dijo Waseem Majid, Director de Royal Travel. «La rápida implementación de las soluciones y herramientas innovadoras de Sabre, significaron que pudimos responder a las nuevas demandas del mercado y proporcionar ofertas de viaje personalizadas a cada cliente».
«La pandemia ha cambiado permanentemente el ecosistema de viajes, que requiere que todos los jugadores evolucionen. Sabre está adoptando este cambio y utilizándolo como catalizador para innovar e impulsar en colaboración con nuestros clientes», agregó Tanyel.
[1] McKinsey, How COVID-19 has pushed companies over the technology tipping point and transformed business forever, October 5, 2020.
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