Measuring market orientation of Muscle Pharm Corp. (MSLP:US) REAL LIFECASE STUDY – REACHING NEW HEIGHTS | Page 17
Reaching new heights - Open source software application SabreSonic® Res.
Financial (Risk) – There is considerable risk of financial exposure if the implementation of
SabreSonic Res does not proceed according to expectations. As highlighted earlier, there are
significant switching costs. Moreover, information systems are fundamental to the daily
operations of the airline and this too would have financial consequences.
Operational (Risk) – Information systems are a core part of an airline’s daily operations and
there is, therefore, extensive exposure to operational risk. They simply cannot fail.
Contingency systems need to be available in case of failure.
Strategic (Risk) – The inability to operate from a single operating platform could have a
strategic impact on the success of the merger. However, it is still possible to revert to
parallel systems on the same SABRE ERP/CRS platform. This would be a sub-optimal solution
to mitigate strategic risk.
6. Final Recommendations and Conclusion
Based on the evaluation of the lessons learnt, identification of the key success factors of OSS airline
reservation booking system implementation and identified risks, we have the following
recommendations for Beverly Goulet (CIO) and her management team:
1. Ensure a smooth or step by step transition in integrating the two reservation booking systems
into a single SABRE Sonic Res. However, for crucial steps of the switching process, consider hours
or days where booking activity is traditionally low.
2. Successful implementation is brought about when key people are retained. Therefore, the IT
team should not be cut and management should make an effort to retain key people despite the
difficulties and challenges the merger will bring.
3. Use best-practices and procedures from both airlines and share past experience and knowledge.
4. Keep the customers in mind, adopt and amend only the things which work best for most
customers. This can be ensured by conducting online surveys after a reservation or by identifying
what customers are generally looking for in e-commerce or bookings.
5. Adopting the larger airline’s technology infrastructure, since Beverly Goulet has already taken
charge of this aspect, one of the most important points in the implementation of the new
SabreSonic Res has been addressed.
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