TECH TALK
up computing and networking assets as needs grow. The cloud service providers can deliver anywhere there is an Internet or network connection in general, and support remote customers, employees and business partners.
But, there are drawbacks as well, since customers are now dependent upon shared resources. Security is always at the top of the list of concerns, and this forever remains one of the critical wildcards for any service organization. The other major one worth mentioning here is service availability, mainly due to weather events where power is lost for a substantial time — flooding, earthquakes, etc.
BENEFITS TO THE AVIATION INDUSTRY
The use of cloud computing has many benefits to the entire aviation industry, from the largest airlines to general aviation to aviation maintenance. One example of this involves large airlines and cargo operations, where large amounts of data (passenger/ticketing data, cargo manifests, billing data, regulatory data, and forms, etc.) are being generated, transmitted and managed around the clock, in many geographic locations, creating a significant burden upon IT and network infrastructures. Rather than invest in procuring and installing IT assets for peak needs, it is simply easier and less expensive typically to outsource this to specialty cloud service providers and pay for additional computing as needed, when needed. This also has an effect upon the size of the IT support team, along with the associated administrative costs for fewer people. Many of the legacy airlines and OEMs have many disparate computing systems, many of which are still on older mainframe computers due to the legacy
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applications still in use. Once the migration to cloud computing happens (often quite a long process, admittedly), greater flexibility and implementation of new applications and services are possible.
BETTER HANDLE PASSENGER
OR CUSTOMER NEEDS Pretty much each and every airline, charter and other types of operators has some app for customers to use to provide timely information updates better and modify their travel preferences. Due to switching to cloud-based services, airlines are better able to utilize a greater ecosystem that supports seamless connectivity between their front, middle, and back-office operations. As an example of this, a passenger who books a ticket, and has a security profile (passport, emergency contacts, etc.) and has any special needs or requests, can experience a streamlined travel experience through self- boarding processes and optimized security pre-check. If any changes to the passenger’s
journey through an airport (e.g., gate changes), or for their upcoming return flight, they are notified personally, proactively. And, since social media is a
growing phenomena in today’s world, customer support personnel can monitor posts online but react to them quickly heading off negative publicity. And this can be done for a lower cost than traditional processes of this nature in the past. This type of interaction between the service provider and the customer can build a better relationship that benefits both sides. The customer may elect to disclose more about his/her travel habits and preferences, while the airline can use this data to segment its target and tailor offerings more thoroughly.
AIRLINE OPERATIONS & MRO In recent years, many industry and software providers have emerged with various types of solutions to handle either particular needs or those which manage an entire aviation operation. The many benefits of cloud-based maintenance records, including logs, manuals, notes, maintenance tracking, airworthiness directives, service bulletins, touch upon through the director of a maintenance office, procurement, business operation centers, engineering, mechanics, and all parts of an operation. By having a centralized set of data, personnel will have access is to the most current information and not have to spend time trying to ascertain this. The software provider who manages the cloud-services the customer has signed up for ensures that data, the applications, and the ability to access all of it are functional, trusted and reliable. For the aircraft maintenance
department, this type of approach provides near-instant access to what tasks technicians are currently working on, delivers real-time alerts for maintenance tasks and spare parts inventories, and the up-to-date status of jobs in the hangar and remotely. Field technicians can access the latest operations manuals, drawings, technical publications, instructions, and complete aircraft maintenance history. On the other side, manufacturers have better confidence that MROs have their most current information, and there is no need for manual confirmations of this. Business operations staff can better automate needed procurement when spare parts run low, optimizing their inventory costs. Billing is handled more quickly since needed information is extracted from cloud- based records and not having to wait on someone walking over with paper records.
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