Three new partners for Zero Latency initiative named By Martin J

Three new partners for Zero Latency initiative named
By Martin J. Garvey with Jennifer Maselli

Even as its fate is being decided, Compaq is entrenching itself in the travel industry, a changing market long dominated by rival IBM. The very-possible very-soon-to-be division of Hewlett-Packard is lining up partners that will either support or build on the Zero Latency Enterprise offering it's selling to travel-related companies. The ZLE package typically processes between 9,000 and 14,000 transactions per second.

Last week, Compaq said Fourth Dimension Software and Web host Atinera are selling products based on Zero Latency Enterprise, and travel-industry value-added reseller Gestation Inc. is supporting the application. Compaq sees a chance to depose IBM's mainframe-based transaction-processing facility software, which is popular among big travel companies. IBM created TPF, which processes 9,000 transactions per second, with American Airlines Inc. 30 years ago. Analysts say TPF is too inflexible for a fast-evolving, complex market.

Zero Latency Enterprise, which runs only on Compaq's Himalaya servers, is a customized version of an operating environment that Compaq sells to financial institutions to underpin their networks of cash machines. It's designed to work with up to 4,080 processors and be easier to change than the cumbersome TPF. Also, unlike TPF, Compaq's software is designed to allow continuous database updates as agents create itineraries and customers book online. IBM's TPF handles 9,000 transactions per second.

Mark Wilson, a VP at Travelocity.com in Dallas, is reaping the benefits from his Compaq installation. He oversees a vacation-package application based on Fourth Dimension's Contour, which, in turn, runs on Zero Latency Enterprise. "The system allows us to market various products and build special promotions" more quickly than TPF would, Wilson says.

Travel transactions used to be part of the back-office process, Atinera president Yuri Vizitei says. That was great for TPF, but now it's all about online transactions. "Remove the call from the mix, and you're dealing with immediacy and possible payment," Vizitei says. "Check that. Book that. Here's my credit card."

While there are alternatives to TPF, says Forrester Research analyst Henry Hardevelt, Compaq's Himalaya system poses the "first serious threat." Says Hardevelt, "Himalaya offers the travel industry the reliability and throughput it needs, along with an open architecture to migrate some functions--and potentially all functions--off of TPF.

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