The Road More Traveled (or Taking the Wrong Road)

In the summer of 2004, we were invited into an extensive RFP process with a large international operator. After extensive due diligence, we were selected as one of 3 finalists. The operator informed the contenders that each would have to endure a 3 day intensive demonstration process with very specific tasks that had to be completed.

We successfully went through the process and received rave reviews from the operator's staff and subject matter experts. We left confident that, the operator would select us, because, by their own account, our system functionally out performed the 2 competitors that went before us.

Alas, good fortune would turn a blind eye. To our dismay, the President called us and said “we are so sorry, but we just can't go with you and we're picking another vendor.” He told us “your system was technically superior to all the others, but we are just afraid it is too new. The other vendor has many systems up in Europe and they have a bigger track record.” Also, he stated that “the other system has a template based consumer web solution” (see why they are Bad). We told him to beware, because it sounded like more eye candy than a sound business system. He apologized and said, "We just can't take the risk." So the more traveled road was taken.

Time passed, over half a year later, the well traveled road reached a dead-end and the project was terminated. The seemingly safe bet, they "Discovered", was just not capable of meeting their business needs and did not deliver as promised...Meanwhile, we delivered and implemented a complete enterprise solution to Uniworld Cruises that is up and running at full capacity, and installed Viking River Cruises.

Moral: Whoever you choose, the safe bet is the provider that can demonstrate that they the have the talent, technology, and desire to get a job done.

We get jobs done right, and our technology is the most technically sound. Is there anything else that matters when your business is on the line? Will this large operator take the right road? Yes, but first they have recover from the time and costs they lost.

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How hard could it be. Half of two is what?

Do you want a partner that's average?

In tackling the problem of segmentation, things get a little tricky and its no suprise the no system that we know of can handle true segmentation other than Longitude.

The issue is appears decievingly simple, but in reality is its exteremely complex. It requires dividing a trip's time space at logical points and managing the pieces and parts that get created by splitting a sailing into segments. For example, if you have a 4 day cruise that has 3 points for possible embarkation and disembarkation, you have a lot of combinations to deal with (Combo 1 =3 Days. Combo 2 = 1st Day, then Days 2 & 3, and Option 3 =Days 1 & 2, and Day 3). Of course, this must be multplied by numerous cabins that can split different ways as well. It is further complicated by the fact that segmenting could occurring on other ships that are in close proximity in time and space. Thus, it is possible to recombine segments across one or more other departures that might be sequential in time and proximity (the easiest example of combing elements that are close in time and space is a simple "back to back cruise").

This problem quickly turned into a very complex problem, because while splitting into any number of different segments is technically possible, the real problem is everytime yoy create a segment, you create an orphan (the other part of the trip). Thus, the problem became, how do you manage orphaned inventory segments so they don't become stranded and yield drops with alot of broken, unused segments. In fact, we recognized that you might take an orphan segment and have to further segment it in order to take a piece to cobine with other inventory.

After considerable effort, we invented a novel solution that borrowed from our communciations backgrounds. We employed a logical time division multiplexing (TDM) scheme with tokens. Using this method, we were able to create an architecture that allows us to manage, account for, and recombine ineventory segments and place them back into inventory for sale without creating predefined segment blocks. Rather, it became possible to manage any increment of time without artifically creating pre-defined segment periods. Coupled with the geo-information system architecture, we were able to manage both time and locational space. This system allows us to literally build an unlimited duration, back to back series of segments across any number of cruise and land segments, and to manage the other logical segments. But it also allows us to manage time blocks on much smaller scales as well. In fact, the same system can literally manage resources by the minute!

Result: Innovation and creativity allowed us to develop the most flexible inventory segementation capability in the world.

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