Travel & Transportation

Business challenge Co., Ltd. and JAL Information Technology Co., Ltd. (JAL INFOTEC) sought to become the world’s most preferred and valued , but old and outdated IT systems prevented the business from responding to the digital shift.

Transformation JAL Group, the parent company of Japan Airlines, has a vision: to serve as the world’s most preferred and valued airline. However, an outdated IT infrastructure hindered digital transformation. To gain a flexible IT environment that evolves as business needs change, Japan Airlines and its core IT subsidiary, JAL INFOTEC, engaged IBM to build a hybrid cloud infrastructure on IBM Cloud®.

Results “ It’s great progress to Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. provide a choice of Establishes an evolving hybrid infrastructure. It allows cloud environment developers to choose by releasing new services every Building a hybrid cloud depending on the six months quality, cost or delivery infrastructure to support and they need.” Enables switching between two environments realize JAL’s vision —Masashi Oshima, Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure Program Manager, without stopping virtual machines Japan Airlines Co., Ltd. Headquartered in , , and part of the JAL Group of companies, Provides choice of Japan Airlines (external link) is a domestic and international air transport carrier infrastructure of passengers and cargo through five consolidated subsidiaries and one depending on quality, cost or delivery affiliated company. Since featuring the theme of “Challenge, Leading to that developers need Growth” in its 2017 - 2020 management plan, JAL Group has developed a solution to realize the JAL Vision. JAL INFOTEC was established by Japan Airlines in 1978. As an information and communications technology (ICT) Share this integrator and core company of the JAL Group, JAL INFOTEC provides safety, security and comfortable air transportation service solutions. An inflexible IT with the change because of the without stopping the virtual infrastructure infrastructure’s old legacy “ IBM assigned engineers machines. It also provides more system architecture.” who had knowledge and flexibility and control over the balance JAL Group’s vision is to be the experience on both the of quality, cost and speed. world’s most preferred and valued Japan Airlines and JAL INFOTEC had VMware NSX and the airline. To realize this vision, the many discussions about which Cisco ACI. They Under the agreement, IBM company is guided by three core applications would best contribute to successfully built the implemented a software-defined data principles: transform JAL into a truly the business and what kind of virtual network just as we center (SDDC) environment on IBM infrastructure would provide reliable Cloud interconnected with the global airline; create new value one had pictured for CIEL and and timely IT services. Ultimately, on-premises cloud by extending the step ahead of competitors; and made it possible to achieve sustainable growth. they decided to shift to a hybrid and Layer 2 (L2) network using the multicloud environment. To this end, maintain the challenging Cross-vCenter NSX environment. consistency between the Japan Airlines and JAL INFOTEC, the the company began building a hybrid The SDDC architecture is based on company’s core information and cloud infrastructure called CIEL, two SDNs, which allowed VMware vSphere hypervisor, and communications technology which means “sky” in French. us to accelerate the consists of VMware vSAN for integrator, are responsible for network automation with software-defined storage (SDS) and promoting JAL Group’s IT strategy Clouds with confidence.” VMware NSX Data Center (VMware and supporting the JAL Vision. NSX) for software-defined network virtualization —Takahiro Oguma, Vice President, (SDN) technologies. Masashi Oshima, Hybrid Cloud architecture Hybrid Cloud Service & Strategy, Infrastructure Program Manager at JAL INFOTEC However, more was needed to Japan Airlines elaborates: “JAL Japan Airline’s CIEL cloud consists of satisfy requirements for CIEL to currently operates about 1,000 flights four infrastructures: become the new enterprise on 182 routes daily, with 40 million infrastructure. • CIEL/J, a private cloud infrastructure JAL Group deploys to realize the JAL customers using those flights each based on the VMware vSphere Vision. To build the CIEL/J, CIEL/D year. We provide IT to support safe “We requested IBM to demonstrate platform, built in the existing data and CIEL/manager infrastructures, and on-time flights. With advanced each function through testing—not center Japan Airlines and JAL INFOTEC technologies, we develop IT solutions by theory—to ensure that the new chose IBM as a project partner and that can respond promptly to the • CIEL/D, a public cloud infrastructure environment delivered the system provided by a dedicated infrastructure collaborated with IBM. changes in the business environment reliability and with the quality we as a service (IaaS) and integrated with needed,” says Takahiro Oguma, Vice and create new value.” the private cloud infrastructure “We gathered the requirements and President, Hybrid Cloud Service & asked some vendors to propose, However, when Japan Airlines first • CIEL/S, a public cloud infrastructure Strategy at JAL INFOTEC. “We put a and IBM proposed the most began planning the JAL Vision in provided by a shared IaaS and platform heavy burden on IBM engineers advanced solution at that time,” says 2016, IT fell behind in responding to as a service (PaaS) because we did not compromise on Mr. Yaze. the company’s call for a digital shift. • CIEL/manager, a hybrid cloud the quality even during a tight management infrastructure to integrally From the start, Japan Airlines and schedule. But they accomplished “The IT role has changed with the manage the operations of CIEL/J, JAL INFOTEC planned to implement their mission with success.” advance of digital technology,” CIEL/D and CIEL/S clouds the same virtualization architecture explains Hideaki Yaze, Hybrid Cloud For the CIEL/J infrastructure, IBM both on-premises and on the public Infrastructure Architect at JAL The CIEL cloud provides all of the deployed network virtualization to cloud. This strategy would allow the INFOTEC. “But we couldn’t keep up infrastructures necessary to support accelerate the network speed, company to seamlessly switch the various services and applications building the network environment between the two environments

2 using two SDNs: Cisco Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) technology and the VMware NSX platform. Implementing the two SDNs and performing their respective functions required a high level of skill for both solutions.

“IBM assigned engineers who had knowledge and experience on both the VMware NSX and the Cisco ACI,” adds Mr. Oguma. “They successfully built the virtual network just as we had pictured for CIEL and made it possible to maintain the challenging consistency between the two SDNs, which allowed us to accelerate the network automation with confidence.”

The CIEL/manager cloud enhances workflows and automates routine tasks and processes using the IT Service Management and IT Operation Management applications of the ServiceNow platform.

IBM contributed greatly to the infrastructure implementation. “IBM integrator, IBM closely cooperated its requirements took a long time. describes its positive effects: understood our goal and supported with us in a complex multi-vendor Today, the CIEL cloud reflects the “Engineers have largely reduced their us by proposing and implementing project, flexibly addressed multi- company’s changing business needs time spent on user meetings and the best solution for JAL. IBM is our discipline issues, and completed the in half-yearly cycles. typical operations and have focused trusted partner that we can rely on,” project with responsibility. We expect on their primary work such as design says Mr. Yaze. IBM’s continuous support for the Masahiko Obata, Hybrid Cloud and development. operation phase.” Infrastructure Project Manager at JAL Looking back on the infrastructure INFOTEC, says, “Embracing the Mr. Oguma agrees. “While the implementation period, Mr. Oshima A cloud that evolves concept of a hybrid cloud problem of an IT resource shortage is appreciates the support from IBM. infrastructure that evolves every half getting more serious across the “We needed to combine a wide with business needs year is the foremost achievement for industry, we are ahead in promoting realizing the digital transformation of a self-service and automated range of new technologies for the The CIEL cloud went operational in the entire JAL Group.” infrastructure. The foundation is implementation, but we overcame December 2018. Since then, Japan ready for shifting the IT engineers to these difficulties by building a team Airlines has upgraded the service The level of operations automation upstream processes such as that cut across traditional twice a year. Previously, releasing a organizations and roles. As a system on the CIEL/manager cloud has also planning and envisioning.” new service and implementing all of improved steadily. Mr. Obata

3 Mr. Oshima concludes: “It is too early Take the next step to judge the quantitative effect of “ Engineers have largely Learn how to leverage your CIEL. But it shows great progress to reduced their time spent investment in a multicloud provide a choice of infrastructures to on user meetings and environment with the security and users. It allows new services and typical operations and flexibility to manage your applications applications for developers to choose have focused on their and workload requirements. the infrastructure according to primary work such as quality, cost or delivery that design and development.” they need.” —Masahiko Obata, Hybrid Cloud In the future, JAL Group plans to Infrastructure Project Manager, establish a Cloud Center of JAL INFOTEC Excellence to accelerate the use of multicloud in every field, including business, human resources, governance, security as well as system infrastructure. With that, CIEL will closely support service and application development on the business side to support the realization of the JAL Vision.

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