Bus company Keolis recently extended its contract with SL for bus service in central Stockholm. Keolis hired Entiros to develop an integration platform that would meet SL’s requirements. I sat down with Project Manager Fredrik Klevebrant and Key Account Manager Yavar Saiady for a conversation about the project and the opportunities that arise when a business takes control of its information.
The future of bus travel
“This is a big project, and our task as the company responsible for integration is to be the central connection point for the many other service providers involved in the project,” explains Fredrik.
“Together, we’re creating what we call bus travel 2.0, where a digitally connected bus communicates in real time with bus company SL and the passengers. Our aim is to make it easier, less expensive, and more effective for people to take the bus.”
“There’s a lot of information that comes from a bus,” Fredrik continues.
“The number of passengers boarding and exiting, how many people are on the bus, the temperature on the bus, how often the driver brakes, et cetera. Rather than sending each piece of information separately from different sensors on the bus, we created a solution that collects it all and sends it in a single bundle. This also gives us better control over the entire system if some part of it is not working correctly.”
Starlify makes the flow of information clear
Entiros used its tool Starlify to map out all the APIs used in the project. It gives an aggregate view of how the APIs are connected and how information flows in the system.
“Starlify gives a clear view of how the entire system works together,” Fredrik explains.
“Integration developers who are familiar with the system already have a good understanding of how its components work together, but Starlify makes a big difference for people in other positions with different backgrounds who are working on the project and may only have limited knowledge about system integration. Starlify functions as a meeting place for the IT department and others involved in a project where everyone can see and understand what’s happening with the entire project.”
Visualization leads to better understanding
Starlify was used in the Keolis project to clarify which integrations already exist, which new integrations are needed, and how the information flows.
“Images are always easier to understand than just text and system diagrams,” continues Fredrik.
“They provide a common language that works for most people, both on a general level and on a more technical level. When everyone is looking at the same image, it’s much easier to discuss possible benefits of integration and everyone can understand the complexity involved in combining different IT functions. This kind of visualization makes such a big difference in understanding of where the data are and how they flow.”
“Yes, Starlify not only clearly visualizes the entire flow of information in an organization,” adds Yavar, “it also provides a foundation for discussions of which new information flows should be there. It reveals vulnerabilities in the system. It might show that some of the most important information is stored in some old system that consists of one Excel worksheet in someone’s computer. These types of weaknesses in a system are easy to discover with Starlify.”
“Starlify works not only as a way to document which integrations already exist, but also as a foundation for discussions of which new integrations we should create and which existing integrations we should remove from the system.”
information creates efficiency
Yavar talks about how using Starlify for the first time is usually an eye-opening experience for a customer.
“Their first reaction is usually, ‘Wow, we have so much information’ and ‘Oops, is that where that is?’ It’s guaranteed to create an ‘aha!’ experience and give the user a good understanding of which information their business has accumulated. In this way, Starlify is the perfect tool to bring the company’s IT in line with its current projects.”
Yavar sees getting a good handle on all the information in an organization as something that a business can do to significantly increase its efficiency.
“For a bus company, this can be something as simple as when the brakes on a bus should be serviced. This was previously done at specific time intervals when one could expect a certain amount of wear and tear. Now we know exactly how much the driver has braked on a particular bus and can predict how long the brakes will be effective and when it’s time to service them. Same thing if a sensor in the vehicle breaks, we can automatically send an order for a new one.”
Information leads to new opportunities
Yavar also sees the amount of information that a business accumulates in its system today as a future opportunity.
“The bus company has information that should be reused. For example, information about how many people exit the bus at a certain stop or pass by a certain section of the route could be very useful for other companies to know when they’re deciding where to put advertisements along the route or where to open new stores.”
The current state of your application network, once created, offers insight into where you need to focus and what you need to focus on for your company’s digital transformation. With clear ownership of systems and services, visualization of business-critical information flows, and searchable assets you have a great foundation for faster integration.
Ready for testing
Yavar is proud to announce that the project with Keolis is moving along on schedule and begins system testing this fall.
This means verifying that Entiros’ integration platform gets all the information to flow correctly to and from all service providers involved in the project. After that, the plan is to go live in the first region in January 2022, and the entire project will be up and running by summer 2022.
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