The European aircraft manufacturer Airbus and T-Systems have signed an international service agreement for a triple-digit million euro amount. The aircraft manufacturer will be consolidating its three mainframe data centers in the U.K., France and Germany into one center at its headquarters in Toulouse. Starting in 2004 for a period of five years, T-Systems will be operating all the mainframe systems for these three countries in Toulouse. The Deutsche Telekom division will also be providing service and support to Airbus’ 42,000 PC users for three years by setting up a single integrated hotline based in two locations - Hamburg and Toulouse - to serve users with work-related software problems. The hotlines will handle the work that previously required four user helpdesks.
Consolidation of the mainframe systems and support for PC users will enable the same quality of service across all three countries and create synergies that will drive down costs. The mainframes are the keystones of the aircraft group’s information-technology structure. Airbus uses them mainly to manage vast quantities of data and complex applications for its development and production process. Because this sensitive data has to be constantly available, all the servers are run with a redundant back-up that is kept at a separate location. These server pairs normally divide the workload between themselves. If one of the computers fails, though, its ‘twin’ will take over running the applications in their entirety. This prevents interruptions in the data flow.
Helpdesk in three languages
Airbus employees with software problems can now contact a central T?Systems hotline. Depending on their native language, they can get information in English, French or German. If the assistance they get over the phone isn’t enough, the T-Systems experts can access the Airbus employees’ computers directly through the network to resolve errors. On-site service is only needed for serious errors, such as whenever technicians have to exchange faulty hardware like hard drives or printers. New software can also be installed remotely.
