Heathrow Airport’s Terminals 3 and 5 are currently experiencing a baggage system failure. When an airport like Heathrow struggles to keep their IT systems running smoothly, people begin to worry about the other software-reliant and business-critical services they provide. Kevin Cunningham, Managing Director at SQS commented below on this incident.
Kevin Cunningham, Managing Director at SQS:
“The news that Heathrow Airport’s Terminals 3 and 5 are currently experiencing a baggage system failure, just three weeks’ after an IT failure caused British Airways to cancel all flights from Heathrow and Gatwick, shines a light on just how important software quality is.
Customer trust is crucial to the success of organisations across the globe, especially those within the aviation sector. When an airport like Heathrow struggles to keep their IT systems running smoothly, people will begin to worry about the other software-reliant and business-critical services they provide. Consumer trust is instantly affected, and future business can be negatively impacted.
The need for continuous quality throughout the entire IT lifecycle and into operations leads to business resilience. The irreparable reputational damage, and a loss of loyal customers may result in heavy financial implications far beyond regulatory fines.
To mitigate this risk and avoid further compromises to consumer trust, organisations must prioritise software quality. By adopting a software-first approach, and ensuring continuous quality assurance and testing throughout the software lifecycle, organisations can prevent themselves from suffering a major IT failure, as experienced by Heathrow and BA.”
