SPC03100INEN

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The Challenge

With a range of separate systems

for accounting, purchasing,

inventory management and airline-

specific processes, low-cost airline

SpiceJet was having difficulty

analyzing financial data fast enough

to make timely business decisions.

The Solution

Working with IBM Global Business

Services, the company deployed

SAP ERP 6.0 for financial

accounting, controlling and

materials management, using the

IBM Airline Office template to

deliver a smooth and rapid

implementation within just 12weeks. The solution runs on highly

reliable IBM System x hardware

with high-performance quad-core

Intel Xeon processors, and utilizes a

SAN based on IBM System Storage

DS4700 technology.

SpiceJet improves transparency and control

with IBM Airline Office and SAP ERP

we know

they know

Overview

The Benefits

Integration enables the monthly

financial close to be completed

within seven days a 72 percent

improvement. Better financial

transparency and analytics enable

improved cost control and planning

helping the business run moreefficiently. Future integration with

airline systems will continue to

reduce manual work and improve

data quality.

Key Solution Components

Industry: Aerospace and Defense

Applications: IBMAirline Office,

SAPERP 6.0, SAP ERP Human

Capital ManagementHardware: IBM System x3650 and

3550 servers with IntelXeon

E5345 processors, IBM System

StorageDS4700

Software: IBM TivoliStorage

Manager

Services: IBM Global Business

Services

SpiceJet is one of Indias mostdynamic low-cost airlines, with 19

aircraft flying to 18 destinations across

the country. With its headquarters in

Gurgaon, the company employs 2,500

people, and focuses on delivering the

best possible value for business and

private travel.

SpiceJet is proud of its investment in

cutting-edge technology from itsfleet of Boeing 737-800 aircraft down

to its operational IT systems. The

company manages its airline-specific

business processes using Star

Navigation, Russell Adams, Tech Log

and Navitaire systems, and can offer

passengers e-booking and e-ticketing

facilities.

Technology provides a way for us toimprove our business processes and

offer better service at a lower cost to

our customers, says Nandan Mimani,

Head of Finance at SpiceJet. We

decided to update our back-end

management information systems to

align with the rest of our modern

infrastructure, and increase integration

to improve financial transparency.

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agility while reducing manual

workload. The company evaluated

various options, including solutions

from vendors such as Oracle, before

deciding on a solution from IBM

called Airline Office, which is based

on the SAP ERP application.

IBM Airline Office

It was very important for us to find a

solution that was able to cope with the

unique challenges of the air transport

industry, comments Nandan Mimani.

We wanted to find a partner that had

successfully implemented ERP for

other airlines, so that we could profit

from current best practices and

ensure a smooth, fast implementation.

IBMs Airline Office template for SAP

ERP offered exactly what we were

looking for.

IBM Global Business Services

worked closely with business and IT

teams from SpiceJet to map out the

requirements for the new solution and

create a blueprint for the project that

would accelerate deployment and

minimize risk. The decision was taken

to implement the solution in two

phases: first, to install the SAP

applications for financial accounting,controlling, materials management

and human resources, and second to

integrate the solution with the existing

airline-specific systems such as

Russell Adams.

Building a reliable infrastructure

To complete the first phase, IBM

Global Business Services used the

Airline Office template to install andcustomize the SAP ERP 6.0

application, running in a Microsoft

Windows environment on the IBM

System x platform.

With four cores in each

processor, and two

processors in eachmachine, the Intel Xeon

architecture delivers the

performance our

business users require to

get the most from the

SAP applications.

Nandan Mimani

Head of Finance, SpiceJet

An opportunity for integration

The companys existing back-end

systems included a number of

separate applications for financial

management, procurement and

inventory control. The lack of

integration between these systems

created a large quantity of manual

workload for reconciliations: staff in the

finance department spent too much

time capturing information and too little

analyzing it.

There were other issues too, adds

Nandan Mimani. The user interface of

the old systems was complex and

inflexible. As a result, for example, it

was difficult to generate reports in

different formats for internal and

external audiences. When we wanted

to change or customize something, we

almost invariably had to ask our

existing software provider for help,which took time and was expensive.

SpiceJet began looking for a modern,

centralized ERP solution that would

improve transparency and business

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Three separate x3650 servers handle

the SAP production, development

and quality assurance environments,

while a smaller x3550 runs SAP

Solution Manager. The servers are

located in a data center at the

companys headquarters.

Each of the servers contains two

powerful quad-core Intel Xeon E5345

processors, which deliver excellent

performance due to their 2.33GHz

clock speed and 8MB L2 cache as

well as high energy efficiency. The

System x machines also leverage

fourth-generation IBM X-Architecture

technologies to provide mainframe-

class reliability and availability.

The IBM System x platform is highly

reliable and we have experienced

very little downtime since the

environment went live, commentsNandan Mimani. With four cores in

each processor, and two processors

in each machine, the Intel Xeon

architecture delivers the performance

our business users require to get the

most from the SAP applications.

SpiceJet also implemented a storage

area network based on an IBM

System Storage DS4700 disk system,which provides a highly scalable

storage architecture, capable of

expanding to meet the growing needs

of the companys SAP application

environment and other systems.

The company is using IBM Tivoli

Storage Manager for Enterprise

Resource Planning to handle backup

and recovery processes. Thesoftware is specifically optimized for

SAP ERP environments, providing

simple management and reducing

administrative effort.

Tivoli Storage Manager provides

incremental backup technologies, so

we only need to back up new or edited

data each day, instead of making a full

copy of the whole environment,

comments Nandan Mimani. As a

result, network traffic is substantially

reduced and backups can be

conducted much more quickly

improving overall IT performance and

maximising system availability.

Rapid implementation

IBM Global Business Services

completed this first phase of the

implementation within just 12 weeks

two weeks ahead of the planned

14-week deadline.

IBM Global Business Services did an

excellent job, and the rapid

implementation is a testament to the

best practices that IBM has developedduring previous Airline Office

implementations, says Nandan

Mimani. Of course, there were

naturally a few teething problems as

we got used to the new system, but

IBM and SAP helped us re-engineer

our business processes to eliminate

backlogs and get everything running

smoothly.

Increasing automation and transparency

The new SAP ERP applications have

already delivered a number of

important improvements to SpiceJets

core business processes. Day-to-day

accounting processes have been

simplified, and a powerful search

function has been added to help staff

find specific transactions, suppliers

and customers easily. Reporting has

also been improved, since the SAP

applications are flexible enough to

generate customizable reports without

any need for technical intervention.

IBM Global Business

Services did an

excellent job, and therapid implementation is

a testament to the best

practices that IBM has

developed during

previous Airline Office

implementations.

Nandan Mimani


Tivoli Storage Manager

provides incremental

backup technologies, so

we only need to back up

new or edited data each

day, instead of making

a full copy of the wholeenvironment. As a

result, network traffic is

substantially reduced

and backups can be

conducted much more

quickly improving

overall IT performance

and maximising systemavailability.

Nandan Mimani


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With SAP ERP, we

can complete the

monthly financialclose within just seven

days so we get a

better understanding

of how the business is

doing, and we can

react more quickly to

a changing business

environment.

Nandan Mimani


Copyright 2009 SAP AG

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Copyright IBM Corp. 2009. All rights reserved.

Another very important benefit is the

increased ability to analyze, plan and

forecast, says Nandan Mimani. With

a single repository for financial and

inventory data, we can achieve much

greater financial transparency. We can

assess the profitability of individual

routes and we have much greater

control over purchasing which is

particularly important as oil prices

continue to fluctuate.

Accelerating financial processes

SpiceJet has seen considerable

improvement in a number of routine

back-office processes, such as the

monthly financial close.

The monthly close used to be an

almost entirely manual process, so it

took 20 to 25 days to complete,

comments Nandan Mimani. With SAP

ERP, we can complete the monthlyfinancial close within just seven days

so we get a better understanding of

how the business is doing, and we can

react more quickly to a changing

business environment.

He concludes: The combination of

SAP applications with the IBM Airline

Office template, and the experience

and expertise of the IBM GlobalBusiness Services team, has delivered

a solution that meets our immediate

business needs and lays a secure

foundation for future growth. As we

move into phase two of the project and

integrate our airline-specific systems,

we expect to gain ever-increasing

benefits from the solution.

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SPC03100INEN