How Amadeus' business agility methods accelerate the pace of innovation for its partners?

January 10, 2024

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You can never step in the same stream twice, as the saying goes.

When it comes to the travel technology sector, this is undoubtedly the case. The environment in which we operate changes – it’s volatile, uncertain, complex and filled with ambiguity.

Technology evolves and traveler demands are always shifting. In response, we must deploy the most effective organizations and development methods as we work to remain at the forefront of this fast-paced environment.

At Amadeus, this means lean and agile frameworks, a combined approach that prioritizes cross-functional collaboration and continuous improvement, aligned with lean portfolio management principles.

Only working in these ways are we able to meet the ever-changing needs of the traveler – and this is the topic I want to explore a little today.

Fostering a culture of innovation

The focus on agility here at Amadeus dates back to more than a decade, to 2009.

Today, around 80 per cent of our engineering and product management community follow scaled agile practices, helping them to collaborate to better serve the traveler through an emphasis on delivered value.

At the same time, we aim to focus on lean portfolio management, prioritizing work and investments across different business domains.

Combined, this ‘lean-agile’ approach helps to minimize waste by reducing the amount of work in process and improving workflows, while maximizing value. This allows us to better meet our customers’ demands, providing the best solutions in the shortest possible time.

In 2018, after a thorough benchmark study of different agile methodologies, Amadeus chose Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). Agile teams - composed of cross-functional groups of around 10 individuals who define, build, test and deliver an increment of value in a brief time frame - are grouped together in agile release trains (50 to 125 people). This approach reduces dependencies and fosters cooperation towards a common vision.

One of the main challenges was to ensure alignment throughout the entire company, connecting our vision, strategy, investments, people management, and various other aspects, in order to facilitate the smooth transition from strategy formulation to execution.

The SAFe framework is undeniably a facilitator for us, and the benefits we derive from it are increasingly recognized by our customers.

Collaboration with customers

This framework is already ingrained at Amadeus and most major projects are influenced by it. So, how does it work in practice?

Our collaboration with Etihad is a good example of SAFe coming to life, making it easier for Amadeus to work closely with our customers. This train, comprised of 50 people in a cross-functional agile team, helped Etihad improve the user experience at various touchpoints for customers.

“We really value the competency model and the current way of working of Amadeus. It helps us with faster deliveries, keeping the customer at the center and with the right prioritization." - Tristan Thomas, Director, Commercial and Customer Technology & Innovation, Etihad

Success is also illustrated by our work with Lufthansa.

Amadeus launched the One Booking train in 2020, composed of 60 people in eight teams. Our colleagues worked alongside Lufthansa employees on a common objective, in this case improving the desktop and mobile flows of the carrier. Today, the train has grown to 160 people across 13 teams.

“Working together with Amadeus in the same agile release train with a synchronized cadence supports better cooperation and faster delivery. Besides, we keep a constant loop with the customer feedback and issues are identified and corrected earlier. This new and unique way of working has become the template for cooperation in various ARTs founded later.” - Till Wenzel, Release Train Engineer at Lufthansa AG

Commitment to the wider industry

Panning back to an industry-wide perspective, the lean-agile framework offers us a chance to learn from other companies and disseminate best practices.

In pursuit of these objectives, while also fostering invaluable networking opportunities and a culture of continuous learning, we introduced the inaugural Lean-Agile Center of Excellence (LACE) Summit in 2022 to hear from leaders in these practices and learn for their challenges and best practices.

Building on this success,the second edition took place at Amadeus' offices in Nice last October, working to advance agile practices and foster a culture of continuous improvement.

The showcase welcomed participation from 14 companies including industry leaders such as Accor, Airbus, Scaled Agile, Renault, Allianz, FedEx, Engie, Vodafone and Schneider Electric.

Looking ahead

Today, Amadeus is a global leader in the travel industry and in the use of SAFe framework, with 77 trains, over 100 internal SAFe Practice Consultants (SPCs) and 1 internal SAFe Practice Consultant Trainer (SPCT). Our customers have seen the benefits of our ways of working and many are embracing and adopting the change.

At Amadeus, this is one of the ways we work with our customers, leveraging the latest development methods to make the experience of travel better.

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