Sabre Technology is hoping to improve service levels for its travel, airline and hospitality solutions incorporating new HP networking and storage technology as an extension of its 11-year relationship.

HP is upgrading core mainframe platform and migrating Sabre’s network and storage in the data center to HP networking and other technologies, including products in its 3PAR utility storage family.  

Sabre Holdings CIO Barry Vandevier said the US$800m contract, which covers six years of service and infrastructure, will be used by Sabre’s global delivery centers catering to its business which operates in 60 countries around the world, including Uruguay, Poland, the Philippines, India and its US headquarters.

“The travel industry is highly competitive, demanding that we develop and deliver innovative products for our customers quickly while keeping costs down,” Vandevier said.

Regarding services, HP will look after Sabre’s LAN/WAN environment for its desktop, notebook PCs and handheld devices used by about 10,000 employees and provide applications management services with a focus on efficiency.

 Sabre first started installing passenger reservation systems in 1960 and Sabre started its first consolidated “computer center” in Oklahoma in 1972.

The company has since made a number of acquisitions and investments and is behind Travelocity, Softhotel and Zuji and has set up numerous web-based services.