Air France–KLM Group & Criston - Success story
Criston desktop management solution currently in production at Air France
Air France has extended its 39,000 Precision-managed workstations to 11,000 KLM workstations in order to inventory and protect a total of 50,000 workstations.
Sophia Antipolis France – August September 5th 2006
Criston, European supplier of secure desktop management solutions, has announced the signing of an agreement with the Air France-KLM Group under the terms of which the Group’s IT Management will use the Desktop Management solution to manage all its workstations, agency servers and airport terminals, i.e. 50,000 computers at 250 sites throughout the world.
In a market where core "transport" services alone are no longer sufficient to make a difference, it is crucial for airline companies to achieve differentiation through their services, both on the ground as well as in the air. For Air France-KLM, controlling its quality of service is a strategic must in order to meet customers’ needs. This challenge is clearly reflected in the way the Group manages its IT infrastructure.
The merger between Air France and KLM on the 5th May 2004 involved converging two remote information systems, a task that imposed new constraints and set new goals. Air France-KLM Group IT Management found itself confronted with a big initial challenge: service for users.
Scaled-down infrastructure
The Air France-KLM Group also needs to control and optimise the cost of its deployment operations across the 1,000 sites where Air France and KLM have a presence. The problems they face are global and complex. The infrastructure of the information system includes multiple "assets", IT hardware, peripheral equipment and software applications; these are inventoried in various repositories and managed by different systems. This complexity has an impact on service and on the company’s costs of investment, maintenance and depreciation.
Convergence continues
Precision Desktop Management was adopted because of the powerful functionality it offers (complete inventories of hardware & software, distribution of applications, precise configuration of systems, monitoring and assistance for remote users) and the fact that it is complemented with Precision Patch Management. In May 2006, Air France’s IT Management announced that it was entirely satisfied with the reliability and efficiency of Criston’s solution and decided to extend it to 11,000 KLM workstations. Simple, centralised administration, rapid deployment, integration into existing systems and comprehensive protection of stationary and mobile workstations alike with the same levels of efficiency were additional plus points that explain the decision to opt for Precision Desktop Management.
Deployment of Desktop Management at KLM over a period of several months began in May 2006 and will keep pace as technical convergence between KLM’s various geographical sites and the methods and tools used by Air France progresses.
Customised in-depth inventory of installed hardware and software base
Optimised distribution of software
Patch management
Remote administration tools
Monitoring of client workstations
Deployment and migration of operating systems
- Air France–KLM Group & Criston - Success story
