The transition to a world where workforce increasingly works from home was not something which got introduced as a result of this pandemic. It was already underway but got super accelerated because of the current situation we are in. This has affected delivery of software products and projects in ways which could not have been foreseen. The immediate reaction was to pause/stop major projects and wait for covid to get over. As organizations and customers realized, that the pandemic is here to stay for some time, there was a need to deliver projects remotely
During the initial stages, we as an organization nor our customers were sure if remote delivery can work, as in the past we have primarily depended on on-site presence for most of our projects especially. the complex projects. Customers were more comfortable putting the projects on hold until the pandemic situation becomes better instead of agreeing for a remote delivery. How did we change that thought process? At Sabre, we are always one step ahead and have always been very quick to adapt to new and challenging situations. Our teams quickly realized that winning customer confidence was critical. While on-site delivery may not need the full rigor and process, remote delivery does and artifacts like project plans, clear and documented requirements and workflows, constant stakeholder alignment, clear milestones, remote training plans, and remote support are key to successfully delivering projects remotely
Remote collaboration tools have played a key role in our ability to delivery services. Our teams leveraged tools such as Microsoft teams to hold video calls and training sessions. We encourage all our team members to actually be on video during these calls. While we cannot be on-site, you will be surprised what a big difference it makes if one can put a face to the name
The following steps and measures have helped build confidence with customers and create a win-win situation
- Training sessions are recorded, and a video library is created
- customer specific/project specific office hours have been started – frequency daily to weekly based on the activity. Flexible timings for workshops, meetings, discussions and working sessions
- Team member productivity is increased by eliminating travel time which can take two days or more depending on the region the customer is based. Helps employees avoid jet lag which can hamper productivity. This has also helped in shrinking project timelines in many case.
- Cost of implementation goes down significantly as travel and other expenses for onsite support are excluded. The focus is now on adoption of remote support services and best practices so cost can be utilized efficiently for the same. The cost savings can be passed on to customers creating a win-win situation
These measures have helped make delivery of software projects cost efficient, effective and more customer focused.
Internal Sabre benefits
- Create best practices for remote delivery of projects
- A more process driven approach to achieving success with delivering projects vs depending on few critical people
- Institute proactive thinking on coming hurdles and innovation needed in projects
- Improved cross functional collaboration across delivery, technology, product management and care teams within the company to ensure seamless product delivery and responding to customer feedback
Few challenges which still exists until we adapt the new norms
- Relationship building is better with being onsite with the customer
- Actual Observation on how the end user uses the feature/application based on the business model
- Customer feels confident having us around in terms of support and accountability
- Minimal presence of staff at workplace has created few challenges for example Testing using real environment specially when it comes to sabre applications used via local airport connectivity/Equipment (Cute-Common user Terminal Equipment)
With all the above efforts we have customers focused in implementing and activating many products , for example projects which went live during this pandemic situation was one of our customer migrating to new Airport application Digital workspace , neighbor free seating , upgrading of our GUI application used by end users at Airports and call centers for check-in, reservations and ticketing In summary, while our organization adapted to a new software product delivery model due to the pandemic, the changes are likely to be longer lasting. The benefits seen with remote delivery while maintaining the quality of the projects, is likely to outlast the pandemic and used more widely in delivery of software projects
