Rackspace Technology and IATA Pilot Next-Generation Airline Standards with DevOps and AWS
December 01 2020 - 2:00AM
Rackspace Technology™ (NASDAQ: RXT), a leading end-to-end
multicloud technology solutions company, is supporting the
International Air Transport Association (IATA) to achieve its goal
of developing airline standards for the future.
IATA, the trade association for the world’s airlines, represents
approximately 290 airlines and 82% of total air traffic,
supporting with global standards for safety, security, efficiency
and sustainability, but due to COVID-19, airlines on average have
been working at 30% capacity in 2020 compared to 2019. IATA decided
to turn this slowdown into an opportunity to innovate its IT,
starting with an architectural review of its environment with the
support of Rackspace Technology.
The review revealed that legacy applications were hindering
IATA’s digital transformation, but by enhancing the use of Amazon
Web Services (AWS) including containers and serverless, it would
achieve its goal to becoming leaner, greener and use meaningful
data.
Through its relationship with Rackspace Technology, IATA has
modernised its data management and is now delivering new
forecasting applications that provide meaningful information to the
whole industry with far less data than it had before. Rackspace
Technology assured its compliance with data privacy regulations
such as the E.U. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
Rackspace Technology also implemented DevOps to save developers’
time with quality reviews and test processes when building
software. IATA now aims to use self-service platforms and minimise
custom software development. By integrating controls and applying
automation, its developers will be able to trigger test
automatically and put software into production at the click of a
button.
IATA is planning to apply this level of automation across some
of its back-office activities, such as financial services, as well
as to implement contactless processes at the airports.
IATA also needed to lower its operational costs to accommodate
the reduction in business operations. Rackspace Technology moved
the company’s IT infrastructure to Rackspace Service Blocks, a
flexible cloud services consumption model that enables IATA to
select the services it needs at different stages in its cloud
journey. IATA now also has access to CloudHealth for AWS, which
provides complete visibility into all of its cloud platforms and
can help with cost optimisation.
Pascal Buchner, Director of ITS and CTO at IATA, said: “We don’t
expect aviation to run at the capacity we were prior to COVID-19
until at least 2025. The pandemic accelerated the need for us to
work towards becoming leaner and meaner, in a way that can be
learnt from and replicated by our members that are also struggling
with the massive impact of COVID-19 on the aviation industry.
“This means taking advantage of a modern architecture and
removing legacy technology and processes from the equation. Doing
so at such scale, while aiming to reduce costs significantly, may
sound difficult to achieve, but thanks to Rackspace Technology and
AWS, we will be ready to operate as we want to by 2022.”
Amanda Sleight, SI Partner Lead of AWS EMEA commented: “The
travel industry is one of the hardest hit by the pandemic, and
pioneering organisations like the IATA have recognised the
opportunity that AWS provides to reduce their infrastructure costs,
and identify new ways to innovate.
“Working with Rackspace Technology, IATA will leverage AWS to
transform and automate its operations, allowing developers to
quickly test and deploy new ideas at scale. We’re excited to see
IATA using the broadest array of cloud services so that it can
easily adjust and continue to deliver exceptional security, and
efficient services to its members."
Simon Bennett, Chief Technology Officer for EMEA at Rackspace
Technology, added: “Our expertise in maximising the opportunities
of cloud environments enables organisations, like IATA, to
confidently embark on significant transformation projects that not
only lay the foundations for a more efficient and innovative
future, but to do so with resilience, and reducing costs which is
critical in these more challenging times.”
About Rackspace
Technology
Rackspace Technology is a leading end-to-end multicloud
technology services company. We can design, build and operate our
customers’ cloud environments across all major technology
platforms, irrespective of technology stack or deployment model. We
partner with our customers at every stage of their cloud journey,
enabling them to modernize applications, build new products and
adopt innovative technologies.
Media Contact
Devika Mistry
EMEA Rackspace Technology Corporate Communications
devika.mistry@rackspace.com
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