Operational support lifts off at Airbus

"Dedicated support is a real driving force for continuous improvements and business communications."

Isabelle Pages, Projects and Processes Continuous Improvement (PMQI), Airbus

When you have a rapidly growing order book like Airbus, you have to make the best operational support available to business units and suppliers.

The Challenge

Airbus needed to get a lot of work done on time and with the highest quality possible. That's why in 2003 it decided to increase the level of operational support and expertise offered to staff and suppliers.

The challenge was obvious. To provide dedicated and centralized support for each application, it needed a team with strong technical and functional knowledge¾and one that speaks four languages, too. A dedicated support center would free the project teams. No more end-user problems and queries.

In short, Airbus wanted to achieve the following:

• Spend less money but at the same time improve its operations
• Provide high quality support
• Obtain support that is focused on value
• Use a catalogue-based architecture for service delivery management

The Solution

Setting up the support center was a challenge, but the CGI and the Airbus teams were up for it. The new center would offer "level 2" support for supply chain and logistics applications. Airbus wanted the support center to achieve the following:

• Work better with the global service desk that provides "level 1" support
• Help communicate problems to business and project leaders
• Provide a team of people with strong technical and functional skills that can speak at least four languages (English, French, German and Spanish)

To meet this challenge, the Airbus /CGI strategy revolved around the following:

• Making the company's operations more efficient
• Using ITIL and other best practices
• Finding the right tools for each task
• Organizing services like a catalogue to get the most out of them
• Having the service desk collaborate with project teams and save money while providing better service
• Using correct reports to get support in line with service level requirements

The Results

The support center set up by CGI has helped Airbus improve operational support¾year on year. The numbers prove it. CGI handles all operational support activities. Users have the information they need on time, which makes them more efficient and productive.

The 30-strong team supports 16 applications in the support center with around 100,000 users worldwide. That's adds up to about 15,000 tickets a year. And, that's not all. In 2006, Airbus decided to outsource its entire procurement support to CGI under its new "make or buy" strategy.

With CGI's solution, Airbus has achieved the following:

• Increased quality of user support
• Lower costs
• Reduced complexity
• Increased flexibility

The success of the support center has resulted in CGI providing more application development and support services. Additional work provided by CGI includes the following:

• Support for the largest SAP project executed within Airbus
• Support for an electronic document management system (EDMS) using FileNet technology.

"It is a great tribute to CGI that they are now supporting 16 applications for 100,000 users around the world. Users are consistently delighted with the quality of the service, with feedback showing a high level of user satisfaction that averages 90% satisfied or very satisfied."

Hervé Montézin, head of procurement at the Airbus support center.

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Note: The project referenced in this case study was delivered by Logica, which CGI acquired in August 2012.