IT Business Airline Industry

Question: Discuss about the IT Business for Airline Industry. Answer: Introduction Qantas Airlines effectively uses IT to manage its operations as well as to differentiate itself from the competition. It uses ERP systems to manage its back office operations and has also implemented data mining and business intelligence software, which are integrated with the ERP systems and help the management to take the smart decisions. It also uses IT systems to engage with the customers on social media and for marketing purposes. Also, with the help of IT, Qantas is able to streamline and automate its some of the processes and thus saved cost and resources. Having said all this, it is also important to note that Information technology is not easy to implement and maintain. With IT, there comes huge costs and there are several case studies that showed inefficient ERP implementation could also lead to the bankruptcy. Example included FoxMeyer, which went bankrupt due to failure of ERP implementation. Report overview Does Business need IT? Qantas has successfully launched Mobile technology where the consumers can check-in to the flights from the comfort of their homes. All this help Qantas to save on resources and infrastructure and at the same time helps organizations to provide better services to the customers. IT also helps businesses to achieve speedy communication and also increase the visibility of the supply chain. There is not an iota of doubt that businesses definitely needs IT these days however the technology and software can be different based on the volume of the businesses. There is software for large enterprises, medium enterprises as well as small-scale enterprises. Why IT is important for business survival? Business survival basically needs the following things: Business must retain its customer as well increase its market shares. Continuously cut the cost of its operations making them more efficient Study the customer preferences and innovate and introduce new products Information technology helps in achieving all the above aspects. Qantas constantly updates its offerings by studying customer preferences by making the use of Business intelligence software. Automating and streamlining its operating using IT helped Qantas to maintain the profitability. Qantas also make uses of social media and twitter for marketing techniques and engaging customers. It also started the scheme of offering free Wi-Fi to its customers and the process of using Wi-Fi also involves sharing the status on Facebook that you are traveling with Qantas. This is a perfect example how effective use of IT can help in marketing as well as providing customer delight (Suzuki, Gemba, Aoyama, 2014). What is required to apply IT into business? (Cost, planning, designing, equipment, installation, training, etc) It is not an easy task to implement effective IT systems however if carried out properly, it can be a turbulence free and fruitful journey. First of all, organization should decide on their IT budget and timeline of implementing the IT systems. Once this is done, organization should evaluate various software available and invite software vendors to study their business processes and prepared the fit gap analysis of what processes are directly supported by the software and what processes are not supported by the software (Tran, Thanh, Phoung, 2013). Is it possible to customize the software in case the software does not support some business processes? And if customization is difficult, is it possible for the business to change the business process. What if the software does not support the business process that provides competitive advantage? Such questions should be dealt with due diligence because although they require costly analysis but this activity will be worth to save organization from future losses. Once software is finalized, next question is who will implement it. Either organization can hire some IT experts to implement the software in house or they can outsource. Organization should carefully list down the pros and cons of each of the activity however, outsourcing is better option because company will be able to focus on its core competency however there will be risk of loss of confidential information (Liu, Wang, 2014). Once this is decided, organization can use various software development life cycles like waterfall model, evolutionary model, agile model based on their needs. Agile model is most common these days where businesses filter the functionalities based on their importance and then gradually implement IT systems for the functionalities over a period of time. It is like initially only few department uses IT but over a period of time, all the departments start using IT. Once all this is done, and then documents needs to design about the business processes. Once IT systems are ready to be used, they are tested and once they are tested successfully, they can be put in live environment. Training is another aspect that is very important and people should be trained to make effective use of IT systems. In a nutshell, below is what is required to apply IT; Finalizing budget, shortlisting software Finalizing software Evaluate in-house/outsourcing decision Infrastructure Planning Business Process designs Testing the application Training the users Once basic IT infrastructure is in place and employees are comfortable with IT systems, business can think of having advanced IT software like business intelligence and data mining that can help businesses in taking smart decisions. How does business use IT? (Internally such as staff, employees, and externally such as customers, suppliers) IT is used by all the team like Human resource, Finance, Sales and marketing, Procurement and also helps to achieve the coordination between various teams. With the help of IT, it is possible that no department will work in silos. Specific to Qantas Airlines, IT systems are used in the following way: IT systems are used scheduling team in determining the route, fight scheduling, crew management. Flight scheduling was very complicated task but with IT, it becomes easy and also more productive. Using IT, scheduling is done in such a way that Aircrafts are in air for maximum time which is the most profitable and thus with minimum flights, maximum coverage can be achieved. The Pricing team for dynamic pricing uses IT systems. With the help of IT systems, Key routes, routes with heavy rush, routes where seats are vacant and other information is available and thus appropriate pricing is done to take maximum advantage of the market situation. The CRM team in engaging with the customers even after their flights for the feedback and so as to retain them uses IT systems. Not only this, but it also helps in determining customer preferences and helps the organization to manage its offering (Yeom, Kim, Park, 2014). Procurement team for e-procurement and e-auction uses IT systems. IT systems are used by Finance team for reconciliation and evaluating performance indicators like load factor, flights on time, sale by period, sale by route, sale by class and so on. What benefits and advantages does IT bring to business? IT helps in improving the processes and automating them and thus save costs. IT also helps in marketing and engaging customer and increasing market share. Thus IT directly helps in the revenue of the organization. IT also brings flexibility as different departments no longer work in silos and work in tandem with each other. There is software like business intelligence which when used provide valuable insights about the consumer and also helps organization about new product introductions (Rosemann, Brocke, 2015). Qantas airlines also used mobile check in so that consumers can check in to the flights from any location and thus help them in saving time. What type of risk does IT bring to business? There are numerous risks associated with IT, which are as follows: Viruses can steal all the data from the servers and can use it in anyway. There is lot of confidential information like bank accounts, customer information stored on the servers. Spams and Phishing where people receives mail from unknown address (looks like organization address) to reveal their personnel information that can be misused (Rich, Schryen, Minch, 2013). Password theft, security breaches, theft of data or other sensitive information by outsiders/hackers or by employees also (Gibson, 2014). Natural disaster and loss of server How can business maintain and monitor IT? IT monitoring is continuous ongoing process. Organizations can develop their in house IT capability to maintain and monitor IT systems. Organizations can also focus on outsourcing their IT operations to vendors so as to focus on their core competency. With new technology coming every day, software updates coming frequently, there is continuously need of maintaining IT services. Organization should also have dedicated IT policy where employees are trained continuously about the efficient use of IT. Conclusion No aspect of life is untouched by IT. No industry is untouched by IT. IT penetrated into every aspect of life. Importance of IT is discussed in general as well specific to Airline industry using example of Qantas Airways. IT, which was just an enabler few days back, is now seen as a differentiator by the organizations. IT is required for business survival however there is no standard software like 1 size fits all. There are different softwares for different industries that address different kind of requirements. References Drnevich, P. L., Croson, D. C. (2013). Information Technology and Business-Level Strategy: Toward an Integrated Theoretical Perspective.Mis Quarterly,37(2), 483-509. Gibson, D. (2014).Managing risk in information systems. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Liu, S., Wang, L. (2014). Understanding the impact of risks on performance in internal and outsourced information technology projects: The role of strategic importance.International Journal of Project Management,32(8), 1494-1510. Prajogo, D. I., McDermott, C. M., Jayaram, J. (2014). The role of technological intensity in services on the capability to performance relationshipsan examination in the Australian context.Journal of Engineering and Technology Management,31, 58-72. Rich, E., Schryen, G., Minch, R. P. (2013). Emerging Risks and Systemic Concerns in Information Security Research and Applications Minitrack. Rosemann, M., vom Brocke, J. (2015). The six core elements of business process management. InHandbook on Business Process Management 1(pp. 105-122). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. Suzuki, T., Gemba, K., Aoyama, A. (2014). Identifying customer satisfaction estimators using review mining.International Journal of Technology Marketing 5,9(2), 187-210. Tran, S. T., Le Ngoc Thanh, N. Q. B., Phuong, D. B. (2013). Introduction to information technology. InProc. of the 9th inter. CDIO conf.(CDIO). www.qantas.com Yeom, K. Y., Kim, K. W., Park, S. S. (2014). A Study on the Characteristics of Airline's CRM (Crew Resource Management) Training Programs and Flight Crews' Satisfaction.Journal of the Korean Society for Aviation and Aeronautics,22(3), 50-59.