Travel data are available from myriad sources in today's complex
purchasing environment. Data come in almost as many formats as
there are systems for providing the data.
Data
sources range from travel agency data supplied by proprietary and
CRS-provided accounting systems, to data obtained directly from
suppliers, to payment data provided by credit card suppliers. These
data sources vary dramatically in their quality and
reliability.
Mega-travel agency data vary within the same company depending
on the continent. Information expressed in different currencies has
left many travel professionals unable to describe buying patterns
correctly. Consolidating data with this much variance is a daunting
task and virtually impossible with no common ways to get at the
data.
Consolidating data from various sources in a variety of formats
leaves managers vulnerable to unevenness in quality and data
handling policies that undermine the quality of critical purchasing
decisions. And these decisions often involve large sums of
money.
A common export standard is essential for managers to ensure
that all of the information is available to make good quality
purchasing decisions.
To assist the industry to achieve this objective, Prism Group,
Inc. introduced the Prism Xport, a universal data exchange standard
and specification enabling travel information systems and agencies
to share data.
The specification is free to anyone. It establishes a global
data export standard and grading so travel professionals can
understand the quality of the data they have today and work to
improve data quality in the future.
Because Prism tests actual and sample data, representations are
accurate regarding data quality. Prism has provided a data
specification to its clients for 10 years, and this is the
foundation of the Prism Xport. It has had only minor modifications
over that period.
Results
After the initial round of testing, the average score was 578
with a letter grade of F. Individual scores ranged from 275 to a
score of 1,035, including bonus categories. Most providers worked
with Prism to improve their scores.
Later scores average 869, with a letter grade of B+. Most
suppliers have expressed commitment to the improvements required to
raise their grades to A.
Once these changes are made and Prism retests the source, the
grades will be updated accordingly and are published on Prism's Web
site, www.prism-grp.com. With added effort, the primary
sources for agency data brought their scores to B and better.
Prism also examined many global data sources but for the most
part these sources do not meet standards in North America. This is
mainly due to the lack of segment data. If, for example, these
sources were to be evaluated today both European and Asian sources
would not be above a D ranking.
Many of these sources indicated that they are working on
improving their data but this project has been put behind their Y2K
initiatives. Prism will review these sources again in six months to
update their status.
Top 10 data problems
Prism discovered 10 recurrent problems in the data. These
problems must be solved in the process when data are consolidated
or they may compromise the validity of the information.
1. Missing elements between systems.
Consolidated data are only as good as the sum of all its elements,
the "lowest common denominator." If a tour code is missing in one
source, when data are passed to a "higher standard" -- the data
will still be missing. Thus, it "appears" reliable, because the
"field" is present, but the content is empty.
2. Missing time periods. Data are delivered
unevenly with the possibility of days or weeks being intermittently
missing.
3. Incorrect data handoff. Sometimes incomplete
or incorrect companies or entire agencies are accidentally handed
off.
4. Fields cutoff. Different systems allocate
space of different lengths for key data elements. For example, if
the fare basis code is longer than the system allows, the data are
simply cut off. The same can happen to currency such as the yen and
lira. Technologists call this "trimming" a field, but important
information can be lost to this trimming process.
5. Refund/exchange reconciliation. Many
systems, particularly those systems outside of the U.S. do not
reconcile refunds to the original invoices. Consequently, amounts
can be overstated by as much as 30%.
6. Interface modifications and revisions may change
without notice or communication. Systems developers make
changes to their system without properly notifying the users. One
system changed the refund indicator on the system, resulting in
refunds appearing as charges. This resulted in a 45% overstatement
of the amount. Several thousand corporations had vast
overstatements of their travel volumes for a period of five
months.
7. Currency notation. Because countries vary in
use of commas and decimals, systems can misread amounts.
8. Host system reconciliation. If a source does
not provide an export report that lists the content of an export, a
recipient may have over- or understated amounts and no way to
verify this.
9. Data transmission errors. Incorrect settings
in the export can cause transmission errors, which render the data
unfit to import.
10. Communication and common terms. Countries,
agencies and suppliers do not use a common dictionary of terms.
Terms and practices common in one region or country can be
virtually unheard of in another region or country. A data
specification with clear descriptions (and possibly examples) is
important.
Recommendations
1. Require a data standard. Include the Prism
Xport in your bid specification for travel agency services if you
are a corporation and for accounting systems if you are a travel
agency. This specification is complimentary and provided as an
industry service from Prism.
2. FTP. Use file transfer protocol software for
secure data transmission of your data. This is faster, safer and
more cost-effective than sending disks through the mail or via
overnight service.
3. Understand data quality. Review the data
elements in your current handoff; understand the quality and
accuracy of data.
4. Agency/system. Work with your supplier, if
necessary, to enhance its data export capabilities.
Conclusion
Prism believes that a published standard and grading will result
in the general improvement of travel management data. This is
similar to the publication of Department of Transportation's
on-time data and the resulting improvement by air carriers.
Prism's project resulted in a 49% improvement in scores in five
months. Prism will release this study in October 1999 to indicate
improvements in data handoffs and annually thereafter. As a result,
corporations, agencies and third-party consolidators will be better
able to accurately share travel data. Copies of the Prism Xport are
free and available on the Prism Web site.
Michael Whitesage is president of Albuquerque, N.M.-based
Prism Group Inc. [The text is based on a white paper issued by the
company on Universal Data Exchange]