One approach to cloud computing is starting to get serious attention. For vertical industries, where businesses have similar goals, a so-called community cloud can offer a very high value proposition. In essence, it captures the significant benefits of scale and higher utilization rates offered by public cloud services while retaining the security and reliability of a private cloud.

The benefits of a community cloud have generated a great deal of interest in the air transport industry. Such a cloud can provide a platform for delivering common business applications and processes, and other IT services, while also ensuring that they conform to the accepted standards and practices of the industry. It also represents a unique opportunity for the industry to move away from the legacy technologies on which it depends and capture the benefits of the digital revolution.

In the current economic climate, cost is clearly one of the main drivers. Greg Ouillon, head of the cloud program at IT and communications provider SITA, says his company is working with one airline that has been able to directly save 20 percent to 30 percent on its IT costs. "You can get rid of servers, personal computers, applications and licenses," he says. "With the cloud, airlines only pay for what they use in a secure and high performance environment."

As befits a cloud concept, however, there are a host of intangible advantages brought about by a fundamental shift in the way airlines will approach IT. "It turns computing from being a product to being a service," says Ouillon.

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Keywords: Air Cargo, Transportation & Distribution, Logistics, Cloud, SaaS & On-Demand Systems, Technology, Software as a Service in airline industry, air cargo and cloud computing, airfreight industry and SaaS