Smart Integration of Heterogenous Systems for a Leading Cruiseline

Connecting disparate business systems and achieving real-time data integration is easy until you operate across complex value chains and have numerous unaccounted data points across the business. So, when our client, who operated across huge sea geography, wanted to mitigate the hassles of disjointed business systems, both onshore and the sea, and integrate real-time data to gain visibility, we knew that the disruptive API-based solution will meet the waves of change.

Snapshots

Challenge:

No centralized system to communicate and process fleet data; lack of real-time insights on crew, vessel status, and point-to-point routing.

Solutions:

Implemented an integration solution using REST services in webMethods to enable integration of systems and data sources; developed an intuitive dashboard and Transaction Monitoring module to provide single touchpoint access to data.

Benefits:

Seamless system integration and data interoperability; increased efficiency; faster decision-making; holistic growth.

Key Challenges

Our client was struggling to access, manage, study, and calibrate data owing to the lack of an integration solution. The whole workflow management was severely affected by siloed data, inefficiencies, and lack of central visibility, which drove our client to a choke point.
Absence of an integration solution proved kryptonite for seamless data delivery and real-time decision-making. Since data wasn’t available instantly and insights couldn’t be derived in real-time, our client failed to act nimbler.
Inefficient data delivery weakened the communication processes and speed at scale. Systems on the ships weren’t able to communicate with shore applications, and various teams found it difficult to coordinate. This affected service value and customer experience at large.

Our client is the US-based largest cruise line in the world, owning a fleet of 26 ships that offers vacation tours at sea and ashore to millions of passengers every year. With operating extensive voyages across the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Barbados, and registering an annual turnover of $17.5 billion, our client is a floating pride, making waves world over.

Our Solutions

We comprehensively studied every aspect of the value chain and deployed an integration solution based on Software AG’s webMethods suite and REST service framework built on top of it. This resulted in seamless integration of disjointed business systems and applications, which enabled end-to-end aggregation of information from multiple touchpoints, eliminated data silos, streamlined data exchange and communication, facilitated data centralization, and improved efficiency and decision-making. The solution helped the client become capable of housing structured data and using it meaningfully to derive insights for predictive growth. The client achieved holistic growth because of enhanced functionalities, agile planning, and faster speed-to-market owing to re-use of IT assets.

The team also adopted simple and efficient design principles to build, integrate, and configure systems with a service-centric approach. This empowered our client in responding and solving present and future challenges strategically, and with confidence.

An intelligent Transaction Monitoring, Reprocessing, and Dashboard system was developed to facilitate greater level of ease and flexibility while dealing with data. A single, real-time view into the crew, passenger, and fleet data resulted in efficient management of customer demand against fleet capacities and schedules.

Business Benefits

Improved crew, fleet, demand management, and capacity planning of 25 cruise liners
Improved quality of customer service and delivery across value chains
Enhanced business performance and efficiency at par
Accelerated decision-making and uptime value due to the elimination of data silos
Maximized cost savings through re-use of existing systems and services