Computer Associates
International, Inc. today announced that Southwest Airlines is
standardizing on CA’s mainframe management software to reduce IT costs and
optimize system performance. CA’s AllFusion, BrightStor and Unicenter
solutions replace a combination of mainframe products from other vendors. Southwest Airlines, the country’s most profitable airline, operates in a
highly volatile and competitive industry. The company’s ability to fulfill
its commitment to on-time flights and award-winning customer service is
dependent on its legacy systems, which run numerous applications that
support the airline’s operation.

Southwest Airlines has made a strategic decision to focus its IT
procurement on a limited number of vendors where possible and practical.
This strategy is intended to help Southwest Airlines streamline
operations, improve resource utilization, avoid paying for redundant
functionality, and more tightly integrate the systems that support its
business.

The superior functionality of CA’s storage management, life cycle
management and performance management software—combined with more
cost-effective, flexible licensing and exceptional service—led
Southwest Airlines to standardize on CA software. Southwest Airlines’ IT
staff made the decision after a thorough and extensive evaluation of
competing vendors’ software and support.

“CA differentiated itself from other vendors by working with us as a
partner to help engineer and implement a complete, integrated solution for
our aggressive business goals,” said Verlon Croney, Southwest Airlines’
manager of mainframe engineering. “CA delivered technology, migration
services, licensing and support that were all superior to anything anyone
else could offer.”

By streamlining procurement, Southwest Airlines is achieving new economies
of scale while remaining competitive during a challenging time in the
airline industry. Southwest Airlines is implementing CA’s Unicenter
CA-SYSVIEW Realtime Performance Management, BrightStor CA-Vantage
Allocation Option and a suite of AllFusion testing and fault management
solutions. To expedite the migration from pre-existing tools, CA
Technology Services is providing on-site training, hands-on implementation
assistance and technical consulting services.

Southwest Airlines is also using BrightStor CA-Vantage Storage Resource
Manager to monitor and control mainframe storage resources and CA’s
Advantage CA-IDMS database to manage financial data, more closely track
inventory and enhance other key business functions.

“To achieve competitive advantage, companies in highly competitive markets
need to optimize their data center operations, reduce costs and improve
service levels,” said Juliette Sultan, senior vice president of product
marketing at CA. “Southwest Airlines has discovered that CA is an ideal
partner for these efforts because of our unmatched expertise in delivering
highly effective, fully streamlined and exceptionally cost-effective
solutions.”
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