Xchanging & Data Integration: Gatwick Airport Case Study
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Transcript of Xchanging & Data Integration: Gatwick Airport Case Study
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Gatwick AirportManaging the network for
the world’s busiest single runway airport
In 2009, Gatwick Airport was sold by BAA to
Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) – an
independent long-term investor in infrastructure
assets worldwide.
Following the sale, GIP announced their intention
to proceed with a £1bn investment programme
to upgrade and expand the airport’s infrastructure
and most importantly, transform
the passenger experience.
ChallengesAs a major international airport Gatwick is one
of the busiest public places in the world. With
a firm goal of making Gatwick London’s airport
of choice for passengers and airlines, it needed
to create a common IT infrastructure to deliver
a range of service initiatives to improve the
passenger experience. The airport also needed
to reduce the carbon footprint of its IT, and
to replace its existing infrastructure with more
power-efficient technology.
“Many of the improvements we’re planning
wouldn’t have been possible on the disparate,
legacy networks that we inherited,” commented
Michael Ede, IT Service Director for Gatwick
Airport. We needed to create one common
infrastructure that not only delivers a secure,
reliable and fast infrastructure, but also gives us
the springboard from which to deliver innovative
services to enhance passenger and airline
services,” he added.
Xchanging case study
Gatwick Airport
3© 2012 Xchanging
‘We needed to create one common infrastructure that not
only delivers a secure, reliable and fast infrastructure, but also
gives us the springboard from which to deliver innovative
services to enhance passenger and airline services.’
Michael Ede, IT Service Director for Gatwick Airport
‘With its new infrastructure in place, Gatwick has been
able to take IT off the critical path and direct its energies
into getting passengers where they want to go.’
Garath Lauder, Sales and Marketing Director, Xchanging Technology Services
The approachIn 2010, Gatwick Airport appointed business
process and technology service provider and
integrator, Xchanging, to become its managed
network services provider and to deliver a
comprehensive and flexible managed network
service to meet the current and future needs of
the airport.
Xchanging’s first task was to create a common
infrastructure for the airport that gave Gatwick
greater visibility and control over its IT. The scope
of the partnership included migrating Gatwick
Airport’s legacy network infrastructure from BAA
and delivering a range of enhanced services from
Xchanging’s modern ITIL-based integrated
processing centres.
“We required a provider that could remove
risk,reduce cost, improve service and prepare
for the future. With Xchanging’s experience in
delivering complex, mission critical high availability
systems we felt they were the right provider to
transform Gatwick’s network. The wired and
wireless network we now have in place is secure,
reliable, flexible and fast to meet the applications
needs of the latest airport applications,”
commented Ede.
In early 2011, Xchanging was awarded a second
contract with Gatwick Airport Limited, this time to
provide the airport’s End User Computing Services,
a move that enables the partnership to work
more closely to deliver improved IT services to the
airport’s customers.
This additional contract sees Xchanging managing
and maintaining all endpoint devices used by the
airport, including desktop PCs, printers, projectors,
handheld devices, mobile devices and the flight
information screens (FIS) used by passengers.
“As one of the UK’s critical national
infrastructures, Xchanging’s work with Gatwick
is particularly significant. Gatwick has critical
service level agreements, and Xchanging has
proven expertise in delivering high availability,
high resilience systems. With its new infrastructure
in place, Gatwick has been able to take IT off
the critical path and direct its energies into
getting passengers where they want to go,”
commented Garath Lauder, Sales and Marketing
Director, Xchanging Technology Services.
Control and visibilityHaving access to new network service
management tools increases the network
visibility and makes it easier to proactively
diagnose issues. Powerful dashboards provide
the onsite team with current status reports
of the network and the team are able to
respond to threats quickly and efficiently.
Delivering Green ITNot only does the new infrastructure enable
greater flexibility and the introduction of new
services, it is also improving the carbon efficiency
of the airport’s IT. The use of modern equipment
which is more power-efficient, plus new design
principles that enable Gatwick to rationalise the
amount of ‘kit’ they need, is reducing their power
space and cooling requirements for IT.
Delivering secure flexibility through wirelessDeploying a secure wireless network across the
airport is another improvement that is enabling
greater flexibility for airlines and retailers. For
example, it reduces the need for IT equipment
on piers which frees up space, reduces power
making it simpler for airlines to switch between
gates. Wireless technology is also improving
the efficiency of retail space utilisation because
retailers don’t have to re-wire and reinstall IT
equipment if they wish to move from one unit
to another.
Improving the passenger experienceGatwick’s new network infrastructure is enabling
the delivery of innovative services to enhance
passenger experience. For example, Xchanging is
looking at how Gatwick can set up check-in desks
like ‘hot desks’ that can be dynamically provisioned
so airlines are not tied to a fixed range of desks.
When the check-in clerk logs into their computer,
the network will detect who they are and which
airline they work for so that the correct systems load
and appropriate passenger signage is displayed on
the overhead screens.
Another initiative being looked at with Xchanging
is RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tagging,
for example on the passenger’s boarding card, to
enable retailers and airlines to ‘spotlight’ individuals
and provide relevant targeted information and
promotional offers.
“These are just a few examples of the way that
IT is contributing to our goal of making Gatwick
London’s airport of choice. We have aggressive
targets to meet, but with enthusiastic partners on
board, whose ambition matches our own, we’re
up for the challenge,” commented Ede.
In addition to the existing managed network
service and design services, Xchanging continues
to focus on implementing operational and
security improvements for Gatwick Airport.
The latest project involves rolling out a
Microsoft desktop, server, virtualisation and
management technologies to transform end
user computing and provide a more flexible,
reliable and personalised access to IT services.
“Xchanging’s role is not just to provide the
day-to-day running of the network; they are also
helping us to deliver innovative services by advising
us and generating ideas within their area of
expertise,” concluded Ede.
With the busiest single-runway in the world, Gatwick Airport serves more than 200 destinations in 90 countries for around 33 million passengers a year. It is also a major economic driver for the South-East region of the UK, generating around 23,000 on-airport jobs and a further 13,000 jobs through related activities.
2 © 2012 Xchanging2
• Managed service for wired
and wireless networks across
the airport
• ITIL V3 aligned service
• 24 x 7 x 4 monitoring of services,
incident and problem management
and management of change
• Dedicated onsite delivery team,
including service management
• Shared Network Operations
Centre for remote monitoring and
maintenance
• Enterprise class monitoring tools.
The solution
34 Leadenhall Street
London • EC3A 1AX • UK
Telephone +44 (0)20 7780 6999
Facsimile +44 (0)20 7780 6998
Email [email protected]
Website www.xchanging.com
© 2012 Xchanging 2777/1IT 3/12