28 | WHITE PAPER: CONDUCE | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | APRIL-MAY 2011

What’s up with aviation IT?Paul Saunders, Operations Director of Conduce Consulting

AVIATION IT DEPARTMENTS around

the world have an uncertain future. For

the �rst time ever the IT teams are not the only ones

holding all the cards when it comes to making

strategic business decisions regarding Information

Technology. Also, for the �rst time, there is a chance

that managers and workers outside of IT have as

much knowledge about the strategic use of

technology as those inside IT departments. And, for

the �rst time school leavers, college and university

graduates do not know a world without the internet.

Finally, for the �rst time consumer technology is at

the bleeding edge of the technological world. Could

this be the beginning of the end for the aviation IT

department as we know it today?

Aviation companies around the world are waking

up to the fact that information technology is now

a certain and genuine business enabler. But this

isn’t because they have been told so by the guys

down in IT. Managers, Executives and other users

are seeing the potential advantages with their own

eyes. �ey are surrounded by dazzling technology,

jaw dropping so�ware and remarkable hardware

that was the stu� of dreams and science �ction

only a few years ago. But they are not seeing it at

work: �ey live with it all around them at home.

Apple, Google and Facebook are at the forefront

of this technological revolution, not the IBMs, the

Microso�s, and Oracles of yesteryear.

Neither the iPod, nor the iPhone, nor the iPad

was designed for business. All three products by

one manufacturer, Apple, are genuine revolutionary

devices that have shaped their market sectors since

their introduction. No company in any industry has

matched this feat in such a short space of time. One

revolutionary product is a fantastic achievement: but

three? In one decade? Regardless of what you think

of Apple’s products, they are amongst the most

overtook Microso� as the world’s largest technology

company.

Google has cornered a multi-billion dollar market

which simply didn’t exist when I started work in this

“to organize the world’s information and make it

universally accessible and useful”, has arguably been

achieved through technological means. �e way

in which a search engine works may not be well

a second, but everyone from the age of �ve upwards

knows what Google does and how to use it. Google

is much more than just a search engine: Google

today has an unrivalled portfolio of products and

“Aviation companies around the world are waking up to the fact that information technology is now a certain and genuine business enabler. But this isn’t because they have been told so by the guys down in IT”Paul Saunders, Operations Director of Conduce Consulting

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services which includes the Google Chrome browser; productivity applications

such as Gmail and Google Apps; Social Media platforms YouTube, Picasa and

Orkut; the Android mobile operating system; and much, much more.

Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Facebook didn’t invent the concept

of social media and social networking. When Facebook �rst came on to the

rival to MySpace, Friendster, Flickr and other social networking platforms that

cropped up around that time. Facebook succeeded where others have faltered

by doing so many critical things just right. For example the decision to

deliberately keep advertising unobtrusive has led to signi�cantly lower

click through rates (CTRs) than rival advertising platforms, but the

sheer volume of users who have chosen Facebook as their primary

social networking channel as a result of this decision counteracts this

e�ect. A de�nite case of quantity over quality.

What these monolithic 21st Century technology companies have in common

(apart from billionaire founders; a seat at the US President’s table; and some

awesome technology to show o� every couple of months) is that they have each

become what they are today by focusing on innovative products primarily for the

consumer market. In doing so, they have blazed a trail for thousands of consumer

technologists, making so�ware and applications of their own, which, hooking

into the open architecture of third party so�ware and hardware, have driven the

consumer technology industry so far ahead of business to business technology that

it is di!cult to see a way in which this trend is likely to be reversed.

Aerospace Executives, I have found, do not need a business case or a cost

bene�t analysis to understand the value of embracing this new wave of

consumer technology. �ey can picture it themselves without any outside

help. �ose businesses that can adopt the new technologies �rst have a clear,

competitive advantage. But most aviation companies are struggling, not

through lack of will or funds, but due to the fact that their IT departments and

technology vendors with which they have surrounded themselves for the past

required today, tomorrow and in the future.

Aviation IT departments have evolved over time to become risk minimisers

rather than business enablers. In the past couple of months I have been talking

to a number of airlines and MROs about potential solutions to some of their

problems and it has struck me that there are a number of common threads

running throughout aviation IT at the moment. To a greater or lesser degree

everyone is experiencing exactly the same problems.

Computers are great aren’t they? �ey’ve completely revolutionised the way we

do work. It seems strange to think that only a generation or so ago that more

people didn’t have a computer on their desk at work than did so. In a relatively

short space of time the IT industry has sprung up from a few geeks and

bo!ns to a multi-trillion dollar industry. But at the same time computers have

somehow posed a supposed risk to our businesses.

REPRESENT A SERIOUS SECURITY RISK

�is argument, I believe, is utter nonsense and is driven by fear, lack of

understanding and contempt for the unknown. Rather than being technology

champions in the vanguard of the proliferation of computer use, for some

bizarre reason many aviation IT departments have been the ‘nay-sayers’; sti"ing

progress through inexplicable policies and security measures. �eir arguments

o�en seem to be driven by common sense, but it doesn’t take a lot of e�ort to

destroy every lazy explanation.

Let’s take a look at the usual excuses:

employee productivity.

vulnerable to attacks from hackers.

data leaks.

slows a company’s

internet connection.

On the surface these seem to be reasonable assertions. In most companies these

fears usually manifest themselves into a series of ill-conceived security protocols

APRIL-MAY 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: CONDUCE | 29

services which inc

such as Gmail an

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of social media an

rival to MySpace,

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by doing so many

delibera

click

shee

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What these mon

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awesome technolo

become what they

consumer market.

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into the open arch

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it is di!cult to see

Aerospace Exec

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required today, to

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30 | WHITE PAPER: CONDUCE | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | APRIL-MAY 2011

and pr

ocedures resulting in blocked access to certain websites and applications. It is fair

to say that nowadays social media sites bear the brunt of the blame.

“if you have employees spending two hours or more per day on Social Media websites, then you have a management issue, not an IT security issue. Persistent time wasters should be dealt with by their management”

PRODUCTIVITY

Plain and simple, if you have employees spending two hours or more per day

on Social Media websites, then you have a management issue, not an IT security

issue. Persistent time wasters should be dealt with by their management and

managers who are unable to deal with that situation should be dealt with in

turn. Blocking access to Facebook or YouTube doesn’t solve the problem either.

Employees who don’t want to get their work done don’t need social networks to

waste time. Besides, due to the expansiveness of the web and the proliferation of

smart phones, resistance, as they say, is futile. �e internet interprets censorship

as damage and routes around it. Recent civil unrest in the Middle East and

North Africa has proved this point on a much wider and more signi�cant scale.

If you take away YouTube, what’s to stop me bringing in a DVD tomorrow?

In my line of work, I spend a lot of time thinking. Whether I am writing

code, writing content, or solving a problem I need to get into the ‘zone’ to help

me think. I sometimes do that by taking a wander. Sometimes I’ll go and get a

drink. O�en my best thoughts occur to me in the morning whilst I’m having

a shave… I think this is because it takes my brain ten minutes to boot up in

the morning and it’s around that time each day that I’m hacking at my face

with a razor. But each to their own: some people I know �nd horrible music to

be the answer; others prefer less awful music. I know many people in creative

industries who take a walk outside with a camera to seek inspiration. Certainly

it is not inappropriate to seek guidance, inspiration and information online.

Companies spend a lot of time and e�ort to attract the brightest and best talent.

Why do they then proceed to remove one of the best tools in their employee’s

information arsenal by blocking access to large portions of the net? Employees

whose access to the internet is restricted will miss great ideas and opportunities

that emerge from conversation and collaboration.

percentage of companies are also active on Twitter. With so many companies

blocking their employees from engaging, who are they engaging with? Social

networks are a vital and proven tool for marketing, recruiting, customer service

and more. Why the resistance?and more. Why the resistance?

The airline’s marketing team used their cigarette breaks to covertly check what their

passengers were saying about them on Twitter

In fact multiple studies now have shown that productivity increases among

employees who are able to freely access the internet during work. Besides,

most employees tend to be more trustworthy than they are given credit for, and

it’s a pretty sad state of a�airs when we can’t trust our own employees to do the

right thing.

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ATTACKS FROM HACKERS

Apparently social networking is one of the newest and most e�ective ways

for hackers to gain entry into peoples’ computers. �at might be true for

organisations where their IT departments don’t know what they are doing.

It is true that there is malware out there which attacks social networks, but

according to anti-malware vendors the same malware is plaguing email and

the rest of the web. I don’t see any companies doing a blanket shutdown on

emails any time soon. So what gives?

�e US military is able to cope with an open access policy to social

networking. Why should it be any harder for any other organisation? �e US

Department of Defence allows every one of their users from agents at the

Pentagon to soldiers on the front line to access their Social Media hub through

a series of robust policies and defences.

�ere is plenty of good advice online about more e�ective ways of keeping

your network safe than by blocking social networks. My personal favourite is to

keep an up-to-date web browser, but more on that shortly.

DATA LEAKS

Opponents to open web access will point to multiple instances of employees

compromising intellectual property using social networks. Like the productivity

argument, this is sheer stupidity. Lack of access to social media will do nothing

to stop this kind of behaviour. Training, education and enforcement of policies

are far more e�ective. A determined or clueless employee will cause such leaks

at home or via other means anyway.

SLOWING A COMPANY’S INTERNET CONNECTION

�is is the hardest argument to disagree with. Yes I concede, if everyone is streaming

video and audio during working hours then this will have a detrimental e�ect on

information age, if you need more bandwidth, get some more. In the ‘paper-age’

nobody thought twice about getting more paper when they ran out.

But aside from restricted internet access, what else are Aviation IT departments

doing (or not doing) that makes little sense?

UP TO DATE WEB BROWSERS

PC based internet users, under their own free will have essentially �ve choices

to make regarding which internet browser they use. In fact since anti-trust

forced to make a choice.

The options are Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Apple Safari and Microsoft Explorer.

would be the worst choice anyone could make based on speed tests, security

users. It is worse than that though: Many organisations don’t even allow the use

kicking in many airlines, OEMs and MROs that I have worked with.

Even Microso� themselves can’t see the sense in the use of out-dated browsers.

the previous year, a signi�cant proportion of the World’s population still needs a

bit more encouragement to migrate.

�e excuses against an upgrade are lame to say the least. No-one pays for

browser licenses, the cost of deployment and cross-training is minimal and the

age old excuse of application compatibility is just ridiculous with alternative

browsers o�ering compatibility add-ins. Aviation IT departments should be

made to understand that senseless policies that are restrictive and can only

be explained by saying ‘because we say so’ make users despise you, and don’t

generate any bene�t whatsoever.

�e real reason can’t be that IT departments don’t realise this. Perhaps it’s just

that they don’t have the time and resources to manage things di�erently.

APRIL-MAY 2011 | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | WHITE PAPER: CONDUCE | 31

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Although there are some widely debated theories on this subject, a ratio of one

level for most medium sized businesses. �e company’s technological dependence;

the quantity and type of IT resources deployed; and the level outsourcing

arrangements will all have an impact on the suitability of a company’s IT sta!ng

ratio and the ability of the team to deliver the required service.

Well run IT departments should align their own interests solely with the

objectives of the business. �e person in charge of IT should have a solid

business as well as technology mind. �e trouble is that most IT departments

are bogged down with resetting passwords and plugging in printers for feckless

users or squeezing every drop of performance out of groaning IT resources just

to keep the Exchange server running. It’s a no-win situation. If they do their

job well, no one notices. When they screw up, the website goes down; revenue

wearing clogs that his brother-in-law sent him. Consequently everyone comes

down on them like a ton of bricks. In one IT department that I worked in, we

had a laminated card with ‘YES WE KNOW’ printed on it that we used to pin

to our door during times of hardship.

When they’re not working on the day to day housekeeping chores, there is the

list of projects which is prioritised by the senior management or by whoever can

shout the loudest. Many of these projects have been conceived months and years

in the past and are out of date before they are even embarked upon. Managers

who appreciate the backlog either don’t bother or seek their own solutions. IT

departments therefore

monopolise the

computer problem

rather than pro-

actively providing

solutions. If an

external supplier had

behaved this way,

they’d have been

dropped years ago.

Aviation IT

departments needs to

re-de�ne their service

level agreements with

the rest of the business

(if they ever had one) and look to provide an improved business service that

their ‘customers’ really need.

MANAGEMENT INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE GREAT BUT

THEY DON’T DO EVERYTHING.

Most airlines and MROs who are using a latest generation enterprise level

Management Information System (MIS) seem to be pretty happy with it. �ey

tend to use it to its full extent as intended with wall-to-wall capability, mission

the so�ware tool to carry out their operational transactions. A well designed IT

functionality is usually �lled with �le servers crammed full of shared documents,

spread sheets and home grown databases all outside of the control of IT with

little if any integration with central systems.

One client showed me a mission critical, home grown Access Database which

their engineering and ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems providing

vital operational information to an international "eet and inventory technical

management operation. �is is of course an extreme example that I have seen

�rst-hand, but the numbers of uncontrolled spread sheets that are outside the

control of IT should be a major concern. Maybe if the ERP, Engineering and

other information systems that airlines are using were a bit more open and able to

communicate with each other using an up to date Service Oriented Architecture

(SOA) then integration with external systems would be so much easier negating

the requirement for home-grown stop-gap peripheral solutions.

Data is being passed from department to department, o�en transposed from

one bit of paper to a database application and then printed back to paper

32 | WHITE PAPER: CONDUICE | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | APRIL-MAY 2011

og

“IT are asking whether we have tried turning it o! and on again”

SCREEN GRAB OF WEBSITE

What’s coming up in the June/July 2011 edition

of AircraftIT MROAvailable 7th June at www.aircraftIT.com

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The application of Wireless Sensor Network Technology in MROs and at Turkish Technic: how the network functions and an analysis of the practical benefits.

Dr. Orkun Hasekioglu, CIO, Turkish Technic

Heavy Maintenance and IT Systems. How technology can optimise resources, and minimise costs and hangar time.

Phil Bathurst, Partner, Phisha Aviation Consulting LLC

The challenges in capturing man-hours and materials consumed in airframe checks: the practicalities of the IT systems used and the benefits are analyzed.

Roberto Asuncion, VP IT, Lufthansa Technik Philippines.

CMS has been an afterthought to MRO/IT selection…until NOW.

Thanos Kaponeridis, President & CEO, Aerosoft Systems.

Marshall Aerospace’s Power Play; the development of an in-house system: an electrical load analysis (ELA) application that models an aircraft’s distributed power structure.

Karl Jones, Head of Avionics & Technical Development, Marshall Aerospace.

PLUS: Latest News and Technology Updates, Preview of upcoming Live Software Demonstration Webinars, Latest Industry Vacancies (New Feature), Software Directory...

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Contact us for further details Visit: www.aircraftIT.com email: ed.haskey@aircraft-commerce.com or call +44 1403 230 700 / +44 1273 700 555

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34 | WHITE PAPER: CONDUICE | AIRCRAFT IT MRO | APRIL-MAY 2011

in a slightly di�erent format. For some reason,

collaboration between departments, information

systems and with external partners is a big problem.

Presumably the solution to the problem is at the end

of a list of projects that was initiated �ve years ago. p je y go

“This new software is superb. The output report looks

exactly the same as the form we receive to input the data!”

Most tools and application chosen by IT departments

are engineered for IT departments not business. Take

Microso� SharePoint for example. No business, le�

to its own devices would ever choose SharePoint as a

solution to any problem, but steered by IT, they o�en

do. SharePoint is great at allowing you to do the stu�

you used to do, only di�erently, but IT departments

like it, because it allows them to control everything

from one management console. �at’s probably

unfairly over-simplifying the situation, but the fact

remains that I cannot point you to a single aerospace

organisation that has implemented SharePoint where

the users are happy with the outcome.

EVERYONE WANTS IPADS BUT NO-ONE

KNOWS WHAT TO DO WITH THEM

If I had a pound for every airline I know whose

Chief Executive has decreed that each manager or

aircra� or "ight crew should be equipped with an

iPad, then I’d probably have enough money for a

decent round of drinks. �ere are a number of

barriers to achieving this goal, let alone making a

return on that investment.

Although the iPad may be deemed to be a mature

consumer product in terms of the quantity in

circulation and the number of available apps, it

should most certainly be considered bleeding edge

as an aviation productivity device. Despite approval

as a Class 1 Electronic Flight Bag and the on-going

promise of the revolution the iPad poses to In Flight

Entertainment, the viability of the iPad as a ‘ready-

for-business’ device is less than certain. Of course

one is able to create, edit and share documents; run

a bewildering series of applications and utilities; but

potential users may be disappointed to learn that access

to a mature suite of relevant so�ware or interfaces with

existing information systems simply do not exist (yet).

Due to the overwhelming success of the iPad and

other iOS devices, there is no deal to be struck

with Apple Inc. for volume purchases. I know of

several airlines that, when they approached Apple

to procure a large quantity of iPads, were given

directions to the nearest Apple Store.

Assuming that you have enough buying power to

cut a deal and that you know what you are going

to use your iPads for, you then still have the barrier

of deployment and administration. Enterprise

management qualities for iOS devices is sometimes

moved Apple devices properly into the business

shortcomings over the opposition but largely this

lies with the perception within the IT community.

In my opinion lack of familiarity o�en breeds

contempt. �e post-PC era is upon us and aviation

IT departments should embrace that.IT departments should embrace that.

Steve’s launch of the iPad2 triggered enough eye-rolling

in the aviation IT community to temporarily knock the

Earth o! its axis.

IS THERE A BETTER WAY?

Business trends are, in the main, cyclical. I believe

that we are entering a period of decentralisation

for aviation IT. �e rise of technologies such as

virtualisation, cloud based applications and XaaS

(Anything as a Service) have facilitated a shi� away

from traditional ways of working. Outsourcing

and department speci�c solutions are a realistic

proposition. I’m not advocating that aviation should

abandon shared IT services completely. It doesn’t

make sense to ditch Exchange servers in favour of

hosted Gmail: �ere is always going to be a place

for an IT department in aerospace to some extent,

but a transition has begun.

In the same way that certain procurement and

departments, I foresee more and more autonomy for

aviation IT users in the future. Progressive managers

are making some IT decisions for themselves

through necessity already. �is arrangement will

become increasingly formalised, with centralised IT

departments assuming overall control, but delegating

speci�c administrative functions and application

management to individual departments. �e IT

guy or girl of the future will be less technical, with

business domain speci�c expertise (more akin to

project managers) equipped to run systems rather

than develop them. As applications become more

closely aligned to business requirements o� the

shelf, it is becoming more important to deliver

services and manage supplier contracts than to

develop systems.

If you are running a company in such a way that a

traditional IT department is needed in order to

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Despite approval as a Class 1 Electronic Flight Bag and the on-going promise of the revolution the iPad poses to In Flight Entertainment, the viability of the iPad as a ‘ready-for-business’ device is less than certain

accomplish your market objectives then you are at a

strategic and �nancial disadvantage over a

competitor that operates di�erently.

“Despite their best e!orts, the IT department weren’t

able to stop the Chief Exec from using a Mac.”