In the traditional IT speak, UCM is a very trusted rollout enterprises resort to. This got accelerated with IP network becoming the order of the day. On an integrated IP backbone, it was a natural extension to roll out ‘unified communication’.
I like to paint a different perspective and speak out on “collaboration framework”. In this framework, UCM is one sub-set. Intranet/ Intra community portal is another sub-set. Another sub-set could be office suite solutions.
The way business needs to be carried out has undergone a paradigm shift. An enterprise no longer can afford to soldier by itself, it needs to team up or collaborate with its eco-partners. As a use case I like to mention on how Bangalore International Airport (BIA) has laid out a true collaboration framework.
Private Airport operators feel the need now to stitch the canvas with all its eco-partners, to have a seamless travel experience. This is a sure recipe for a win-win proposition for all eco-partners and be part of the action. That in essence brings the “collaboration frame work” in to perspective.
To actualise the ‘collaboration frame work’, it is necessary to put in place the ‘ICT SMART Airport Enabler framework’. Typically in an airport there would be multiple systems and applications that need to interface and exchange and interchange data points dynamically. These two pillars then would support the Smart Airport Framework to realise ‘Smart Airport’ and ‘Smart Airport City’.
From an ICT standpoint, to realise the collaborative frameworks, BIA is re-architecting the SOA and ESB implementation through IBM, using IBM WPS and MQ. The proposed solution deployment is based on the open industry standard AIDX.
Needless to say for airport collaboration, the airport operators need to establish AOCC, which is the central hub with all eco-partners sharing the workspace and information and taking informed and timely decisions. AOCC is powered by the ICT framework to enable all the stakeholders to get real-time data points and images for active and collaborative decision-making by a quickly ‘connect’ through interfaces with multiple disparate systems. That is collaboration redefined!