• Aer Lingus selects IBS' solution for Manpower Management
• Cargoitalia signs up for iCargo
• IBS partners with Zebra Technologies for logistics solution for the O&G industry 
• IBS launches Independent Testing Services arm
• IBS upscales its infrastructure with a new facility in Cochin, India
• IBS plays host to the top Indian IT Business Leaders
• APPOINTMENTS

'Aer Lingus selects IBS' solution for Manpower Management of its Crew

Aer Lingus, the flag carrier of Ireland, has signed up for the implementation of iFlight Crew Manpower Management (MPM) module and business consultancy support, to help in the management of its cockpit and cabin crew. The solution will help Aer Lingus optimize its crew resources requirement. The airline is the second customer to opt for iFlight Crew MPM and the first in Europe. Manpower planning and management is an area of special focus for all airlines as they search for ways to remain competitive in a sensitive and rapidly evolving business environment.

Fergus Wilson, Aer Lingus’ Chief Operating Officer said Aer Lingus was looking forward to a successful partnership with IBS.

Commenting on the deal, Nick Gray, Vice President Airline Operations Solutions, IBS, said, “We are delighted that Aer Lingus has placed their trust on IBS’ expertise in crew operations and are excited at the prospect of demonstrating the true value of our iFlight Crew MPM solution in the competitive European and trans-Atlantic markets.”

IBS inks deal with Cargoitalia

Italy based Cargoitalia has signed up for migrating to iCargo. The solution, will manage the entire freight movement of this all-cargo carrier including core cargo operations from quotes and bookings through capacity & revenue management, track & trace, accounting, proof of deliveries and irregularity reports to ULD management. iCargo will significantly enhance the airlines efficiency by providing optimum customer service in the cargo movement space.

Available both in licensed and SaaS (Software as a Service) modes, the iCargo has become one of the most definitive cargo management solutions in the global air freight industry with an impressive list of customers across six continents including names like All Nippon Airways (ANA), Jet Blue, Kingfisher Airlines, Nippon Cargo Airlines (NCA) and Qantas.

“This contract strengthens our cargo presence in Europe, and underscores the value iCargo offers in terms of superior features and integration of functionality” says Murray Kidd, VP and Head of Global Sales, Airline Cargo Services, IBS .

IBS enters in to a partnership with Zebra Technologies for Logistics planning in the oil and gas industry

Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), a recognized global leader in bar code, kiosk, card, RFID printers as well as real-time location solutions, has partnered with IBS Software to provide end-to-end safety and logistics planning solution for the Oil and Gas industry. The partnership makes the Personnel Safety System (PSS) from Zebra Technologies the preferred software solution to integrate with IBS’ iLogistics, a comprehensive logistics management suite that controls planning, scheduling and tracking the deployment of material & personnel for the upstream oil and gas industry. Real-time visibility of personnel and material on the production & off-shore facilities, automated process counts, speed and accuracy in muster or evacuation incidents would be significantly improved.

“We are very pleased to partner with IBS, a recognized logistics planning leader in the oil and gas industry,” said Stephen Logue, Vice President of sales and services for Zebra. “The location data our RFID-based solution captures and feeds into the iLogistics application enables oil and gas companies to not only automate and enhance existing safety and logistics processes, but also glean powerful business intelligence for smarter business decisions.”

IBS launches Independent Testing Services arm

IBS recently launched Independent Testing Services for the global aviation industry. Set against the background of an increasing number of airlines opting for third party software testing services, IBS forays into this area with over 200 dedicated staff.

Independent Testing Services will test software that handle mission critical operations of airlines – passenger reservation, departure control, cargo movement, crew tracking, fleet movement etc. - across the world so that the software does what it is designed to do, most efficiently. Cost savings, business process improvements and requirement of specialized and professional skills are driving companies to outsource testing. The Independent Testing Services of IBS will apply the same rigor in product quality and principles of a third party certification to test and release our IBS products.

“Our services in this area encompass quality assurance and control across the complete software development life cycle and are benchmarked against industry best practices. With rigorous static and dynamic testing, this service will ensure delivery of high quality software to airlines resulting in competitive advantage and time to market acceleration”, said Desikan Santhanam, Vice President & Global Head of Independent Testing Services, IBS Software.

IBS upscales its infrastructure with a new facility in Cochin, India

IBS has added a new state of the art facility to its Cochin office, (India) at the Leela building. This is the second office in the city of Cochin with a built up space of 35,000 Sq.ft and a capacity to seat nearly 400 people. The other offices of IBS in India are at Trivandrum and Bangalore. With this the total floor space occupied by IBS offices in India exceeds 260,000 sq ft. IBS has nearly 2000 staff at its three offices in India and around 200 in the rest of the world based at seven offices in 5 geographies.

IBS plays host to the top Indian IT Business Leaders

The business leaders of some of the largest IT companies in India met at IBS office in Trivandrum on 29 September, 2011 for a day - long conference. This was in connection with the Executive Council Meet of National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), the premier trade body of the IT-BPO industries in India. It is for the first time that the meeting was held in the southern Indian state of Kerala. The Executive Council is the highest decision making body of NASSCOM.

NASSCOM member companies contribute over 95% of the industry’s revenue in India which currently stands at USD 88 billion. The revenues are set to reach USD 300 billion by the year 2020. The Executive Council Members who attended the session included Mr. Rajendra Singh Pawar Chairman NIIT, Mr. Avinash Vashistha Chairman & Country MD Accenture, Mr. Bhaskar Pramanik Chairman Microsoft India, Mr. Ganesh Lakshminarayanan President, Dell India, Mr. Rajesh Nambiar VP IBM India, Mr. C.P. Gurnani CEO Mahindra Satyam and Mr. Krishnakumar Natarajan CEO & MD MindTree.

“It is indeed a huge privilege & honor for IBS to host the event at its office and a rare distinction conferred to one among the 1300 member companies of NASSCOM. It is a recognition of the growing stature of IBS as a leader in its domain in one of the fastest growing economies of the world” said Mr. VK Mathews, Chairman of The IBS Group and a member of NASSCOM Executive Council.

Sankalp Saxena, President, Aviation Operations Services

Sankalp Saxena is the new President, Aviation Operations Services (AOS) at IBS Software. AOS comprises the Airline Cargo Services (ACS), Airline Flight Operations Service – Fleet & Crew (AFS), Aircraft Maintenance & Engineering Service (AES), and Airport Operations Services (AOS) verticals.

Sankalp is a seasoned global executive having managed large, distributed and multifaceted teams to deliver world-class enterprise and packaged software solutions to global customers. Prior to joining IBS, he was the Chairman and Founder of Moveo Systems, a leading provider of innovative multi-modal enterprise solutions across industry verticals, like aviation, retail and others. He was previously a global Senior Vice President with Macromedia and i2 Technologies respectively and was the Chairman and Managing Director of their Indian operations. In addition, he has held senior level management positions in sales and marketing with Oracle and Lucent Technologies and in manufacturing with Procter & Gamble and Honeywell. Sankalp holds an Executive MBA from Stanford University with a Masters and a Bachelors of Science degree in Industrial Engineering, with a focus on supply chain optimization and artificial intelligence/robotics, from Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.