Lufthansa Systems transforms aviation and ITSM with Jira Service Management

Digital transformation takes flight

Over the past several decades, the aviation industry has transformed into a digital business where the software behind the scenes is just as critical as the hardware and equipment it powers. No one understands this better than Lufthansa Systems, the IT arm of the world-renowned Lufthansa Group. Lufthansa Systems not only serves its parent company (one of the largest aviation groups in the world), but also almost 350 other airlines.

These airlines count on Lufthansa Systems for consulting, implementation, and management services for critical technologies, including flight planning, scheduling, ticket booking, revenue management, and crew coordination. These systems have historically been managed behind closed doors and mostly managed by IT departments. But today, they’re becoming a competitive advantage for airlines and a critical, cross-functional requirement to avoid major disruptions that can make front-page news, cause enormous losses, and drive passengers away. These are the exact issues Lufthansa Systems is trying to help their customers avoid – and the edge they’re gaining with the help of Atlassian.

Rebuilding service management with a more flexible, intuitive platform

As an IT consultant, Lufthansa Systems’ service to their internal colleagues and external customers is just as important as their technology. Years ago they had extensive ITSM practices in place, but when the company sold off the department that managed those processes and tools, they had to rebuild.

Since Lufthansa Systems already used Jira Software for software and project management along with Confluence as their company-wide knowledge base, the firm’s Service Management Tooling Team (which spans multiple geographies and disciplines) saw an opportunity: Adding Jira Service Management could help integrate their tools and teams, but also present a new way to package the Atlassian solutions they developed as an offering to their own clients.

However, there was one big challenge: Lufthansa Group was already using ServiceNow for infrastructure-related ITSM processes, and leaders wanted to use that tool at Lufthansa Systems as well. Jira Service Management was already in place at Lufthansa Systems, primarily for IT operations and support for both internal projects and development teams. Knowing that Jira Service Management would be more flexible, extensible, and easier to set up and use for ITSM and enterprise service management (ESM), the Service Management Tooling Team piloted a project to show executives and stakeholders the solution’s potential. “Atlassian's ecosystem is a true enterprise solution. Anything you need, any features you need, you can do with this platform,” says Daniela Wambach, Team Leader of Service Management Tooling.

After seeing the success of Jira Service Management, the team helped roll out the solution for Lufthansa Systems’ and Lufthansa Group’s ITSM and ESM needs, while continuing to use ServiceNow for infrastructure ITSM. The two solutions co-exist throughout Lufthansa Group, with a few interfaces between them such as their CMDB. Whenever the Service Management Tooling Team is asked about the use of multiple tools, they're quick to praise the benefits they've experienced using Jira Service Management.

“One of the most important arguments for Atlassian’s platform is the flexibility. ServiceNow doesn’t have that flexibility. It works as an ITSM tool and nothing else. But with Jira Service Management, Confluence, and other Atlassian tools, we can do ESM too, like document approvals and license management,” says Product Delivery Manager Volker Brunner.

“Another big difference between Jira Service Management and ServiceNow is the ease of general setup and support for the tool,” says Hendrik Hilbig, a Jira Software and Confluence specialist. “We buy the licenses, and everything else can be managed by our team. ServiceNow is much more complex and expensive. It requires more parties, consultants, and agencies. With Jira Service Management, we are much faster with delivery, and feedback from customers is positive.”

One easy, efficient portal for customers inside and out

Once Lufthansa Systems started introducing other internal teams (including aircraft maintenance, HR, license management, and information security) to Jira Service Management, interest spread quickly. “Our product is really like a rolling stone. We don’t have to market it,” Hendrik says. “People work in the tool and then realize the use cases. We have a huge pipeline of teams wanting to use Jira Service Management, and we don’t have to do anything.”

After seeing how quickly their internal teams embraced the tool, Lufthansa Systems launched an initiative to use it as their external Customer Service Portal (CSP). Customers, providers, partners, and more can visit the portal to submit questions and tickets about the software Lufthansa Systems manages for them.

“Customers really like it, and it’s far easier for agents to use,” Lars says. “Before, customers had to sift through hundreds of airlines and 380 projects in Jira Software to open a ticket for their specific company and need. Then agents had to check every one of those projects. Now, everyone has one entry point. Customers can even open many tickets at once, and each ticket is assigned to agents and product lines based on what the customer selects.”

In addition to using Jira Service Management to improve the customer experience, Lufthansa Systems also uses the solution to manage information security requests for the entire Lufthansa Group, including over 100 information security officers (ISOs). “Our ISOs often have mass updates. We can deploy them quickly and keep the environment secure with our Atlassian platform,” Product Manager Jens Kamp says. “Jira Service Management makes it quite easy to handle masses of information, including sensitive data, and match standards for information security. Our audience is quite impressed.”

Now that the Customer Service Portal and internal portal are up and running, Lufthansa Systems is working on consolidating their service desk instance into one central Jira Service Management instance and using the solution’s full range of capabilities to service their customers more effectively. Jira Service Management's native Assets tool serves as the primary CMDB in the Customer Service Portal and provides an easier way to help redirect customers to the next, most relevant project. The team also uses the solution to manage processes across incident, change, and problem management. Further, both the Aviation Service and Products desks handle the queue of service requests from customers.

“Atlassian’s platform is so adaptable for any workflow. It has helped us make processes visible and optimize them,” Henrik says. “Jira Service Management helped us stand up a holistic ITSM environment behind the sales and support of our products to our customers. We are onboarding new customers and new products every month through our Customer Service Portal to resoundingly positive feedback from customers.”

Jens adds, "All the integrations with Jira Software and Confluence make the Atlassian platform even more valuable for us and for our customers. When someone asks, “Can we do this?’ we can say, ‘Let’s search for a plugin.’ And in most cases, we’re successful.” This “can-do” attitude is yet another way the Center is living the Lufthansa Group’s motto of “Say yes to the world.”

“It’s not just ITSM – it’s so much more”

With a flexible, easy-to-use, integrated platform in place, Lufthansa Systems’ ITSM and ESM practices are running smoother than ever. The company has already processed 3 million issues in their largest Jira Software instance, 10,000-plus tickets per year with their internal service desk, and even more in their external Customer Service Portal. “Experience, quality, and innovation are what sets Lufthansa Systems apart. When we saw how Jira Service Management transformed our ITSM and ESM internally, we knew it could do the same for our customers," says Chief Technology Officer Susan Linden. "Consolidating 380 Jira Software projects into one Jira Service Management portal has been a game changer for documenting our knowledge and processes, gaining transparency, and perhaps most importantly, improving service for over 15,000 customers and employees.”

Above all else, the platform is helping Lufthansa Systems connect diverse people, processes, and products – just like the flights they help power. “Jira Service Management is the one tool that’s bringing all of our processes together,” Lars says. “It’s not just ITSM – it’s so much more, and our customers see that we can do so much more for them. This tool was so needed, and it makes going to work every morning so much easier.” Daniela adds, “Our goal is to surprise customers – both internally and externally – with our solutions time and time again. We couldn’t do that without Atlassian’s tools.”