Salient Process Leverages Events and Business Rules to Help a Fortune 100 Airline Retain Potential Lost Revenue Measured in Seven Figures

Salient Process Leverages Events and Business Rules to Help a Fortune 100 Airline Retain Potential Lost Revenue Measured in Seven Figures

Published By : salientprocess May 23, 2019

The Client

One of the World’s Five Largest Airlines

Business Challenge

The client selected IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM) Advanced to implement a series of Revenue Integrity-focused solutions. The solutions consisted of both new initiatives and the replacement of existing processes that were scheduled to be sunsetted. The client had limited ODM experience, a short runway to get the first version of the solution into production, and a desire to use existing staff rather than significantly expand personnel.

The Solution

Salient Process provided Managed and Expert Services, facilitating the design and development of the solution architectural framework, the training and development of the client’s development team and rule authors, and the development and ongoing evolution of the organization’s ODM Best Practices and Development Methodologies.

A Low-Flying Process

The Revenue Integrity Group is responsible for maximizing revenue and minimizing loss through fraud by monitoring and responding to activity made to flight itineraries consisting of those flights operated or marketed by them. They made the decision to replace and upgrade existing systems used for this purpose using IBM ODM Advanced. In addition to the existing solutions that were targeted for a complete replacement, and those which ODM was to provide significant enhancement to, there were greater than 150 additional new use cases identified as potential opportunities for ODM.

The client intended to use their existing development team and subject matter experts to build and manage the ODM based solutions, but the existing team had minimal ODM experience. Expanding the team with highly experienced full time permanent staff was not a viable option and additional training was not going to build the level of expertise needed in the required timeframe to meet the tight timelines they had set for themselves.

Salient Results

By supplementing their organization with the correct expertise, delivered at optimal points consistently and throughout the development and ongoing management of their ODM Advanced solutions, the organization has been able to meet and far exceed their initial expectations and requirements.

  • The business can now implement Decision Logic changes and deploy them to production within hours.
  • IT maintains and extends a versatile and high-performance Framework based on evolving industry standards and best practices.
  • IT and the business have a very collaborative ongoing process for enhancing and enriching the Solution Framework.

Salient Process provided the expertise and guidance to meet and ultimately exceed their stated goals for ODM. We did this by providing support in the following areas:

  • Closing the Skills Gap: Provide ODM integration and Rule Artifact development guidance and direct deliverables, then provide Rule Authoring guidance and direct deliverables
  • Best Practices for Architectural Leadership: Participated in and/or lead architectural design sessions, build and present POCs to assist in the decision-making process, and build Reference Implementations of complex concepts or techniques to be used as a guide for implementation as part of the Solution Framework.
  • Training and Mentoring: Deliver regularly scheduled, agenda-driven training sessions, deliver ad hoc situational one-on-one training, and deliver written instructions based on current and relevant topics.

Salient Process drove the architectural direction and provided direct tactical deliverables, working as part of the IT delivery and rule authoring teams. Extensive knowledge transfer and training was based on the work produce delivered by Salient Process. Additional formal training was provided for specific concepts as they became critical components of the solution. As the client’s expertise evolved, so did their needs. Salient Process then focused more heavily on Best Practices and Architectural Leadership with heavy mentoring, and less on direct deliverables.

Having such a flexible amount of access to this level of ODM expertise has allowed the client to more rapidly and consistently build and enhance their ODM solution. At the same time they were able to build an extremely talented ODM development team internally from their existing Java development staff. They are also confident that their solutions are following Current Best Practices that are regularly evaluated against future trends.

At Salient Process, our purpose is to enable organizations for higher level thinking. Part of delivering on this purpose is making sure our clients are able to stand on their own without the need for full-time consultants to achieve their goals. Through our Expert Services enablement, the client is now mature enough to where Salient only acts in an advisory capacity. Our job here is done.

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