De-risk Airline PSS Migrations Leveraging a Structured yet Adaptable Testing Strategy

Imagine an airline's Passenger Service System (PSS) as the beating heart of its entire operation. It's the vital organ keeping everything running smoothly, from reservations and departures to inventory management. Just like a heart transplant, migrating to a new PSS can feel like a high-stakes surgery, especially assuring that the migrated systems will not hamper airline operations. But fear not, with a smooth quality assurance process it is possible!

Migrating to a new PSS isn't just flipping a switch. It's about ensuring:

• Data accuracy: Every detail, from bookings to schedules, needs to be flawlessly transferred.
• Seamless integrations: Maintain smooth connections with all internal and external systems.
• Refined business processes: Optimize business workflows for maximum efficiency.
• Top performance: Guarantee a robust and responsive system for seamless operations.

So, what does it take to have a smooth PSS migration.

The secret to a smooth PSS migration lies in a structured yet adaptable test strategy. The test strategy defines the different types of testing needed, along with the scope, approach, defect management process, reporting structure and test plan.

The key is to ensure that the test strategy and plan aligns seamlessly with the overall PSS migration program plan. This ensures that everyone involved understands the testing journey.

The test strategy evolves, alongside the PSS migration program. This is a living document and as the migration progresses, the strategy is continuously refined for optimization and coverage.

What needs to be tested when.

The airline PSS applications landscape would have different types of applications, starting with the core PSS/GDS - mainframe application, web and mobile digital customer facing applications, COTS/3rd party applications for different airline functions, desktop applications and APIs/messages/batches for system integrations.

With so many different and complex PSS components, having a structured testing approach is of extreme importance. The testing approach should cover testing from unit/component level to business process testing. Testing should be done across the dress rehearsal and during the final cutover to ensure successful PSS migration.

Coforge has successfully navigated over 20 PSS migrations of varying complexities. We handle everything from basic "lift and shift" transfers to extensive migrations with process changes and even juggling multiple PSS systems simultaneously.

We've refined our PSS migration assurance approach, to ensure component level functional testing to end-to-end business process testing, traversing across multiple functions and applications. A typical testing process for a PSS migration program looks like,

We understand the nuts, screws and bolts of a PSS migration journey, enabling us to bring in,

• Adaptability: We have standard processes and templates for each step of the migration assurance process. These processes and templates can be easily tailored to suit the migration program. This ensures optimal coverage and high quality.
• Agility and Flexibility: We understand and anticipate the different challenges associated with the assurance process. With our experience we have developed ready workarounds for the same.
• Governance: Governance keeps us on track by mitigating potential roadblocks. We set up dedicated forums to oversee and mitigating potential roadblocks, for different aspects of the assurance process such as defect management, test data management, test environment management etc.
• Risk mitigation: We proactively identify and address potential risks during testing.

We leverage cutting-edge domain based test accelerators and knowledge tools to:

• Boost test coverage: We have developed a repository of test scenarios for different airline PSS business functions and processes. This ensures that every aspect of the new PSS is thoroughly tested.
• Accelerate testing: We use risk-based testing for appropriate scenarios, to effectively test impacted business functions and applications optimizing testing effort and time.
• Manage test data efficiently: Our test data generators are easy to customize and use across multiple PSS systems and GDSs. This enables successful migration through streamlined test data management.
• Best Practices: We bring in our proven processes and practices based on our PSS migration testing experience across 20+ global airlines.

Finally, here's our secret sauce:

• Expertise is key: Our team boasts extensive airline domain and testing knowledge for better requirement and impact analysis leading to efficient and effective testing.
• Agility is our motto: We employ scalable and flexible processes to adapt to the changes that occur throughout the PSS migration program.
• Hitting the ground running: Our "quick start kit" includes test scenario repository, test strategy blueprints, process templates and guidelines, risk matrix etc. ensures a rapid start to the assurance program.
• Time is of the essence: We understand the importance of speed in PSS migrations and employ lifecycle automation strategies to accelerate all the different aspects of PSS migration testing.