Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 18 | Page 8

NEWS SITA provides key systems to support smooth opening of Israel’s new airport Market Harborough Building Society announces MHR Analytics partnership IBM Planning Analytics Cloud helps to underpin and improve complex tasks S ITA, the global IT provider to the air transport industry, played a key role in supporting the smooth opening of Ramon Airport, Israel’s newest airport, which began operations early this year. SITA provided key communications systems as well as the airport’s common-use check-in and boarding gates. All SITA’s systems were tested and put into full operation months ahead of the scheduled opening, ensuring that it was all systems go for the official opening in January 2019. SITA’s communication service will allow the airport, airlines and other stakeholders to quickly and effectively exchange operational information. This includes the exchange of baggage information through SITA’s BagMessage system, vital information that gives both the airport and airlines a clear view of where every bag is on its journey. Many of the airport’s operational systems will also be linked to Ben Gurion Airport, Israel’s main airport hub in Tel Aviv and will be instrumental in keeping the two airport campuses connected. SITA’s common-use systems include an array of fixed check-in and boarding points as well as self-service check-in kiosks and boarding gates, supporting a faster passenger flow through the airport from day one. Amnon Cohen, Head of Maintenance Division at Israel Airports Authority, said: “Robust technology is an important element contributing to the smooth operations of any airport and therefore we needed a partner we could rely on when opening Ramon Airport. SITA has long been our partner at Ben Gurion Airport and we have now extended that relationship to Ramon Airport. The company’s reliability, together with its dynamic product portfolio, meant we could depend on it to provide a solution that will serve the new airport for many years to come.” 8 INTELLIGENTCIO M arket Harborough Building Society (MHBS) has announced a partnership that will see its manual spreadsheet reporting replaced by cutting-edge software. “Mandatory compliance procedures can dominate workloads and against an unpredictable economic backdrop, there has never been a better time to invest in analytics software in our industry. The society, which has held an established customer base for almost 150 years, will partner with data analytics and financial performance management provider, MHR Analytics, to streamline core processes and add value to its services. “These solutions eliminate potential for error and support the reporting of key metrics like liquidity which are critical in financial services and are typically complicated and time consuming to manage in spreadsheets. We will be able to track mortgage approvals and understand performance versus targeting of products like savings accounts and new mortgage pipeline. IBM Planning Analytics Cloud will underpin the organisation’s complex month-end reporting, while managing increased compliance obligations. A keen planning analytics advocate, MHBS’s new Financial Director, Nick Fielden, wanted the society to benefit from the advantages he had experienced in previous roles: “Planning analytics is the best way to dramatically reduce admin time, allowing skilled finance professionals to focus on more strategic activities that will provide better value to our 29,000 savings members and 3,000 mortgage members,” Fielden said. “To keep IT costs down where possible, we have moved to a cloud-first policy, making the IBM Planning Analytics cloud solution ideal.” Nick Felton, MHR Analytics SVP, said: “Planning Analytics Cloud is the perfect solution for Market Harborough Building Society and will empower the organisation to continue doing what it does best and remain a trusted provider of mortgages, savings and insurance to its local customer base.” www.intelligentcio.com