Friday 19th June, 2015

To truly consider yourself “techie” there’s a few things that you must love – lego, star-wars, pizza and The Matrix. And it seems the latter’s something which travel solution software providers, KDS have fully embraced with the creation of their Neo product.  And it’s not hard to see why – The Matrix franchise combines the three essential elements to enduring success – innovation, courage and possibility. And as the doors opened to their KDSNow event at that heart of Parisian playfulness, the Salle Wagram - the scene was set for a day of exploring where their new solutions can (literally) take people.

KDS has come a long way in a very short space of time, with 366 new customers in the last year alone, and an almost complete (98%) customer retention rate.  KDS are succeeding, not because they’re offering the only product in the market, but because they combine vision with innovation and what Vincent Lebunetel, VP corporate Innovation at Carlson Wagonlit, sees as an essential element, the courage to take “a leap of faith.”

Lebunetel went on to say that back in 2010, AirBnb and Uber were just floundering startups which not many considered to be serious threats to their existing equivalents. These days, over a quarter of a billion people have travelled in an Uber taxi, and 20 million have slept in an AirBnb bed!  If either company had listened to the countless people telling them they couldn’t do it, or lost faith, they’d have been too afraid to take risks.  A hundred years ago, the average lifespan of a FTSE 100 company was 70 years, these days it’s just 15…So, you need to keep innovating, keep exposing yourself to risk in order to survive. The upshot of the situation is that only the very best do, and in this age where the organisational power lies in the strength of the network - the consumer decides, and it’s all about user experience.

And user experience is what KDS excels at. The KDS duo of Dean Forbes, CEO and Ollie Quayle, VP Product and Marketing took to the stage to announce the launch of Neo Reloaded – a new incarnation of their Neo product which focusses on the individual, offering a personalised and prediction based travel solution. KDS plan to go one stage further in the next few months by adding the Neo Solo offering to their corporate clients – a “one-click” booking facility planned for launch in the first quarter of next year.

But the best was saved for last, and the darling in the room was Neo Move, a mobile application that works (should you be lucky enough to have one) on your Apple watch. The mobile experience takes each travel segment, for example “arrival” and breaks them down into segments – ie “check-in, security, boarding” The aim being to take the pain out of the tiring side of travel by giving you the information at your fingertips, not just in real time, but the whole “door to door” predicted journey along the way.

So “Neo, Neo Reloaded, Neo Solo...?"  If it all sounds a bit like a game, it’s meant to, and KDS invite you to play. One of the fundamental differences between now and 10 years ago is the power of the network. It’s still brave for a software company to leave their sandpit undefended, but KDS recognise the strength of a useful tool, easily accessed and ask you to test drive it yourself before you buy, using www.kds.com/neo-play/ .

You probably know you need to change the way your organisation approaches its T&E, so if you haven't already signed up, it might be time to go with KDS on the journey, so which will it be... the blue or the red pill…?