InPhocus, Episode 14 - So, we're going to launch this during a pandemic

Airline e-commerce projects are reasonably straightforward: a deal is signed; a carrier and its software partner spend months scoping out the product; it's built, integrated and testing takes place; and then it goes live.

This is a fairly simplified version, of course, but hundreds of such projects take place each year.

But as we know, 2020 has not been a typical year for any part of the industry.

OpenJaw Technologies had been working with Japan-based carrier ANA since early-2019 to get a retailing platform integrated into the airline's system.

As our guest on InPhocus this week says, coronavirus hit "at the business end of things", meaning teams were scattered in various locations, more often than not in their homes, with deadlines to hit and a launch day approaching.

Bryan Porter, OpenJaw's chief commercial officer, tells us about how a project can come together in the midst of the most trying of circumstances.

This isn't a test of the product (although that had to take place, as part of the final process), but a test of how teams have to adapt to a new business and social environment.

Flying solo on hosting duties this week is PhocusWire's Kevin May.