{"id":1374,"date":"2022-08-18T19:48:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-06T19:48:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=1374"},"modified":"2023-06-15T03:26:48","modified_gmt":"2023-06-15T03:26:48","slug":"singapore-airlines-innovate-fast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/ap\/blog\/singapore-airlines-innovate-fast\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn How To Innovate at the Speed of Singapore Airlines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The mantra of \u2018move fast and break things\u2019 doesn\u2019t work in a trust-based economy where data security<\/a> and data privacy are critical. Instead, businesses need to find ways to innovate fast without compromising security or building up technical debt. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fortunately, achieving the right balance is a little easier today. DevOps<\/a> and Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) provide the guardrails development teams need to move quickly and safely. This includes strong governance and practices like automated testing. Businesses like Singapore Airlines have also established their own best practices to innovate without disruption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We spoke to Srinivasan Santhanam, Senior Principal Technologist at Singapore Airlines to learn about these and hear how the business keeps up with the demand for new features and digital experiences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s what we learned.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The right mindset and technical muscle are both keys to agility <\/span> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like many businesses during the pandemic, Singapore Airlines had to move fast to reimagine its customer touchpoints. It introduced online meal selection and other mobile services to provide a contactless journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Technology teams relied on two key levers to deliver these solutions within a tight timeframe. The first was a change in mindset. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We didn’t have the luxury to ideate for a long time. So what we did during that time is cultivate a mindset of build-measure-learn. That allowed us to ideate and conceptualise solutions very quickly,” said Santhanam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second key lever was the technical muscle to translate these concepts into real-world solutions. Singapore Airlines already had a strong set of development tools and processes. The business had also shifted to cloud and serverless computing for greater agility. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“We had already set the ball rolling on our digital transformation<\/a> and were leveraging platforms like Salesforce to deliver faster. What we needed to do was accelerate everything to meet customers\u2019 expectations,” said Santhanam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Barriers to agility highlight the need for good governance <\/span> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We asked Santhanam about the barriers to delivering change faster. Using the iceberg analogy, he pointed out the visible or common barriers first. The largest barrier is not having the right tools and that\u2019s followed by unsuitable processes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Incorrectly modelled processes create a lot of bottlenecks. Also, people are often too eager to automate and automation just makes a bad process worse,” said Santhanam. “People should first take a look at their processes \u2014 how they ideate, conceptualise, and deliver. They can then identify what they need to tighten before they automate.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/span>People should first take a look at their processes \u2014 how they ideate, conceptualise, and deliver. They can then identify what they need to tighten before they automate.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n