KDS Selected For UK Government Online Travel Management Contract
London (PRWEB) September 14, 2007 -- KDS, European leader in on-demand business travel and expense management solutions, announced today that its flagship product KDS Corporate has been selected to manage online travel booking for the UK Government.
KDS is part of a consortium led by Capgemini UK plc that has won the contract to design and operate a new electronic travel booking service for use across UK Government departments. This will be a true cross-departmental shared service, which will enable the participating departments to realise substantial savings through improved management of travel booking and expenditure. The first user of the service will be the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Group Captain Andy Towler, Defence Travel Modernisation Team Leader, said: "This service is a key component of modernising travel within the Department, which will simplify the travel booking process by allowing journeys to be arranged online."
KDS was selected both for its user friendliness and its ability to handle complex requirements. KDS' graphical user interface, inspired by the best Internet consumer sites, makes it simple to search and book trips online without extensive training.
To handle what is generally considered to be the largest travel account in the UK it was critical that the solution accommodate heavy loads and varied environments. KDS Corporate's scalability and configuration flexibility was carefully reviewed and found to be the most complete solution against an extensive set of functional and security requirements.
"KDS is proud to have been selected to provide the UK Ministry of Defence's online travel solution. We believe that KDS and our partners are well placed to meet the exacting requirements of the MoD for travel inventory, ease of use and, of course, security. We are excited about the opportunity to work with the MoD and other government departments to drive improved value for money for their travel spend," said Yves Weisselberger, CEO of KDS.
KDS Corporate provides extensive direct connectivity to suppliers outside GDS distribution systems, including all major low cost carriers and UK and European railways. Travellers are able to easily compare their different options as, uniquely to KDS, all are displayed together on a single screen.
The contract was awarded by OGCbuying.solutions and covers the design and implementation of the service, as well as its operation for five years. OGCbuying.solutions is an executive agency of the Office of Government Commerce within H.M.Treasury. The third consortium member working with KDS and Capgemini is travel management company Carlson Wagonlit Travel.
The deployment for the MoD will provide 300,000 staff around the world -- covering both civil servants and armed forces -- with a quick, easy and secure solution for planning and booking travel. For use by individual travellers or arrangers, the online tool will have a look and feel familiar to anyone who has booked a holiday or business trip online.
The departments using the system will also benefit from access to in-depth reporting, including details of low cost carrier usage and potential savings foregone, as highlighted by KDS' 'lost savings' feature, as well as more general travel pattern data. The service will give the MoD greater visibility of its travel expenditure and help ensure that its staff travel efficiently and cost effectively.
Cliff Evans, MoD Account Director at Capgemini, said: "We found KDS Corporate to be the most suitable solution for the UK Government. It is extremely simple to use for travel booking while providing travel managers advanced policy monitoring features and offering the stringent security required by the Government."
The new system will provide an important step forward for the Government's shared services agenda, enabling substantial cost savings to be realised by multiple departments through the secure use of the latest online technology.
About KDS:
KDS on-demand travel & expense offers a completely integrated solution for travel and expense management, addressing essential needs ranging from travel policy definition and enforcement, to online travel self-booking, to automated travel expense processing and beyond. Every critical procedure can be completed through the KDS ASP offering, resulting in greater efficiencies and associated financial benefits. In addition, KDS offers the most extensive back-end connectivity to airline, car, rail and hotel providers in the industry, ensuring optimized pricing and up-to-the-minute inventory control. For more information, visit www.kds.com.
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