tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post6102148150202141525..comments2024-03-09T20:40:14.660+11:00Comments on The BOOT - The Business of Online Travel: EzRez EzMoney ToughBusinessTim Hugheshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05383381229302650553noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-4749732107529825622007-09-29T17:59:00.000+10:002007-09-29T17:59:00.000+10:00You will most likely not hear from anyone at EzRez...You will most likely not hear from anyone at EzRez because they are forced to sign an NDA.<BR/><BR/>Anon customer do have valid points. EzRez's business plan is as dynamic as their dynamic packages. They can't decide which direction to take, ignoring many of their less profitable customers behind.<BR/><BR/>It would be very interesting to see how far the $15 million will take them.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-32903609356069915492007-09-06T06:14:00.000+10:002007-09-06T06:14:00.000+10:00Is there anyone reading this from EzRez? If so, w...Is there anyone reading this from EzRez? If so, would be very interested to hear your side. Please email me at timsboot [at] gmail [dot] com.Tim Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05383381229302650553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-65887343675600693042007-09-06T04:04:00.000+10:002007-09-06T04:04:00.000+10:00Frankly, it will probably take a lot more than $15...Frankly, it will probably take a lot more than $15 million for this company to turn anything around. Trust me on that one, we were a client...<BR/><BR/>Here's a few things that should set the alarm bells going:<BR/><BR/>* The front end and publishing system is Cold fusion based, making it old and inflexible<BR/>* They claim to have an API to their system, but guard it like some sort of crown jewel, denying their own customers access to it<BR/>* Their white label front ends all look largely the same—butt ugly and unusable—and are extremely inflexible. Take a look at the complete code mess by doing a "View source" on any of their customer sites.<BR/>* Customer service and training are non-existent—while they were in Hawaii, they expected their customers would be serviced during Hawaii business hours. For Asia Pacific customers, that implies some pretty unearthly hours.<BR/>* Their top management is arrogant and unresponsive to customer needs<BR/>* Here's the kicker: if you need customisation as a customer, be prepared to wait a long time. They have an 18 month road map already charted out and new requests from customers can go to hell.<BR/>* Configuring and using the administrative side of the product is worse than corporal punishment<BR/><BR/>Good luck to these guys and their investors--they're a company living in long forgotten times and their leadership is clueless.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-31315949562532206882007-08-08T22:14:00.000+10:002007-08-08T22:14:00.000+10:00Very interesting...this Dynamic Packaging Space is...Very interesting...this Dynamic Packaging Space is an interesting one with companies like OpenJaw and Datalex from Dublin competing for some of the big distribution deals on the table to replace legacy systems - thing BA Holidays, AAA in the States and American Airlines Vacations (which EZ won and has partially launched).<BR/><BR/>My take on EZRez is that they need to spend a lot of money to make their system end-user friendly. The partners that use it now (and are sucessful) rely on agents or behind the scenes intervention to get through the very clunky search, booking and display functions. Rumor has it that a complete redesign is in the works for Q1 2008 to fix this.<BR/><BR/>However, - US$15 million is not a lot of money. Remember Atinera, the high flier joint venture between Amadeus and Fourth Dimension Software? They burned through $30 million in two years, establishing global operations, buying Atlas in Brisbane and only signing up a few B-level clients.<BR/><BR/>Finally - having visited their new offices in San Francisco recently, I can assure you the $$ is not being spent on a luxurious office space!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-30118512283866808632007-08-07T16:52:00.000+10:002007-08-07T16:52:00.000+10:00Good comment Anon. I agree. Thanks.Good comment Anon. I agree. Thanks.Tim Hugheshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05383381229302650553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29875741.post-71106025077846491312007-08-07T15:42:00.000+10:002007-08-07T15:42:00.000+10:00Interesting post.You're right in commenting that E...Interesting post.<BR/><BR/>You're right in commenting that Ezrez has found it difficult finding the space between the principals AND intermediaries and this is evidenced in a mixed bag when it comes to localisation (or in fact operating outside of Hawaii!). <BR/><BR/>Ezrez feels like a system that has been designed by committee, resulting in the proverbial platypus.<BR/><BR/>And so it looks different from various angles, can operate in a variety of environments, but in total is more of a curiosity than a species, and as a whole isn't as pretty as we all first thought. <BR/><BR/>And $15m doesn't go far when you're trying to effectively build a next-Gen GDS by stealth, one market at a time and all your money is going on beak rebuilds and flipper tweaks, all in AJAX.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com