By Mani Ganeshan, Global Head of Engineering, Travel Distribution and Centre Head, Amadeus Labs
The travel industry has undergone significant changes in recent years, owing to the rise in digital technologies. The development of mobile applications and online booking systems has made it easier for travelers to plan their trips, book accommodation, and transportation, and manage their travel schedules. However, as travel companies adopt new technologies and expand their digital offerings, they face speed, scalability, and security challenges. DevOps, a software development methodology emphasising collaboration and communication between software developers and IT operations teams will overcome these challenges. According to Gartner, more than 85% of organisations will adopt a cloud computing strategy by 2025, and 95% of new digital workloads will be on cloud platforms, a 30% increase from 2021.
DevOps processes are delivering unmatched value since technology makes it possible to provide superior, faster, cheaper, and more efficient products. According to a study by Atlassian & CITE Research, for 99% of CIOs and developers, DevOps has positively impacted their organisation – 61 percent say that it has helped them produce higher quality deliverables, and 49 percent reported improved time-to-market software and services. DevOps practices can play a crucial role in paving the way for transformed travel by enhancing the development and delivery of travel-related applications and services. By adopting DevOps, travel companies can transform how they operate and deliver value to their customers.
Here are some specific ways in which DevOps contributes to the transformation of the travel industry:
1. Continuous Delivery and Deployment
DevOps enables travel companies to accelerate the delivery of new features and updates to their applications. By leveraging automated testing and deployment processes, they can release updates more frequently, enabling them to respond swiftly to customer feedback. This agile and efficient approach allows for the rapid deployment of new features and enhanced functionality to customers. Consequently, the user experience is improved, keeping users engaged and satisfied with the application.
2. Strengthens Customer Experience
By implementing continuous integration and delivery practices, companies can rapidly deploy updates and new features, ensuring a seamless user experience across various travel platforms. Whether it’s booking flights, finding accommodations, or exploring local attractions, customers benefit from real-time information and improved functionality.
3. Scalability
Travel companies face unique scalability challenges. During the busiest travel seasons, such as during holidays or major events, they must be prepared to handle a significant increase in traffic and demand. Travel companies can quickly and easily add new servers or resources to their applications using automated tools and processes, ensuring they can handle increased traffic without experiencing downtime or other performance issues.
4. Security
Travel companies should also be concerned about security, as they deal with sensitive information such as customer payment details and personal information. DevOps helps them improve their security posture by automating security testing and monitoring processes. It can be used to scan applications for vulnerabilities and security risks automatically. Using automated tools to monitor applications for signs of suspicious activity will enable us to detect and respond to potential security threats in real time.
5. Data-driven decision making
By collecting and analysing data on app performance, customer behavior and other key metrics, travel companies can gain insights that can help them make better-informed decisions about how to improve their apps and services. They can use DevOps to collect and analyse data on customer behavior, such as how they use apps and which features, they use most often. This data can then be used to decide how to improve the user experience and drive greater engagement with the application.
6. Enhance Economic Growth
DevOps is now a vital component for fostering economic development. Regardless of their size, businesses in the travel industry can greatly benefit by adopting a DevOps mindset and implementing effective changes. Embracing DevOps requires a shift in culture and mindset, highlighting the value of team dynamics, leadership, and organisational culture. This trend is expected to continue growing as businesses recognise the substantial potential for growth and advantages that come with embracing DevOps practices.
In conclusion, DevOps facilitates reduced transaction time by streamlining processes and optimising efficiency. This means that travelers can complete their transactions quickly and efficiently, saving time and effort. It helps travel companies improve their operations and deliver value to their customers by enabling continuous delivery and deployment, scalability, security, collaboration, and data-driven decision-making. As the travel industry continues to evolve and face new challenges, DevOps will play an increasingly important role in helping companies remain competitive and meet the needs that will only grow. Additionally, DevOps enables a shorter time to market for new products and features. This means that travel companies can introduce innovative offerings to travelers promptly, enhancing their experience with the latest services and features through DevOps.