Lufthansa tames data using Qlik on Project BEAST
- Summary:
- With more than 150 data sources, Lufthansa Cargo is taming the beast with Qlik. Here's the recipe for making it work.
You can't make this up. I recently sat down with Moritz Schieder, project manager business intelligence and economics at Lufthansa. I described using a particular software solution as something of a 'beast.' It turns out that hefting 150 or more data sources is exactly that, hence the aptly named Project BEAST, which is underway and using Qlik.
Schieder sets the scene in the following terms:
I think reality at Lufthansa and probably at other big enterprises as well is that we run, a zoo...many, many applications and data everywhere.
I started with a very thorough research and analysis about the current situation at Lufthansa and I found out that we're using more than 150 different data sources in the normal business. The main problem was and is that we are highly inefficient when it comes to data, and analysis of both internal and external data. So that means that our people take tremendous amounts of time in doing research, downloading data from internal systems into Excel spreadsheets and the like.
Sounds like hell on earth to me but why are they doing this in the first place? What's the objective?
If you break it down it's a procurement situation, so we have a big team of procurement experts who talk to an airport company, talk to a cleaning company and the challenge there is that the data needed for the procurement process was very spread out and wasn't combined. So because procurement experts are not data scientists and also should focus on making deals and not researching for data, our aim was to get rid of that time they spent on finding data.
It's combining internal information about the quantities of flights, passengers, compare that with the cost you have, compare that with your profitability, so revenue side and then it's about the external situation of the provider. So how is he performing in terms of the service quality he's providing but also his financial situation. To understand where you could put some more pressure maybe and get a better price at the end of the day.
Schieder then went on to say the goal is to improve efficient in the procurement processes by 20 to 30 percent. That in turn will allow Lufthansa to be more operationally effective. Reducing headcount doesn't work in this scenario because if you take that path then all you are doing is accelerating existing processes rather than making them better.
So how does Qlik fit in?
QlikView is like a static report but with extended functionality, that you can for example click on the month, on the year, click around a bit, but that's actually the first step to draw them inside the system. We quickly decided that this is only the first step because we also wanted that there should be a self-service part of the game, so that the business people not only consume reports, which are pre-built, but also build there own. And therefore we decided now that Qlik Sense has a better offering.
Lufthansa wants to get Qlik into as many people's hands as possible but wants to keep administration down to an absolute minimum. To that end, it is implementing Qlik using a client-server deployment model with Qlik Sense providing access to any device. So far so good. But what about challenges? On the one hand you'd think that introducing Qlik would be welcome given it is taking a burden away from users. It's not that straightforward:
The business users are very very open if they see what is possible, but on the other hand they fear that it is just another IT system where they have not the best. They have a fear which is related to legacy systems, but then on the other side which creates a lot of turmoil is the IT departments, which are not that supportive in those kind of projects. But we are supporting IT because now they have some control over the data sources which they can't have when users are making spreadsheets on the desktop. In that sense, we've improved data governance which IT always likes.
Listening to Schieder I couldn't help but be drawn by his infectious enthusiasm for what must be a difficult project at multiple levels. It has been running for three years now and has at least another year in front as Lufthansa learns from the project outcomes and continues to prove the business value of user generated reports.
He has hit on the key requirement to get and keep top down sponsorship of the project and especially at both board and operational levels. Bringing IT on board by helping them have a purpose that serves the business means they do not stand in the way but are active participants in Project BEAST's success.
It will be good to revisit this project in the future and hear more about how it is progressing.
Disclosure: The conversation was recorded at Qlik's annual partner event for which Qlik covered most of my T&E.
Lufthansa image via Planespotters.net, Moritz Schieder by the author.