SES (formerly Intelsat): Aircraft Technical Services Database

At a glance

• What it replaced: a Microsoft Access technical publications database, with a front end and back end reached through desktop links
• What it became: a web application with a redesigned interface, a custom Microsoft SQL Server database and role-based access
• Roles: Administrators, Technical Writers and Reviewers, with a restricted contractor role scoped for a later phase
• Integrations: ACT and PCT XML export compatible with Windchill; synchronisation with the Agile database
• How it was delivered: part of an eleven-week delivery plan, with four milestones

This study covers the publications database on its own. The umbrella study explains how it feeds the content portal and the service request portal.

The problem

The technical publications database at Intelsat was built in Microsoft Access, with a front end and a back end that people reached through desktop links. It had worked for a long time, but the limits were now getting in the way:

• no cloud hosting or real-time collaboration
• file links that had to be re-issued to users whenever something was updated
• manual workflows for tracking documents and handling requests
• no clean integration with enterprise systems such as Windchill and Agile

The database held the records behind service bulletins, manuals and training material. A more modern, central and scalable system was needed.

Our approach

We were first engaged for discovery and analysis. What we found widened the scope to design, development and deployment of a new internal application to replace the Access system.

Three decisions shaped the work:

• Move the data first. The Access back end moved to a custom Microsoft SQL Server database, so the new interface and the integrations had a proper data layer to build on.
• Design the workflow, not just the screens. The old process lived in forms and file links. We redesigned the Document Request Form, used to request or revise manuals, and put document tracking through the review lifecycle in the same application.
• Treat the integrations as part of the product. The records have to match what Windchill and Agile hold, so export and synchronisation were scoped as deliverables from the start rather than added afterwards.

The build

The statement of work describes a Laravel API with an ORM and migrations, search, and a JavaScript front end. The API covers documents, vendors, quotes, invoices, airlines, aircraft, users, roles and permissions, and includes CSV import. The front end has a dashboard, document index and detail pages, vendor, airline and admin sections, and login.

The main pieces were:

• The web application and database: the Access back end migrated to Microsoft SQL Server, the Access front end replaced with a redesigned web interface, and user access levels for Administrators, Technical Writers and Reviewers.
• Document workflow tools: the redesigned Document Request Form and tools for tracking and managing documents through review.
• Windchill export: ACT and PCT XML files compatible with Windchill.
• Agile synchronisation: product and document metadata kept in step with the Agile database, run as scheduled jobs.
• Infrastructure as code: a Terraform script, one of the four contracted milestones, so Intelsat can deploy the application in its own AWS environments.

The four milestones were signed-off high-fidelity designs, a working application with Agile relationship matching and ACT and PCT export, the Terraform script, and production deployment.

Laravel did the work here that a legacy Access front end could not: a proper API, role-based permissions and migrations that make the database changes repeatable.

Where it was hosted

The application was built to run inside Intelsat’s own environment, accessible only from within it, and the handover included Terraform so Intelsat can deploy it to its own AWS environments. Shakewell now manages AWS for the database and the content portal under a separate support arrangement.

The outcome

A secure web application replaced a desktop database, with real collaboration and document tracking in place of re-issued file links. Document management became faster and more accurate, manual effort and the reissuing of file-based tools fell, and teams gained real-time access, version control and reporting. Technical publications, compliance and engineering data are now better aligned.

The application has continued to develop. A later statement of work (August 2025) scopes a restricted contractor role (request documents and view status only), search across affected manuals, a publication approval workflow with a rejected status, and CSV upload for engineering change requests and holidays.

Related services: Technical Publications & Structured Content · Laravel Development · AWS Partner