Implementation of New Booking System for International Railway Provider
An international high-speed railway service provider operating in Europe approached Wavestone in 2017 to help identify a replacement for their reservation system. They were using RésaRail, an outdated solution which was expensive to run and maintain.
The Challenge
The existing solution did not allow for quick changes to transport plans resulting in slow project turnarounds and inefficiency. Wavestone was tasked with analysing the potential migration to a new solution, S3 Passenger developed by Sqills.
Following Wavestone’s six-month assessment and subsequent management approval, a programme was launched to migrate the existing inventory to the new booking system and to reconnect all associated systems in the new ecosystem.
How did Wavestone help?
Wavestone conducted an initial assessment of the proposed booking management solution to validate that Sqills’ S3 Passenger solution did indeed meet and adequately addressed the specific strategic challenges faced by the business.
The team conducted an organisational study of the micro (project level) and macro (organisational level) architecture to be included in the scope. During the programme, the Wavestone team worked across several different work streams. These included:
- project management
- migration to the new solution
- configuration of new inventory system
- testing
- distribution and change management
- alignment of non-reservation systems
The Team
Wavestone started the engagement with 5 consultants. As Wavestone gained the trust and confidence of the client as a result of their collaborative work style, the team grew to 10 consultants by the end of the programme. This allowed for an improved level of programme governance and provided flexibility in scope as the requirements evolved over this 2-year term.
Overall, Wavestone and the client developed an excellent partnership largely as a result of the transparency and flexibility in Wavestone’s approach.
The Results
The migration from the existing to the new booking management solution was very successful with Wavestone receiving positive feedback from several client stakeholders.
One of the key success factors in delivering this programme was the ability to support several work streams and maintain effective communication between all Wavestone consultants and client teams. This was achieved with internal weekly meetings that facilitated coordination between work streams and helped identify programme inter-dependencies and risks.
The objectives defined at the start of the engagement were all met, allowing the business to successfully transition to a solution that offers greater flexibility and is more reactive to business needs. The programme team migrated thousands of bookings to the new system, ensuring greater efficiency and governance of new and after-sales operations.
