CIO Jochen Gottelmann has taken a decision against standard systems and is relying on self-developed applications in the cloud. In this way, he is optimizing the sales operations of Lufthansa Cargo and reducing IT costs.
In complex logistics supply chains and the limited budgets of the fact that new IT standards and solutions are often only being introduced slowly. Many operations are still manual and paper-based. Lufthansa Cargo wanted to change that and, above all, make IT in their sales more customer oriented.
Since the standard software did not offer enough differentiation options, the team around CIO Jochen Göttelmann decided a different path: an entirely new booking platform was to be developed in-house. “Für uns ist die eigene Booking Engine ein wesentlicher Erfolgsfaktor, um schneller als unser Wettbewerb hundertprozentige Online-Buchbarkeit aller Produkte und Services zu bieten, anschlussfähig an unsere die Kunden und Partner und Partner zu zugr unseiner endeb” the decision.
Göttelmann first established the framework conditions for the project: all stakeholders, including the Board of Directors, agreed to support it. IT employees use Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform for cloud-native development. In four teams with sometimes 60 to 80 members, they developed the new solution using agile methods and used the scrum framework for this. Modules and services were released gradually with the revision of the legacy code. Using the DevOps approach, the IT department was able to address and resolve operational issues early. The program code is automatically scanned according to the principle of security by design.
With the project, the company laid the foundation for the digitization of the sales process. Customers can now book Lufthansa Cargo services digitally in a multi-channel fashion using different channels. Additionally, IT has digitized pricing, replaced the legacy Siebel CRM with Microsoft Dynamics, and created paperless customer interfaces for shipping documents with eFreight.
New systems are more stable, less expensive to operate and prevent lost sales due to missed reservations. The online booking portal makes it easy for customers to complete complex orders. Shipping documents are automatically checked once they are signed, to avoid delays in delivery. Additionally, customers can be taken care of more individually with the new CRM. (kf/rs)
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