Come Fly Away to ASUG Annual Conference – Build your Business Case for your BI Program Part 2

Continuing our meet the ASUG Annual Conference speaker series, I am pleased to introduce Barb Boudreau, who is presenting session code 0205 “Building the Business Case How Jazz Aviation’s BI Program Took Flight” with Chad Seward

Q: Please tell us about your work

A: I’m what we call a “lifer” in the airline industry, having spent my entire career moving from one challenging role to another. I started out on the front lines, working directly with our customers, moving later into a series of interesting positions managing things behind the scenes.

I have worn a number of hats in our Inflight department, managed territories as a sales account exec and spent close to 10 years managing our customer relations team. I have also worked in government relations and coordinated our corporate strategic planning cycle, and corporate reporting and measurement processes.

It was during my time in Corporate Reporting that I was charged with investigating how a Business Intelligence solution would help us better understand and leverage the reams of data we collect on a daily basis. I supported the start-up of the Jazz Project Management Office in 2005, left for a while and returned as a PM in 2009. I now manage the company’s Business Intelligence Program.

My company, Jazz Aviation LP is the result of the integration of four of Canada’s regional airlines, merging in 2001 to form Air Canada Regional, then a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air Canada. The company went public with an IPO in 2006. We completed a corporate conversion in 2010 and Chorus Aviation Inc. was created as the holding company which now owns Jazz Aviation LP. Jazz is one of the largest regional airlines in the world, serving over 80 destinations in Canada and the US, providing connections worldwide through the networks of Air Canada and the Star Alliance. I’m located at our corporate headquarters in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

Q: What do you do in your free time?

As you can imagine, working in this industry gets in your blood. I love to travel and take any opportunity to see the world. Over the years, I have logged countless miles for both work and pleasure, crossing the continent and travelling throughout Europe. I’ve made a few trips to the Middle East and Asia and just returned from a family vacation in Spain and England.

Luckily, my husband and 11-year-old son enjoy travelling as much as me! I’m a voracious reader and take my ebook with me wherever I go.

When the weather warms up (yes, it does warm up in Eastern Canada) I love to cycle and camp with my boys. I also love to entertain, so weekends are often spent around the table with friends and family. (all these great travel pictures provided by Barb)

Q: Please tell us about your session at ASUG Annual Conference

A: In 2011, Jazz went to market for a business intelligence software solution. SAP provided the suite that fit Jazz the best and we implemented a pilot project in 2012 for our Crew Resource Planning department. It took us more than five years, with a series of starts and stops, to build the business case that finally sold the organization on the value of BI. My colleague Chad Seward and I are excited to participate in our first ASUG conference and share our experiences funding BI initiatives which deliver real ROI.

Be sure to add this session 205 to your agenda today.

*Note: Barb supplied all photos.

Come Fly Away to ASUG Annual Conference – Build your Business Case for your BI Program Part 2

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