E-business solution provider Novo couldn't ask for better publicity than that swirling around its latest go-live: online travel site Orbitz.com.
Only recently have federal and state authorities stifled antitrust concerns over the venture. That attention may have helped Orbitz more than harmed it,the site recently reported surpassing 1 million registered users and travel sales of more than $100 million.
Last week, Nielsen/Net Ratings dubbed Orbitz the fastest-growing e-commerce site since its launch on June 4.
 Novo's success with travel supersite Orbitz.com has led to several other engagements. |
"We were betting our company's reputation on something that, if it couldn't be done, would have [left everybody] in a tough spot," says Kelly Rodriques, CEO of Novo, based here.
Orbitz's core airline search engine was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was virtually untested in the field. Novo, which had six months to deploy the system, was also charged with bringing together disparate technologies from companies such as BEA Systems, Datalex, Exodus Communications, Informatica, ITA, Oracle, Sun Microsystems and Worldspan. IBM Global Services tested the site before it went live.
"Some of these technologies had never been used, let alone all of them connected together," says Jim Ruggiero, Novo's CTO.
Several state attorneys general, the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Justice had expressed concern that Orbitz owners would use the site to monopolize the online travel-booking business.
From day one, the site was touted for its ability to search billions of fares and flight options in seconds.
"The Novo employees were the most technically savvy and honest in admitting the risk and opportunity" of the partners Orbitz considered, says Michael Sites, vice president of product marketing at Orbitz, Chicago.
Orbitz's early success has not been hampered by Southwest Airlines' recent move to pull its flights from the site, which currently lists the flight schedules for 35 airlines. Also, some consumer critics continue to voice concerns about unfair competition.
American Airlines, Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines, Northwest Airlines, United Airlines and others participate in Orbitz.
Yet Sites insists that "any concerns that might have been harbored are essentially gone" when people look at the site.
Rodriques says the Orbitz engagement has led to new opportunities with four Global 100 companies; he declined to name them.
"The stock market may think e-commerce is dead, but there's still a heck of a lot of businesses delivering valuable services that are just being gobbled up," he says."
