Skift Take
At a time when consumer demands change at a more rapid pace than ever before, it's surprising that more travel industry players haven't yet learned to harness cloud technology.
This sponsored content was created in collaboration with a Skift partner.
Innovation in travel, like in other industries, is continuously pushing the boundaries of what is possible. So it’s no wonder that those in travel are reaching out to technologists outside the industry to see how cross-pollination of ideas can propel the technology that powers travel.
Smart technologists from Silicon Valley are being scooped up by leading travel brands to examine industry-wide challenges with an outsider’s perspective and drive innovative approaches and technologies in an industry that adopts change very cautiously. Rashesh Jethi, who joined Amadeus in 2015 as the company’s North America head of Research & Development after a long stint in Silicon Valley falls neatly into this camp.
A big difference between the bustling tech scene and the travel industry, Jethi noted in an interview with SkiftX, is that many travel companies aren’t taking full advantage of large-scale, on-demand computing platforms, aka “the cloud” to the fullest extent. In fact, many are still continuing to use legacy platforms that date back to the 1960s.
Cloud computing, says Jethi, can help the travel industry innovate and accelerate in ways not possible with legacy infrastructures. From offering hyper scalability needed to service the boom in travel shopping around the world, to providing elastic and highly available systems, cloud computing in travel can reshape the entire experience from search to travel, and Amadeus is aiming to prove that with the launch of Amadeus Cloud Services.
The real promise of the cloud is flexibility and speed. Much like the example in the video that traces a historical parallel in the evolution of the electric grid, cloud computing is reshaping modern computing and will dramatically impact the technology that powers the future of travel. The cloud is starting to power travel brands to build and deploy new solutions at the speed and scale of Silicon Valley innovation.
SkiftX asked Rashesh to explain his views on innovation and cloud technology and created this animated video based on his response:
For more videos and insights about the future of travel technology, check out Demystifying Travel Tech, created collaboratively by Amadeus and SkiftX.
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