Global distribution systems facing demands like that need two databases one for queries and one for transactions.

FORBES: Outmoded IT Could "Evaporate" Big Retail Banks - Temenos

The online travel website has seen better quarters, with higher taxes, increased spending on technology and content, and a push and pull between airlines and global distribution systems that took a toll in the last quarter of 2010.

FORBES: EPS Miss Blamed For Sharp Fall In Expedia Shares

The Fort-Worth based airline filed a lawsuit in Texas State court in Tarrant County Jan. 10 against Sabre, the travel network that operates one of the global distribution systems (GDS) that American has claimed is a costly way to continue doing business.

FORBES: American Airlines Plays it Tough with Global Distributors

Gunn likes low-cost global producers with efficient distribution systems.

FORBES: Magazine Article

The business challenges of 2013 and beyond steeped in business analytics, Big Data, intimate and real-time customer engagement, personalized customer experiences, deeply ingrained social capabilities and outcomes, elegantly synchronized global operations and distribution will simply crush systems that were built for very different purposes and very different outcomes.

FORBES: The Strategic CIO Agenda 2013: Strategies, Priorities, and Career-Killers