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Etihad Accelerates Cloud Transformation with IBM

Key Points

  • Etihad wanted a modern, customer‑friendly technology platform to boost its hospitality‑focused service, seeking a partner that could accelerate the transition to cloud‑based solutions.
  • By collaborating with IBM and using the IBM Cloud and IBM Garage co‑creation methodology, Etihad assembled business stakeholders, IBM tech, and other partners to rapidly prototype a boarding‑card printing and emailing service in just one week.
  • IBM’s API Connect enabled seamless integration with Etihad’s legacy systems (such as Saver) and new channels like WhatsApp, providing a unified cross‑channel experience.
  • The first minimum‑viable product was launched within 15 weeks, cutting deployment time from weeks to minutes and demonstrating the efficiency of the new cloud‑native approach.

Full Transcript

# Etihad Accelerates Cloud Transformation with IBM **Source:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0udPfsZ-nY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0udPfsZ-nY) **Duration:** 00:02:18 ## Summary - Etihad wanted a modern, customer‑friendly technology platform to boost its hospitality‑focused service, seeking a partner that could accelerate the transition to cloud‑based solutions. - By collaborating with IBM and using the IBM Cloud and IBM Garage co‑creation methodology, Etihad assembled business stakeholders, IBM tech, and other partners to rapidly prototype a boarding‑card printing and emailing service in just one week. - IBM’s API Connect enabled seamless integration with Etihad’s legacy systems (such as Saver) and new channels like WhatsApp, providing a unified cross‑channel experience. - The first minimum‑viable product was launched within 15 weeks, cutting deployment time from weeks to minutes and demonstrating the efficiency of the new cloud‑native approach. ## Sections - [00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y0udPfsZ-nY&t=0s) **Etihad Accelerates Cloud Transformation with IBM** - Etihad partnered with IBM, using the IBM Garage methodology and API Connect to rapidly prototype and launch a cloud‑based, cross‑channel boarding‑card solution, integrating legacy systems within 15 weeks. ## Full Transcript
0:00(soft music) 0:01- Etihad is the national airline of United Arab Emirates. 0:07And, hospitality is a key part of the culture. 0:13So, excelling in customer service is important 0:17and having a technology solution that provides 0:21that easy to use, customer friendly user experience 0:26is what we want to achieve. 0:28For this specific project 0:30I wanted a totally different way of leveraging 0:33solving new technologies, new cloud capabilities. 0:37What I was looking for is a partner that would enable us 0:41to go down this journey as fast as possible. 0:45Working with IBM, leveraging the IBM Cloud 0:48allows us to do that. 0:50So one of our challenge is the fact 0:51that the airline industry uses a lot of legacy technologies. 0:55To provide a transparent and seamless 0:58cross channel experience you need to have 1:01the right platforms in place that deliver 1:04the functionality across all devices and all use cases. 1:11We use the IBM Garage co-creation type methodology. 1:16So, we brought together Etihad business stakeholders, 1:23IBM technologies and other companies. 1:25And within in a week the team came back 1:29with a working prototype where you can print 1:34and email a boarding card. 1:38Very quick and successful proof of concept gave me 1:41the confidence that we can connect 1:45to the backend systems and deliver a product 1:49that would be acceptable. 1:52Using API Connect we are able to connect 1:55very easily to legacy systems. 1:58Or existing systems like Saver 2:00but also new technologies like WhatsApp. 2:03Within 15 weeks we launched the first release 2:08for the minimum viable product. 2:10The deployment efficiency which would normally take us 2:14weeks in the old world are happening, matter of minutes.