Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports (2015)

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75 75 Overview 75 Alternative IT Delivery Methods 76 Evaluation Criteria 78 Infrastructure Convergence and Network Systems/Services 80 Wireless Systems/Services Overview This appendix first introduces the delivery methods associated with infrastructure. It then discusses benefits, risks, cost considerations, scalability, integration, and dependencies, before mapping these to the specific delivery methods. The following IT infrastructure categories are addressed in this appendix: (1) infrastructure convergence and network systems/services and (2) wireless systems/services. Within each of these broad categories the discussion is then grouped into specific types of infrastructure components found to be implemented at airports of varies sizes. Alternative IT Delivery Methods The two primary delivery methods associated with hardware equipment and infrastructure components are centered on the question of whether to purchase or lease. A third option exists where an airport might share these components with another entity, such as a city or state. Purchasing vs. Leasing Traditionally, airport managers have strongly leaned toward buying hardware equipment and infrastructure components because their useful life is generally longer than their associated capi- tal value. In recent years, more and more airport managers are opting for the leasing option since many components can be cycled out rather frequently (three years for servers, for example), thereby enabling an airport to reduce risks associated with aging equipment. The decision to buy or lease, however, is still one of “personal” preference. A major factor is an airport manager’s general approach to capital outlay and asset life span cost management. With a purchase, a larger upfront investment is required since assets are owned. With that said, the airport manager incurs costs associated with operating, managing, and maintaining it. Leasing, on the other hand, involves a lower upfront cost, but possibly higher (yet predictable) monthly expenses, as components are “rented,” and operating and maintenance support costs are built into the monthly fee. A P P E N D I X D Infrastructure

76 Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports There are other factors and related benefits and risks for each option. These are addressed in detail throughout the various hardware equipment and infrastructure component discussions later in this appendix. Share (Collaboration with Another Entity) As with applications and systems, entities can share hardware equipment and infrastruc- ture components, if they are operating under one umbrella, such as an airport that functions as a city department. Remote connections can be established to jointly connect to a common server, for example. In case of such collaboration, the owner of the server, in this case, needs to be clearly established in order to properly allocate staff and other resource commitments and responsibilities. Evaluation Criteria Benefits and Risks Table D1 lists and describes the benefits and risks associated with infrastructure delivery methods. Please note that not all benefits and risks apply to all delivery methods. Cost Considerations The above-mentioned delivery methods are also evaluated as high, moderate, or low, relative to one another, based on how they impact costs in these areas: • Planning/Design: During this phase, the primary cost considerations are centered on human resources in the form of consultants and airport staff support. Details have been discussed in the main body of the report and Appendix B under Project Delivery. • Implementation: This cost category includes both the procurement/purchase of any infra- structure as well as the human resources efforts (as discussed in the main body of the report and Appendix B) associated with it, including installation, configuration, integration, data migration or conversion, customization, reporting, testing, training, documentation, and project management efforts. Benefit/Risk Description Benefits Some alternative IT delivery methods can benefit an airport in regard to: Hosting options (onsite/offsite) … choosing whether to opt for onsite or offsite hosting Can use capital funds … funding the project using the capital budget Support options (staff/contract) … choosing whether to opt for using internal or contracted staff Reduced capital costs … saving in capital costs Reduced or eliminated costs … potentially eliminating costs altogether Risks Some alternative IT delivery methods can challenge an airport in regard to: May require supporting hardware & infrastructure … possibly having to purchase needed hardware/infrastructure components May require onsite support … possibly having onsite support resources available May have limited control over performance … possibly having less control over the performance Total cost of ownership could be higher … facing increased total cost of ownership relative to other options Potential for divergent interests … may face conflicting stakeholder requirements May have limited control over functionality … possibly having less control over certain functionalities Table D1. Delivery methods—hardware equipment/infrastructure— benefits and risks.

Infrastructure 77 • Operations/Maintenance Costs: These generally include costs associated with managing, administering, and maintaining the hardware and infrastructure. This includes human resource costs, as well as licensing fees, utilities, spare parts, and consumables. Scalability Each infrastructure delivery option is evaluated as high, moderate, or low, relative to one another, according to the following: Not scalable (no improvement or upgrade available or possible); dynamically scalable on demand (features/capabilities only added when needed); existing infrastructure upgrade (upgrade to a more recently released enhanced model of an existing infrastructure component); and existing infrastructure component replacement (new/ different component with more applicable/relevant features and capabilities). Integration As discussed in the main body of the report, infrastructure components, such as an airport- wide wireless network can support a variety of integration efforts in other areas, such as system and process integration. The various delivery methods are evaluated as high, moderate, or low, relative to one another, considering the integration opportunities with regard to processes, system functionality, data, and network considerations. Dependencies As with the other appendices, for the purpose of providing practical guidance to an airport, this appendix evaluates the various infrastructure delivery methods as high, moderate, or low, relative to one another, according to these four dependency categories: airport processes, human resources, systems, and other hardware/infrastructure. Within each, dependencies can be internal and/or external as well as in project and/or out of project, as discussed above. Overview Summary In an effort to consolidate the above information, Tables D2 and D3 map the benefits, risks, and cost considerations as well as scalability, integration, and dependencies to the various delivery methods. Delivery Methods Benefits Risks Cost Considerations Purchase Hosting options (onsite/offsite) Can use capital funds Support options (staff/contract) May require supporting hardware and infrastructure May require onsite support Planning/Design – High Implementation – High Operations/Maintenance – Moderate Lease Hosting options (onsite/offsite) Reduced capital costs Support options (staff/contract) TCO could be higher May require onsite support May have limited control over performance Planning/Design – High Implementation – Moderate Operations/Maintenance – High Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Hosting options (onsite/offsite) Reduced or eliminated costs Potential for divergent interests May have limited control over performance Planning/Design – Moderate Implementation – Moderate Operations/Maintenance – Low Table D2. Delivery methods—hardware equipment/infrastructure— benefits, risks, and cost considerations.

78 Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports Delivery Methods Scalability Integration Dependencies Purchase Not Scalable – Low Dynamic Scalability on Demand – Moderate Upgrade Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – High Replace Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – Moderate Processes – High Hardware/Infrastructure Functionality – High Data – High Network – High Airport Processes – High Human Resources – High Systems – Low Other Hardware/ Infrastructure – High Lease Not Scalable – Low Dynamic Scalability on Demand – High Upgrade Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – Moderate Replace Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – Low Processes – High Hardware/Infrastructure Functionality – High Data – High Network – High Airport Processes – Moderate Human Resources – Low Systems – Low Other Hardware/ Infrastructure – High Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Not Scalable – High Dynamic Scalability on Demand – Moderate Upgrade Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – High Replace Existing Hardware/Infrastructure – Moderate Processes – Moderate Hardware/Infrastructure Functionality – Moderate Data – Moderate Network – Moderate Airport Processes – Moderate Human Resources – Moderate Systems – Low Other Hardware/ Infrastructure – High Table D3. Delivery methods—hardware equipment/infrastructure— scalability, integration, and dependencies. Infrastructure Convergence and Network Systems/Services This section covers converged physical infrastructure, infrastructure as a service, cable man- agement and intelligent patching systems, network management systems, and common network equipment. Converged Physical IT Infrastructure IT systems require some manner of cabled and wireless infrastructure for data transmission to occur and for many years and even today, many IT systems are deployed as discrete systems with discrete IT infrastructures. Convergence of multiple IT systems using a single cabled and wireless infrastructure has been occurring in the aviation industry for more than 10 years. As comfort increases with the approach, there is an ever increasing trend to move more and more IT systems into a single converged physical infrastructure across the airport premises. With cur- rent available technologies and industry best practices in security, it is possible to implement a single physical infrastructure at airports with the possible exclusion of the fire alarm system. The trend toward a single physical infrastructure has the following advantages: • Data can be shared among all airport systems for more efficient operation of the airport. • One physical infrastructure can support all systems, at lower installation and maintenance cost. • Common active network equipment can be maintained at lower installation and operation cost. • Common use systems can be easily supported. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase

Infrastructure 79 Common Network Equipment As discussed in the Converged Physical IT Infrastructure section, IT systems are moving away from discrete IT system installations toward converged systems. This convergence includes the use of network equipment (switches, routers, firewalls, etc.) making them common equipment such that they support multiple systems on a single physical network. This common network equipment infrastructure facilitates many efficiencies, including sharing of data for airport man- agement and common use technologies and providing high availability and scalability of an airport IT infrastructure premises design. Its robustness must be designed for the most demand- ing system relying on it, but all systems will benefit. It is an essential aspect for the long-term optimization of IT resources. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease Infrastructure as a Service Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) can act as a supplement or a replacement to many of the airport back-end network services that have traditionally been provided locally by airport and city IT staff. Examples of these services include the following: • Managed local area network (LAN) services • Internet protocol (IP) virtual private network (VPN) and wide area network (WAN) optimization • Legacy network migration • Voice over IP (VoIP) telephony and management of legacy voice services • CRM solutions, like multimedia contact centers • Unified communications: messaging, IP telephony, web conferencing, and videoconferencing • Mobile computing solutions IaaS is “renting cloud infrastructure (servers, storage and networking) on demand, in a pay- as-you-go model.” Generally, benefits of implementing IaaS include lower management costs; high performance on workload access and management; fast deployment of servers enabling rapid reaction to change; high availability and security through choice of SLA and workload residence; improved WAN scalability and heavy content distribution; self-managed and man- aged virtual private and hybrid cloud hosting solutions; and incorporation of data analytics. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Cable Management and Intelligent Patching Systems Cable management systems (CMSs), in advanced forms, are software applications that facili- tate the record keeping and moves, additions, and changes (MACs) to the cable plant and assets. Because a great deal of MACs take place within the airport environment, a CMS solution signifi- cantly eases the burden of managing and maintaining the cable plant. An addition that can be made to CMSs is an intelligent patching system. This is a cabling patching solution consisting of software and hardware that complement the CMS by automatically updating the CMS database for MACs. The hardware provides intelligence at the cable patch panels in each of the tele- communications rooms. The cable patch panels send updated information to the CMS when a cable is added or moved to a different port which changes the connectivity “circuit.” This

80 Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports alleviates the need for the technician to manually enter in the data ensuring that the move is cap- tured and correctly recorded in the CMS. Both of these technologies have been around for more than 10 years, however, there has been a surge in their implementation within the last few years. Implementation of a CMS can be a complex project and is most successfully done in phases. The first phase is generally to implement the CMS. A second phase adds existing assets and a final phase integrates with other systems, e.g., IPS and network management systems. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Network Management Systems A network management system (NMS) manages the many specialized network appliances, security devices, and wireless devices on a typical airport network. A NMS assists the network administrator in many aspects of network management, including configuration management, security breach prevention and network intrusion detection, troubleshooting equipment, moni- toring performance, quality of service and utilization, and automating configuration deployment. NMSs have been in use since the inception of networks and continue to grow in capabilities. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Wireless Systems/Services This section covers private mobile radio systems (PMRSs), wireless LANs, distributed antenna systems, location awareness services, and RFID. Private Mobile Radio Systems PMRSs are private communications systems that many organizations use as opposed to rely- ing on commercial services as they are believed to be able to provide capabilities, features, and efficiencies that commercial systems cannot. Similarly they are believed to not be as susceptible to peak usage patterns in emergency situations that commercial systems endure. A technology with increasing impact on mobile communications interoperability is the PMRS over IP. This convergence permits direct communications between radios, fixed and mobile phones, PCs, and other communications devices. It provides coordination with incident management systems, cross-channel communications, extended communications interoperability, and improved inci- dent situational awareness. It enables coordination of incident communications by bridging channels or dissimilar devices (e.g., radio, IP, and non-IP phones). Private mobile radio services originated as private land mobile radio services in the 1920s; therefore, the privatization of com- munications services is extremely established and the service offerings are continuing to evolve. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity)

Infrastructure 81 Wireless Local Area Networks Wireless local area networks (WLANs), more commonly known as Wi-Fi, provide end devices with connectivity to the larger network through the use of Wi-Fi antennas that are physically connected to network switches. Historically end-device connectivity was only achieved through the use of a physical cable. Though connectivity to end devices can be achieved through cellular networks, the terms “WLAN” and “Wi-Fi” speak of the particular connectivity that is specified in the IEEE 802.11 standard and is the connectivity provided through organizational and home networks as opposed to cellular providers. In airports, Wi-Fi is generally provided in two forms. Public Wi-Fi for passengers and operational Wi-Fi for airport operations with the operational Wi-Fi being configured with increased security measures. Operational Wi-Fi can be used to support such applications as the following: • Computerized maintenance management systems • Baggage reconciliation and tracking applications • Retail wireless PoS applications for tenants • Carrier boarding • Incident management mobile applications for security WLANs have been in use since the 802.11 standard was first released in 1997. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Distributed Antenna Systems A distributed antenna system (DAS) is a network of antennas that are connected to a com- mon source and, in airport applications, are used to extend wireless services to building interiors and underground spaces that external antenna signals cannot penetrate. Generally these include cellular and 800 MHz radio (public safety) but a DAS can also support Wi-Fi to a great degree. They are also useful in an airport environment because they can divide the high density of wire- less users among a number of smaller antennas versus relying on a larger single antenna to deal with the traffic. Generally, the gaps in cellular connectivity are the driving force for these installa- tions and aviation departments can oftentimes obtain assistance from cellular service providers. DAS installations have been emerging beyond niche markets since around 2008 and are quickly becoming viewed as a necessary part of IT infrastructure in airports, convention centers, stadiums, and other high-density areas. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Location Awareness Location awareness uses wireless technologies [WLAN, RFID, radio frequency devices (transponders), and global positioning systems] to determine the location of resources in real time and to use this location information to improve efficiency of operations. In an airport, services supported by location awareness technology-based services could include the following: • Trolley and cart management—sending staff to retrieve trolleys/carts only where necessary • Tracking of airside vehicles for better management of premium space

82 Alternative IT Delivery Methods and Best Practices for Small Airports • Engineering staff allocation • Aircraft collision detection systems • Emergency response to alerts • Tracking of tugs on airfield There is also the potential to track passenger movements to facilitate locating passengers who are late for boarding or target personalized retail opportunities. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity) Radio Frequency Identification RFID technology uses tags with embedded microchips that allow the tags to be read from a distance. The tags are externally powered and can be read or written to in order to allow status changes. Primary uses of RFID include AVI and baggage handling systems. The use of RFID bag tags rather than the standard bar-coded bag tags in use today results in fewer mis-sorted/mishandled bags and improved logistics management. This in turn improves operational efficiency and the baggage service to customers. Though the first RFID patent was granted in 1983, it did not start to see widespread application use until the early 2000s. Potential delivery methods include the following: • Purchase • Lease • Share (Collaborative with Another Entity)