Delivering 24/7 managed support for a global airline catering operation

Summary

A global airline and catering SaaS provider ran a complex, multi-tenant environment across two core products and many integrated systems, including a SAP ECC to S/4HANA landscape, while serving more than 20 airlines worldwide. Inconsistent incident handling, limited compliance controls, and manual system monitoring left airline, catering, and in-flight operations without reliable round-the-clock coverage.

Marlabs established a 24/7 service desk and product support model spanning L1.5, L2, and L3, including SAP application management for the client's core ERP landscape. ITIL-based incident management, real-time SLA dashboards, and self-service portals gave the client faster resolutions and enterprise-wide visibility into system health.

Challenge

The client supported more than 20 airlines across a highly complex, multi-tenant environment built on two core products and many integrated systems, including a SAP ECC 6.0 environment progressing to S/4HANA alongside Java, .NET, Microsoft Dynamics 365, Workday, and Kronos. Airline, catering, and in-flight operations all needed round-the-clock attention, but the client's earlier processes for incident handling, compliance, and system monitoring were not built for that scale.

Manual ticket triage and inconsistent escalation paths slowed resolution times, compliance and monitoring practices lagged the complexity of the environment, and repeated manual tasks consumed time that could have gone toward improving the operation. The client needed a single, round-the-clock support model that could stand behind every system in its landscape, including its SAP ERP, without adding operational risk.

Solution

Marlabs built a tiered, 24/7 managed support model that covered the client's airline, product, and infrastructure systems end to end, including support for the client's SAP landscape alongside its other platforms.

Establishing a 24/7 service desk and support model

Marlabs stood up a tiered service desk and product support model spanning L1.5, L2, and L3, covering airline operations, product support, infrastructure, and every major intake channel, including email, phone, chat, and ticketing. The team designed the tiering so that routine requests resolved quickly at the first tier while complex issues escalated cleanly to specialists, and it built a consistent intake process across every channel so nothing depended on which door a request came through. This gave the client a single, predictable support experience across a 20-plus-airline operation that previously relied on inconsistent, ad hoc handling.

Delivering application, infrastructure, and SAP support

The team delivered L2 support across application, database, middleware, reporting, DevOps, and infrastructure, with SAP application management covering the client's ECC to S/4HANA landscape as one of the core systems under management. Marlabs' SAP specialists handled functional and technical issues across the ERP environment, working alongside the teams supporting the client's Java, .NET, Dynamics 365, Workday, and Kronos platforms so that every system in the landscape had defined, accountable support. This tier absorbed the deeper technical issues that the service desk could not resolve on first contact, keeping specialist expertise focused where it mattered most.

Implementing ITIL incident management and SLA visibility

Marlabs implemented ITIL-based incident management practices, including structured root cause analysis, across the full support model. Real-time SLA dashboards gave the client's leaders continuous visibility into incident trends and system health for the first time, replacing what had been fragmented, after-the-fact reporting. Root cause analysis turned recurring incidents into permanent fixes rather than repeated firefighting, and the dashboards let the client hold every tier of the support model accountable to clear, visible service levels.

Automating routine work and enabling self-service

Our team automated routine, repetitive tasks through continuous shift-left improvements, moving resolution capability closer to the user and away from manual ticket handling. Marlabs introduced self-service portals with FAQs, knowledge bases, and guided resolutions so end users could resolve common issues without opening a ticket at all. Together, these changes reduced the volume of low-value manual work reaching the service desk and freed the support model's specialists to focus on higher-value incidents.

Results

The 24/7 support model transformed how the client managed airline, catering, and in-flight operations, replacing reactive troubleshooting with proactive, SLA-driven service. Customers experienced higher satisfaction thanks to true round-the-clock coverage and faster incident responses across every tier of the model. Automation and self-service tools drove a 20 to 30 percent improvement in operational efficiency by cutting repeated manual work and standardizing workflows across the support organization.

Real-time SLA dashboards gave leaders continuous visibility into incident trends and system health, and the client's in-flight exchange (IFX) operations improved through real-time data flow across warehouse, flight, and billing systems. Automation-enabled planning also streamlined galley scheduling, load balancing, and supply chain optimization, extending the benefits of the support model beyond IT and into day-to-day operational planning.

Impact

The engagement delivered measurable gains across service quality, efficiency, and operational visibility:

• Higher customer satisfaction: True 24/7 coverage and faster incident responses improved the experience for the client's airline customers.

• Greater operational efficiency: Automating repeated tasks and standardizing workflows improved operational efficiency by 20 to 30 percent.

• Real-time SLA visibility: Dashboards gave leaders continuous visibility into incident trends, system health, and support performance.

• Dedicated SAP support: Marlabs established SAP support as an accountable, dedicated pillar of the client's ECC to S/4HANA landscape.

• Improved in-flight exchange operations: Real-time data flow across warehouse, flight, and billing systems improved IFX operations.

• Streamlined galley planning: Automation-enabled planning improved galley scheduling, load balancing, and supply chain optimization.