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Featured Case Study
Government Transportation: Enterprise Architecture
Amtrak, our nation’s leading rail transportation provider, relies on Software Consortium to provide its technical leadership for mission critical initiatives.
Client Background: Software Consortium teams are partnering with Amtrak to help modernize their systems. One initiative is Amtrak’s Electronic Ticketing (eTicketing) Program. This multi-year program simplifies Amtrak’s reservation, ticketing and revenue recognition business processes to facilitate customer self-service.
Technical Challenge: From an architecture standpoint, Software Consortium provided architectural oversight including enterprise and solution architecture, technology leadership and domain expertise, and build/buy/reuse analysis for the eTicketing Program.
Following EA best practices, our architecture team engaged all stakeholders to establish technical direction and developed an overall architecture that meets the business requirements, as well as aligns with Amtrak's enterprise architecture. Collaboration skills were used to ensure all stakeholders were included in the process so that:- Stakeholder needs were clearly identified and related to technological solutions;
- System-level decisions were made on the basis of best information and aligned with stakeholder needs;
- Technical solutions were grounded in industry and best practices;
- The system structure and form were defined and documented;
- Systemic qualities needs were identified and met by the architecture;
- Strong technical leadership was provided to the program team.
The resulting eTicketing solution is complex and spans a large number of business areas and systems ranging from modernization of Amtrak's reservation system to deploying 2000 handheld devices with real-time communications to Amtrak's data center for use onboard trains.
“I want to express my appreciation for helping us define our architecture direction--your information and experience were invaluable in shaping our thoughts and ultimately our architectural choices.” |
| – Amtrak Director |
Technologies Used: Enterprise Architecture; Service-Oriented Architecture and Pattern-Oriented Software Architecture; Enterprise Mobility Management; Queuing Theory; Event-Driven Architecture.
Benefits to Client: Amtrak's program reduces manual ticket handling costs and shortens lengthy delays in realizing revenue from ridership, while also minimizing the opportunities for fraud. It significantly reduces back office accounting expenses associated with researching and refunding tickets and other value documents. Safety is improved by providing a much more accurate manifest of passengers onboard a train, at any given moment, and enables Amtrak to comply with NTSB and other current and expected Federal security requirements.
From the customer perspective, the program facilitates greater opportunities for self-service and eliminates the financial risk and burden of securing a value-bearing ticket prior to boarding the train. Amtrak will move to an all-electronic ticketing business model that allows the customer to purchase tickets online, at a kiosk, or through more traditional sales outlets and then board the train with only a reference to their paid ticket (e.g., a print-at-home document).
Our teams’ track records on the ground at Amtrak have proven our technical competency as well as strengths in consulting, influence, leadership and teamwork. Amtrak has been so impressed they have secured our services for many years into the future.
For more information Software Consortium’s enterprise architectural experience, contact sales@softwareconsortium.com or call 1-877-850-9393.CASE STUDIES |
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