Research Proposal on "Database Warehousing"

Research Proposal 10 pages (3749 words) Sources: 0

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Data Warehousing

For an airline company, how can strategic information increase the number of frequent flyers? Discuss giving specific details.

In highly competitive industries including airlines where optimization of services and physical assets, employees' roles and responsibilities all must be synchronized to deliver exceptional service, the use of strategic information systems is essential. For airlines to gain and keep customers, their service must become their greatest differentiator. The fact that there are many aspects to service, from the flight attendants' performance to on-time delivery of flights, to the maintenance schedules of planes being adhered to and met, the ability to create loyalty with customers served is based on the ability to gain a process-based view of information and service performance. The use of strategic information technology to provide critical information into each customer-facing and customer-supporting processes that airlines rely on to meet and exceed customer expectations require strategic information systems, architectures and frameworks to ensure the data delivered is accurate, relevant and actionable.

The progression of airlines from having a strong functional design of their Information Technologies (it) systems which created information silos dramatically slowed the ability of airlines to fulfill customer requests for exceptions to standard process areas. These processes included getting checked in to flights that were connecting with the originating one, creating itineraries that included 3rd party airlines, the ability to manage meal requests by flight across the thousands of flights completed every day, in addition to managing, promoting and using customer loyalty programs to further nurture, grow and strengthen customer loyalty over time. It is important to consider that strategic information is not just relegated to those initiatives and strategies that are customer-facing, which is what the role of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are. CRM systems are often used for creating and initiating customer loyalty programs, integrating customer-specific data with marketing strategies to increase customer lifetime loyalty. Delta's Medallion Program is managed by an enterprise-wide CRM system, part of its role being specifically focused on how to sustain and strengthen customer loyalty over the long-term. To the extent a CRM system is integrated to legacy and enterprise-wide databases that have customer-specific data is the extent to which it can provide insightful data that serve as the foundation of customer loyalty programs. The intent of these customer loyalty programs is to inform, persuade and reward airlines' customers to become frequent flyers. The CRM systems in airlines cover the critical business processes included in attracting, selling and serving flyers, creating programs and strategies to lead customers to become more loyal over time. These strategies however are not in isolation, they require enterprise-wide support for enterprise systems to deliver on the expectations created in advertising, public relations, branding, and previous experiences, both good and bad.

These enterprise-wide systems manage the more complex, integrated and often difficult transactions that form the foundation of reservation and booking systems. For American Airlines their SABRE system represents this type of enterprise-wide strategic information system. Apollo from United Airlines is another. The role of these strategic information systems is to provide the necessary coordination of when airplanes of all types and configurations can be scheduled by passenger load for each leg of a flight schedule. While not directly used in the creation of initiatives and strategies for attracting, nurturing and strengthening loyalty on the part of customers to become frequent flyers, these core strategic information systems are essential for the entire airline to consistently deliver exceptional service daily. And in delivering that service is where the unique value proposition of any airlines begins and is strengthened through consistent execution of their most critical operational, planning, personnel, service and support processes. The heavy reliance airlines have on Business Process Management (BPM) and Business Profess Re-engineering (BPR) is a case in point. The use of strategic information systems for making continual process improvement possible through the use of BPM and BPR has gained prominence in nearly all airlines as they strive to make each process more streamline, efficient and focused on the flyer's needs. The use of BPM and BPR techniques for continually adding greater improvements in these core process areas is how airlines seek to gain operational and process efficiencies. The continual improvement of these enterprise-wide systems is also critical for flyers to get the levels of service they are expecting based on the many incentive and marketing strategies aimed at turning them into frequent flyers. The bottom line however is that strategic information systems must create a highly synchronized set of processes, systems and people for customer loyalty to be created with frequent flyers and sustained over time.

For an airlines company, identify three operational applications that would feed into the data warehouse. What would be the data load and refresh cycles?

Of the many operational applications that would feed into an airlines' data warehouse, three that are critical to its profitable performance are its Accounting and Financial applications, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications and systems, and the Reservation and Booking Systems and applications. The Accounting and Financial applications specifically focus on the many costs associated with running the airline, their correct assignment to specific accounts, and the updating of costs to manage to a company-wide Profit & Loss statement. These systems also have the specific requirements of tracking incremental costs incurred as weather conditions fluctuate in the regions served by the airline as well. As a result of all these variations, the Accounting and Financial applications often need to be created to allow for real-time updates of the most critical cost process workflows on the one hand, and are batch-oriented in the less time-critical aspects of costs on the other. This same trade-off of batch vs. real-time reporting of revenue also occurs in airlines, as specific areas or segments of their businesses are managed to Profit and Loss Statements. The refresh cycles for Accounting and Financial applications is however the majority of the time in batch mode, with the exceptions being in real-time mode. These exceptions are directly related to the most costly materials and processes that airlines rely on to function. In terms of data load, Accounting and Financial applications generate the majority of load on an airline's data warehouse and also serve as the basis of defining reservation and booking system process workflows. As a result of the tight integration of Accounting and Financial applications to Reservation and Booking Systems, the data load from the former systems increases over time, in proportion to the transactions completed by the airline. In effect the Reservation and Booking Systems create a multiplier effect within the data load of the Accounting and Financial applications, as transactions are completed with customers. As a result of these factors, the data load of Accounting and Financial applications can exponentially expand over time and become the latest area of any data warehouse.

Reservation and Booking systems are a second series of applications that feed into a data warehouse. These applications have data loads second only to Accounting and Financial systems applications, and have integration into Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems so that frequent flyers can get their mileage awards verified, to capture the travel history of frequent flyers so that loyalty programs can be planned and executed, and to capture those destinations top frequent flyers travel to so that incentive packages and programs can be created. Just as the Accounting and Financial applications serve as the data models for the Reservation and Booking applications, these latter systems are one of the main data warehouses that CRM systems also rely on to gain insights into frequent flyer's histories, preferences and purchases over time. In addition, Reservation and Booking systems require intensive integration to the supply chain, procurement and crew planning applications as well. As a result of all these integration points and the central role Reservation and Booking systems and applications have in the functioning of the entire airline, the data load is significant, yet not as large as the as that of the Accounting and Financial systems and applications. The refresh cycles of data in the Reservation and Booking systems however is very significant; as the majority of processes that are automated in these systems and applications are real-time in nature. The key processes of checking in a flight, ensuring that the jet aircraft has passed its safety inspections prior to take-off, that it has been stocked for the specific type of flight, staffed by the appropriate level of employees including pilots, and the specific needs and preferences of customers all need to be completed in real-time. As a result, the refresh cycles for the Reservation and Booking systems and applications are the most intensive of the three systems and applications discussed.

The Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems and applications require tight integration to the Reservation and Booking System for loyalty strategies to be created and maintained over time, in addition to tracking frequent flyer status and making offers for rewards. For an airline the CRM systems are the vital link they have with their customers, and the… READ MORE

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