Proactive advantage: updated Portbilet TMC

Today, in all spheres of life, the same isolation stress scenario is played out with a special degree of dramatization, and those companies that adjust faster and go online will have more advantages. Vipservice began creating a new online travel booking platform for corporate clients a year and a half ago - Portbilet TMC. Online booking system Portbilet for corporate clients has been successfully operating in the market for a little over 10 years. Today, the time has come when Vipservice business travel customers will receive an updated tool that will significantly increase their capabilities in mobile ordering services, receiving quick notifications and advanced analytics under the TMC Portbilet ticket brand. This update reflects the transformation towards consulting and provision of additional services to customers of the Vipservice corporate unit. The development of the new Portbilet TMC was preceded by an audit of the current version of the system and global analytical preparation - 374 tasks for updating the platform were initially identified. A comprehensive assessment was made taking into account the current reality: usability of the interface, ease of login and user authentication, compiled Customer Journey Map, conducted UX tests. Vipservice has replenished the corporate business division with a new team of strong developers with extensive experience in creating large technology platforms. “Everyone thought of how to do it instead of explaining to the other why it was impossible to do something. There was a symbiosis of enthusiastic specialists of different orientations with a clear understanding of the ultimate goal,” ecalls Olga Dolgova, Executive Director of Corporate Business at Vipservice. In March 2019, after the end of the audit stage, the active development of the own platform for corporate business began. The tasks were subjected to critical analysis, having reduced to really significant 174, and tremendous work was carried out over the year. “The goal was to create an ecosystem within the holding, taking into account all existing IT systems, connecting OKO predictive analytics platform and the possibility of integration with client systems - CRM, ERP, including SAP, Axapta, 1C and others,” commented the technical director of corporate business Sergey Rogozhin. Moreover, the system is a "living organism", suitable for further development. The new TMC Portlet will reduce transaction time by 20%, and the integration time with the new customer’s systems will reduce from 3-4 months to almost 1, because it already meets many tasks and takes into account the basic needs of corporate customers. “As you know, the most expensive resource is time, and we buy it using technology,” Olga explains. Today, all key structures of Vipservice's corporate business are fully deployed with remote access; After 2 weeks, Portbilet TMC will enter the phase of active internal testing, after which it will be presented to customers. About three months are planned for this, and, since all deadlines are strictly observed, the process is not interrupted by quarantine, even continuing work is possible. From the technical side, Sergey Rogozhin identifies several aspects that the team can be proud of. Firstly, the system easily integrates with almost any IT system thanks to its open API. Secondly, the new platform has a full-fledged mobile application. For iOS, the product is already ready, for Android it is in the final stages. Thirdly, the entire Portbilet TMC is written on a single technology, so we did not have to create a patchwork of many technological blocks and various programming languages, or inflate the staff of developers, which significantly affects TCO solutions (Total Cost of Ownership). Olga Dolgova believes that she will be able to evaluate the result after a year of work, but now she is confident that the new TMC is an excellent system. “I learned a lot during the development period. The main value is our team, I have something to compare with. It is a well-known fact - if we look towards one goal, then 1 + 1 = 3. We act quickly, speak the same language, we even like the same things - the brevity of presentation, the elegance of building the system, even the design of the interface. "We catch up with common ideas, and I'm sure we will be proud of the result of our work!”