InformationWeek

March 27, 2000

Online Marketplaces:
AviationX Charts Flight Plan
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Illustration by Dennis Harms Breakaway, which has worked with VerticalNet and other marketplaces, assigned 20 people to the project. AviationX and Breakaway determined what tools and functions the marketplace needed and how scalable it should be. AviationX and Breakaway evaluated the leading procurement applications--the companies declined to specify which ones--and decided the best option would be for Breakaway to build a custom application. "We'll use extensions and add-on applications to enhance the robustness," Saunders says.

The site will run on Windows NT and migrate to Windows 2000 as Breakaway upgrades its servers. The site will use Microsoft's SQL Server database because the development tools available meant the company could get the system up and running faster than with another database. However, Saunders says AviationX.com will switch to an Oracle database running on Unix when phase 2 is implemented in the third quarter.

AviationX has chosen OnDisplay's CenterStage content-management product, an electronic catalog from Cohera Corp., and RightWorks Corp.'s procurement application. The company has also chosen community and reporting tools from E-share and WebTrends, respectively.

Breakaway is building the custom workflow applications and evaluating third-party applications for content management and other features. The service provider will use technology it acquired with its February acquisition of DataCyr Corp. to help the marketplace's users translate legacy data into a common format, including the Extensible Markup Language. A prototype of the site was unveiled in early March. Two airline beta testers will offer feedback, and final changes will be incorporated before the marketplace goes live.

A key to success will be the ability to tie into the airlines' existing systems. "We felt it was critical to connect to back-end systems, whether it's SAP R/3 or a homegrown solution," Saunders says. "We spent time with Breakaway looking at these issues. We want to be able to integrate with all systems."

They decided to use XML and Spec2000, an existing EDI standard most airlines use. By wrapping all information that goes into or out of the marketplace in XML, the site will let buyers and sellers share information in a uniform format.

AviationX.com will have more than just technical issues to worry about. To be successful, it must attract a critical mass of airlines and suppliers--and there are plenty of other marketplaces looking to do the same thing. Supply-chain vendor i2 Technologies Inc. will launch MyAircraft .com, an electronic marketplace for aerospace products and services, in the second quarter. It's being built with industry giants United Technologies Corp. and Honeywell Inc. It uses i2's TradeMatrix platform and focuses on collaboration, supply-chain management, and E-procurement.

Other competitors include Aerospan.com, which is backed by parts and repair services company AAR Corp. and Swiss aerospace services giant SITA and provides a spare parts listing service, parts clearinghouse, and auctions; TradeAir, an independent site that went live at the end of last year; and GE Aircraft Engine's Customer Web Center, which has signed Delta Air Lines and several other airlines as initial customers.

Despite the backing of some big industry players, MyAircraft.com, Aerospan.com, and the GE site won't necessarily emerge as the big winners, says Jon Ekoniak, a senior research analyst who covers technology at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray Inc. "We haven't seen successful sites from a consortium of industry players, except perhaps MetalSite, which became a neutral site eventually," he says. "Big players are slow-moving and bureaucratic, where a neutral site can get up and running at the speed of light."

It may take a year or two for any of the aviation sites to develop a critical mass of buyers and sellers. In the meantime, airlines and suppliers are likely to participate in several sites, Ekoniak says. "Honeywell has a stake in MyAircraft.com, but they're participating in other ones," he says. "The name of the game seems to be, bet on a few horses and wait and see which one wins."

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