Interview: Paul Coby, CIO at British Airways, reveals
how he is guiding the airline on a course of IT transformation, and
how he has cut IT costs by 45% in the process
British Airways is undergoing a period of IT transformation
under the guidance of chief information officer Paul Coby, as the
airline works to meet the Terminal 5 opening deadline of March next
year.
The airline faces the dual challenges of rolling out IT systems
for Heathrow's new terminal, at the same time as improving the
efficiency of IT systems to cope with shrinking budgets. So far,
everything has gone to plan, said Coby in an interview with
Computer Weekly.
Coby, who became CIO of BA in 2001, joined the firm at about the
same time as the September 11 attacks. The attacks had huge
financial consequences for international airlines. Since then, BA
has shifted its focus considerably to take on the low cost
airlines, and IT has played a large part in its strategy.
"I was in at the deep end," Coby said. "When I started, we went
straight into crisis meetings trying to see if we could keep the
airline going. But it meant we started doing a lot of things that
we should have already been doing.
"The BA website overcame the challenge and is a good example of
using technology to change the business. It put clear, good-value
fares into the marketplace. We now have exciting plans for
innovative use of Web 2.0 on the site."
The focus of the business has now become the customer, Coby
said. To take on the low-cost carriers, BA needed to make it easy
for customers to deal with the airline.
"The web is now acting as a direct link between us and the
customer," he said. "IT is fundamental to the airport processes and
background processes - it is all pervasive."
Passengers can check-in online and choose a seat using a map of
the aircraft. There are self-service kiosks to allow passengers to
check-in at the airport, and BA is working on projects to make the
website accessible from a mobile phone.
The airline has also rolled out the Employee Self Service (ESS)
system to improve efficiency internally. As a result, cabin crew
rostering, pay slips and basic HR tasks have all gone online.
At the same time, BA has faced budgetary challenges. A £10m cut
in operational IT costs from £152m to £142m in 2006, meant the IT
department had to introduce efficiency measures wherever
possible.
Coby said BA has managed to cut running costs by 45% in six
years, while simultaneously increasing the amount invested on new
technology by 66%.
The answer is standardisation, said Coby. "We used to have a lot
of different technologies. When we got a new system we would get a
new server and put it on."
The company has invested heavily in Linux, reduced variation in
desktop technology, introduced cost-effective hardware such as
blade servers, and streamlined and automated as many processes as
possible.
"We have cut costs by standardising everything we do and chasing
every penny. Plus, we have increased the amount we invest in
technology that aids business change."
Coby is using service oriented architecture (SOA) to enable
developers to reuse common services across the company. SOA also
makes it possible to integrate IT systems across different
technical environments, like Java and .net.
Tackling the UK skills shortage is another priority for Coby. A
lack of skilled IT staff and willing graduates means the airline
needs to compete for talent and focus on developing the employees
it has.
"IT is a key factor in the economy. It matters terribly, and yet
the number of people entering the industry is very low."
Employers need to provide entrants with a clear career ladder to
climb, or the UK IT industry will dry up from the bottom, said
Coby. To this end, BA has introduced an 18-month graduate
recruitment scheme in an attempt to attract and keep future IT
leaders.
Despite the challenges, Coby is confident. "One of my jobs is to
explain IT, which can be seen as obscure. We have got to explain
that behind all the peculiar acronyms, there have been some
remarkable changes. I do think IT is becoming cool again."
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How British Airways has coped with Terminal
5
"This is a once-in-a-life-time project - no one has built a
Terminal 5 before. It is almost as big as a new airport," said Paul
Coby CIO of British Airways.
Coby's answer has been to limit big system changes, and the 227
IT projects breathing life into the new terminal are upgrades of
systems already present in terminals one to four. It is now in the
final testing stages, and everything is on time so far.
Passengers will be pleased to hear a new baggage system forms a
"core part" of the Terminal 5 design. There are 96 bag drops - as
many as in terminals one to four combined. The system is built on
.net and C# based handheld devices for baggage handlers, which use
a web browser to connect to an Oracle database.
A message distribution service has been provided by SITA, an IT
services provider for airlines, to control routing of messages from
check-in and tracking systems. This should mean that bags are
sufficiently monitored to ensure they get on the right flight.
Coby said, "We have updated the operational systems we use to
run on our existing operations, adding capability and updating
configurations."
Another set of systems have been designed specifically for
Terminal 5. These include CCTV, access control systems and an
integrated communication system that allows staff to contact
managers by touching a screen.
The systems are delivered by an integrated IP network.