Carlson Wagonlit Travel (CWT) has signed a reseller agreement with Rearden Commerce to offer clients the CWT Traveler Assistant powered by the Rearden Commerce™ Platform, an end-to-end solution for booking and managing travel and related business services. The two companies have been working on the project for “quite a while,” says Brian Hace, vice president of client services for CWT North America, adding that many CWT clients already use Rearden Personal Assistant.
Preparation for Carlson’s newly integrated purchasing and service tool has been thorough, which officials of both companies say will accelerate rollout. “CWT is about the ost demanding TMC in the world,” says Rearden CEO Patrick Grady. “We had to go through direct implementation to prove the return on investment … but the hardest partner to win over will invariably be the best partner.”
That preliminary work will make implementation easier at the client level, points out Hace. Simultaneous with that will be the 2011 phasing out of CWT Horizon, its proprietary North American online booking tool. “Our clients were very passionate about the old platform because they helped build it. Change usually means a lot of work but this will be easy.” CWT Horizon, which was officially launched in 2002 as part of the company’s Symphonie suite, has served nearly 15 million travelers based in the United States and Canada over the years.
“This is a logical evolution to more areas of spend,” says Grady. Nevertheless, the final decision on whether or not to migrate to the new platform is up to CWT clients. The first client transition is expected to take place this fall.
The CWT Traveler Assistant incorporates personal and company preferences and is delivered via a single online destination. It is completely integrated with users’ calendar, Microsoft Outlook®, or Lotus Notes®. Additionally, the CWT Traveler Assistant will be integrated with a variety of proprietary CWT products, such as portal sites, profile management systems, messaging tools, and unused ticket tracking for travelers, and reporting capabilities for travel buyers.
“Our Rearden Commerce partnership gives CWT clients another option and a best-in-market solution for meeting the needs of both their travelers and their corporations, particularly as we integrate the platform with CWT tools for travelers and travel managers,” says Hace. “The agreement aligns with and further enables CWT’s broader objectives around optimizing clients’ travel programs while providing exceptional service and assistance to travelers.” Emphasizing the platform’s traveler-centric user interface and highly personalized trip planning experience, Hace also highlights the increased corporate visibility and control over total T&E costs that will be delivered by enabling booking of expanded and traditionally unmanaged travel categories such as airport parking, dining, and entertainment.