Eurowings, Lufthansa Group's low-cost airline, serves more than 40 million customers at 100 destinations around the world.
When the company's on-premises server farms, which provide application access and security to thousands of external and contract employees, needed upgrading, Eurowings decided to ditch its on-prem servers and embrace the cloud with Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop.
Tim Thomer, Enterprise Architect at Eurowings explains:. "We wanted a cloud VDI solution capable of running modern authentication, and which could match our existing infrastructure in terms of security and reliability. That's how we found Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop."
Read the Eurowings story of cloud adoption in this Microsoft article.
What prompted Eurowings to transition to Azure Virtual Desktop?
Eurowings faced the need to update its on-premises server farms, which was both expensive and time-consuming. The renewal period coincided with the airline's busy season, increasing the urgency for a more efficient solution. The company aimed to modernize its IT landscape with a focus on cloud-first solutions, leading them to explore Azure Virtual Desktop as a cost-effective option that could enhance security and scalability.
How does Azure Virtual Desktop improve security for Eurowings?
With the transition to Azure Virtual Desktop, Eurowings adopted two-factor authentication using RSA security tokens, replacing the previous hardware-dependent security measures. This allows employees to access systems securely from any device, anywhere. The company plans to implement additional security layers, including Microsoft Defender for Cloud, as it continues its cloud journey.
What operational cost savings has Eurowings achieved with Azure Virtual Desktop?
Eurowings expects to reduce its operating costs by over 50 percent with Azure Virtual Desktop. The solution's scalability allows the company to adjust its infrastructure according to seasonal demand, and the multi-session capability enables multiple users to share resources from a single virtual machine, further enhancing cost efficiency.