SriLankan shortlisted for CIMA Global Awards

SriLankan Airlines has been recognised by UK's Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) for its ground breaking efforts in Business Intelligence, when it was chosen as one of the top five Global Breakthrough Business Intelligence Initiatives and shortlisted for the prestigious CIMA Global Awards.

The Airline's 'GreenSHeet Business Intelligence Initiative' developed in-house by its staff, is in the running for the award to be presented on November 22 at London's Royal Lancaster Hotel.

SriLankan's Head of IT Kamal Nanayakkara said: "SriLankan is proud to be recognised by the CIMA Global Awards, which celebrate teams and organisations that lead the way in global business.

SriLankan needed a near-perfect Business Intelligence System to remain competitive in the global airline industry. We realised that no existing system in the market was suitable, and outsourced development would prove too complex. So our IT and Finance staff rolled up their sleeves and designed one ourselves."

SriLankan will be competing with projects from Directski.com (Ireland), Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Imperial Logistics (Pvt) Ltd, and EMC Computer Systems (UK) Ltd. The GreenSHeet Business Intelligence Suite was developed to provide real-time management information for SriLankan's CEO and Senior Management Team, giving them access to the latest financial and operational information on the Company at their fingertips.

SriLankan's Head of Finance Yasantha Dissanayake said: "The GreenSHeet Business Intelligence Suite carries out complex analyses such as that of the Airline's route performance, and provides information on-line that was not readily available previously. The rate of change in the factors that affect the airline industry surprises even the most seasoned campaigners. This tool has greatly empowered key decision-makers in our company who now have the support of a system that provides valuable information to enable faster decision making."

CIMA's award in Business Intelligence is intended for the finance team that most clearly demonstrates how they have successfully implemented a business intelligence project, to provide better management information and support evidence based decision making, and demonstrate that they have enabled a significant improvement in their organisation's performance.SriLankan Airlines' IT solutions have won several awards in recent months.

These include a Platinum Award from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) as one of the first airlines in the world to introduce a major innovation to tickets, part of its determined efforts to enhance passenger convenience; and a Merit Award at the National Best Quality Software Awards 2010 (NBQSA), for the in-house development of a 'Fuel Management Information System' to support the Airline's efforts to reduce fuel costs and aircraft emissions.