Airbus is installing the travel management component of SAP's new ERP (enterprise resource planning) software, mySAP ERP 2004, which uses SOA (service-oriented architecture) technology. The new system replaces a home-grown system at the company's plant in France, a lotus-based system in its Spanish operations and earlier SAP versions at facilities in Germany and the U.K., James Westgarth, manager of travel technology procurement at Airbus, said in an interview at the European Sapphire customer event in Paris.

Airbus is implementing a Web services-based travel management application from SAP as a first step in a planned group-wide migration to a service-oriented architecture.The decision to deploy a new Web services-based travel management system was driven in large part by a need to reduce administration costs and improve business processes."We like the idea of an open architecture, which SOA enables," Westgarth said. "We like the idea of being able to manage everything internally and to cherry-pick for the best solution in every class."

Airbus employees, Westgarth said, like the Web-based application's new user interface, the single sign-on and the step-by-step guidance. And the company likes the flexibility. "No one was talking about low-cost carriers five years ago," he said. "We need to adapt to the market and to changing needs."

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Prashanth Rai