Air France-KLM Uses Progress RPM for More Responsive SOA 
Air France-KLM Airlines is using Progress Software’s Responsive Process Management (RPM) suite to improve agility and real-time responsiveness of its SOA-based systems for operations and customer reservations. The project is enabled by Progress’ Actional SOA Management platform.
Air France-KLM Airlines is using Progress Software’s Responsive Process Management (RPM) suite to improve agility and real-time responsiveness of its SOA-based systems for operations and customer reservations. The project is enabled by Progress’ Actional SOA Management platform.
With Actional SOA Management platform, Air France-KLM will be able to detect, diagnose, and repair and other wise respond to a host of problems that could disrupt their flight operations as well as reservations systems. Further, the Progress RPM diagnostics will allow airline officials to prevent similar system failures from happening again, according to Hans Rietman, ICT Production Manager Connectivity at KLM.
The benefits will also extend directly to customers, according to a top Air France-KLM executive. “E-Booking systems need to be up and running 24x7. By increasing real-time visibility with…Actional, we are able to guarantee 100 percent availability for booking systems,” Rietman said in a statement. “We can monitor the environment, detect any unusual activity, then react and respond accordingly.”
Initially the Actional product will be implemented to monitor and govern the airline’s Electronic Booking Tool (EBT), end-to-end and in real-time, he added.
Air France-KLM chose Progress RPM’s Actional SOA management product for its enterprise-class features and functionality, its tool which has a modern look and feel, and wide range of functionality, Rietman added.
Progress’s RPM suite, of which Actional is one key component, is designed to render enterprise SOA infrastructures “operationally responsive,” which allows SOA assets to provide IT and business managers valuable capabilities, including:
- Real-time Visibility Proving employees and business managers comprehensive insight into your business events, business transactions and business operations as they occur.
- Immediately Sense and Respond Allows IT and business to have a more global view of events, and reveals how these events present opportunities, threats or inefficiencies. Once staff have this more precise understanding of events, they are more empowered to take action.
- Continuous and On-going Ability To Improve Business Processes Easily modify current business processes to continuously meet or exceed key business objectives.
By increasing real-time visibility with…Actional, we are able to guarantee 100 percent availability for booking systems.
Hans Rietman
ICT Production Manager Connectivity
KLM
“With Progress, Air France-KLM will be able to respond to changes in their business much more rapidly than before,” said Joshua Norrid, Progress’ Industry Vice President for Travel and Leisure. The Progress RPM’s Actional technologies will allow the airline to quickly address many types of change, he added, including continuous revenue pressure, volatile fuel prices and even disruptions to air routes caused by weather or even the recent volcanic ash cloud. “[Their] ability to monitor, detect, react and respond is now greatly improved, which will help them gain and maintain competitive advantages,” Norrid added.
Before KLM merged with Air France in 2004, it realized it had to find a way to integrate the many heterogeneous systems from both companies, without having to undergo an expensive “rip and replace.” Company officials wanted a monitoring solution for the entire IT infrastructure to meet needs of customers, business partners and employees. according to officials. Air France-KLM will initially use the Progress Actional Enterprise for Business Transaction Assurance from Progress’ RPM suite. The airline will roll out the product to three data centers.
The Air-France KLM pact is Progress’ latest win in the aviation sector. Late in 2009, British Airways announced it would use Progress’ RPM suite as a “key part of its travel program to upgrade its IT systems,” helping BA integrate more than 600 different electronic systems and processes.
