Thai Airways: Embarking on a SaaS-Based WLA Journey

Thai Airways is an internationally trusted, Bangkok-based airline. It’s the national flag carrier airline of Thailand, renowned for its hospitality, quality service, and extensive route network.

Established in 1960, Thai Airways has grown to become one of the leading airlines in Asia, operating a vast network of domestic and international routes. The airline’s fleet is both modern and efficient — equipped with state-of-the-art technology to ensure passenger comfort and safety. 

When it came time for a new IT automation platform, Thai Airways sought one that could scale to support their future visions of growth and operational excellence.

Thai Airways faced several challenges that led them to replace their existing automation tool with a new, more modern IT automation platform:

• Inefficient existing automation tools required manual intervention, causing delays and increased operational costs.
• Inability to integrate with other systems within the organization’s infrastructure.
• High licensing fees and maintenance costs necessitated a more cost-effective solution.

“Stonebranch offers a comprehensive solution for managing IT automation tasks, allowing organizations to streamline their processes, increase efficiency, and adapt to evolving business needs. Additionally, Stonebranch provides reliable support services, ensuring that we have the assistance we need to maximize the benefits of the platform.” 

Mr. Wisak Chiarakul
Data Center and Cloud Manager
Thai Airways

When Thai Airways embarked on their search for a more efficient automation platform, they started by gathering information about products and services related to the IT automation. They found Gartner reports like the Market Guide for Service Orchestration and Automation Platforms (SOAPs) particularly helpful to better understand the market and what to look for in a new provider.

Thai Airways evaluated two SaaS proposals from IT service providers who would also act as implementors of the automation platform. One proposal recommended Thai Airways’ existing automation tool, while the AskMe proposal suggested a SaaS implementation of Stonebranch Universal Automation Center (UAC). 

As a long-term regional partner of Stonebranch, AskMe provided valuable insights into the effectiveness and reliability of Stonebranch’s SaaS solution. Both providers offered skilled service and solution support.

After completing thorough proof-of-concept testing, Thai Airways chose AskMe’s implementation of Stonebranch UAC for three reasons:

• Robust customer support and service
• Cost-effectiveness of the SaaS automation solution
• Technical compatibility with the airline’s existing and future IT infrastructure, systems, and processes

The deployment of Stonebranch UAC went smoothly and was fully completed within the project timeline of six months. Stonebranch used their proprietary automated conversion tool to efficiently transfer jobs to the UAC platform, allowing the team to fine-tune the transition of more complex workflows.

“Migrating workflows from the old product to Stonebranch was easy,” notes Mr. Wisak Chiarakul, Data Center and Cloud Manager for Thai Airways. “Stonebranch’s robust customer support and service provided invaluable assistance throughout the implementation process and beyond.”

Comprehensive training sessions helped onboard new users, ensuring they are well-versed in the platform’s functionalities. Additionally, AskMe’s technical expertise and hands-on support ensured any issues were promptly resolved, contributing to the project’s success.

Today, Thai Airways uses Stonebranch UAC for workload automation and job scheduling. They’re excited about UAC’s ability to scale with the airline’s growth and evolving needs to deploy cloud resources, optimize integrations across multiple systems, and automate the DevOps lifecycle.

“We appreciate Stonebranch’s user-friendly interface and scalability, which have been key features for us. It also helps that Stonebranch is more cost-effective than other options.” 

Mr. Wisak Chiarakul
Data Center and Cloud Manager
Thai Airways

The implementation of UAC has yielded significant results for Thai Airways:

• Improved Operational Efficiency: Automating complex scheduling processes has boosted efficiency while reducing errors and manual interventions.
• Reduced Workload for IT Team: Automation of various processes has lightened the workload for the IT team, allowing them to focus on mission-critical issues and challenges.
• Cost Savings: Stonebranch’s competitive pricing and cost-effective SaaS solution have reduced overall IT costs.
• Enhanced User Experience: The user-friendly UAC interface is highly praised.
• Future-Proof Scalability: UAC supports Thai Airways’ future plans to further develop their cloud and DevOps automation capabilities, while also integrating more applications throughout their infrastructure.