Excerpts from the interaction with Mr. Amit Phadke, VP – IT Infrastructure and Security, Accelya Kale

Authored by Amit Phadke, VP – IT Infrastructure and Security, Accelya Kale

The digital revolution has an immense impact on the global business landscape. Like other sectors, the Aviation sector is also on the front line of this revolution. Increasingly, it is feeling the need to meet the high standards set by its customers across the value chain and address various strategic challenges coming en route. To gain an in-depth understanding of how the Aviation sector is driving digital transformation, we spoke with Mr. Amit Phadke, VP – IT Infrastructure and Security, Accelya Kale. Here's an excerpt. 

Q1. What is the future of IT in the Aviation sector? 

Digital Technology is the next revolution across all sectors. Aviation too is embracing digital technologies to meet increasing passenger demands. Currently, the industry is optimizing the processes that are making the overall travel experience better, with very few or even no touch processes. Airlines are harnessing aspects of digital technologies like IoT, Analytics, and Robotics, primarily to enhance the passenger experience. 

The airline IT industry is embracing new digital technologies in a big way. It´s one of the oldest industries in the world economy and many of its systems and platforms were developed decades ago. New technologies such as IoT, Robotics, Analytics are now deployed to re-engineer the existing business processes to improve efficiencies. Just look at how the passenger experience is being transformed. With the advent of e-tickets, Mobile check-ins, the e-passport, self-serviced Kiosks, inflight internet access; airlines and its eco-system partners are transforming the passenger journey. Age-old distribution channels are getting replaced by new distribution capabilities where airlines can construct customized offers to cater to the unique needs of the passenger. Many of the back-office processes such as voice call support, and financial processing are being transformed using Robotics. Airlines are also adopting analytics and data science more effectively to improve aircraft optimization and passenger yields. In coming years, airlines will look to harness their data by investing in next- generation CRM systems to gain a better understanding of their customers and hence improve both the customer experience and their profitability. 

Q2. What has been your key learnings in adopting Cloud solutions? 

Is Cloud an integral part of your IT Transformation agenda? Cloud is the way to go for selective systems. Many OEMs are pushing for Cloud-based solutions, keeping in mind recurring revenues and customer stickiness. 

When it comes to Platform as a Service (PaaS), Cloud makes more sense. However, for IaaS, it depends on many things like usage time period, organization status (like start-up, capital investment appetite etc); TCO including licensing policies, regulatory and security requirements, application readiness, regional vs. global access and much more. 

Cloud is an integral part of our IT transformation agenda and we have selectively decided to adopt various Cloud-based solutions. 

Q3. How are you gearing up to safeguard your enterprise from existing and newer cyber security threats in 2019? 

Best-in-class security is all about People, Processes, and Technology. Cyber-attacks and their impact are ever increasing. 

Cyber threat landscapes are changing all the time from Ransomware-as-a-Service, exfiltration of data from Cloud-based storages, attacks via compromised IoT devices, AI-powered attacks, crypto jacking etc. 

It is important that security teams think like hackers and safeguard the enterprise from all the above attacks. Keeping in mind changing threat landscapes and new regulations like GDPR, we are focusing on security by design — covering self-protecting data, application security, endpoint security, network, and email security — using various solutions including SIEM, Machine Learning, Analytics, Endpoint Protection, Deception, and few more. 

It is important that the ‘Security Strategy is Business Aligned’ — where Business owns the information valuation, risk, and business values while the Security team owns Governance, Risk Management, data protection, assess liability, and advice. 

Q4. Is work-life balance possible in the ever-connected world? 

Please share about your interests outside of work. Jobs today are demanding and you cannot ignore the need for a faster response. It’s up to an individual to ensure work-life balance. It is important to set right processes, place right people in the right position, and function as an integrated team to enjoy what you do. 

I am happy to have fantastic team members, an encouraging reporting manager, and a supportive executive team. Thanks to all of them for making this journey interesting. 

Traveling countryside and playing cricket keeps me busy otherwise. Of course, Friday parties with friends are not to be missed. 

Q5. How has your experience with Dell EMC been? 

Technology innovation at the core and customer service focus is what differentiates Dell EMC from others in the industry. I have been working with Dell EMC for more than 15 years and the bond just gets stronger as we move on. Keep innovating and all the best to team Dell.