Sabre is close to achieving its technological transformation. The heart of this change lies in collaboration with Google Cloud

The migrations of 17 in-house data centres, 40,000 servers, and 50 petabytes of storage to Google Cloud are just some aspects of Sabre Corporation’s technological transformation since 2020, a leading software and technology provider in the tourism industry.

Sabre initiated its technological transformation in close cooperation with Google Cloud as early as 2020. Since then, the software provider for the tourism industry has been implementing five new strategic processes: downsizing private data centres, streamlining operations in the cloud environment, integrating data processing tools, introducing innovation standards, and launching an employee competence development program in cloud technologies. The Polish branch of Sabre, located in Krakow, oversaw managing several projects related to transformation processes.

– At Sabre, technological development is an ongoing process involving a diverse range of activities to enhance applications and refine the entire software development cycle. The transformation, which began in 2020, is one of its most complex stages – says Cezary Żminkowski, Board Member and VP Software Development at Sabre Poland. – We see it as a breakthrough because it enhances all operations. By migrating to Google Cloud, we are initiating the development of an open retail market, enhancing value-added services, and utilising our resources in entirely new manners – he adds.

Infrastructure optimisation and development of key competencies

A team of Google Cloud experts supported Sabre’s entire transformation process. Their responsibilities included providing deployment support and enhancing Sabre employees’ cloud-related skills. In total, 3900 engineers across Sabre’s global branches have undergone training. This makes the company the largest external user of technical courses offered by the Google Cloud Platform in the market.

By the second quarter of 2020, Sabre had already integrated its infrastructure with the first Google Cloud region and prepared environments based on Google Kubernetes Engine for migrating systems and data. The gradual implementation of appropriate tools enabled Sabre to reduce the time needed to launch its products on the market.

Tools such as BigQuery and Vertex AI have become indispensable in building Sabre’s efficiency and innovation. The migration of the first data farm as part of the integration of analytical platforms with BigQuery took place in 2021. Over the following years, the integration extended to numerous platforms, creating more than 50,000 Google Kubernetes Engine containers. Their usage facilitated easier application lifecycle management from development to production while also boosting their portability and scalability.

Moreover, implementing solutions like microservices architectures and containerisation has notably allowed Sabre to improve operational stability. This decrease in outages has, in turn, reduced the real-time response time to customer inquiries.

The future means further transformations

Sabre is committed to expanding AI capabilities as part of its Retail Intelligence strategy. This comes after a successful collaboration with Google Cloud under the Sabre Travel AI™ initiative, which facilitated the implementation of advanced machine learning models. The company is already employing artificial intelligence to enhance products such as Sabre Ancillary IQ™ and Sabre Air Price IQ™.

Sabre Ancillary IQ™ enables the creation of dynamic and personalised offers for additional flight services. Sabre Air Price IQ™ improves flexibility and accuracy in determining airfare prices based on market context and traveller needs. These innovations allow for creating more efficient pricing strategies, leading to revenue growth for Sabre’s clients. Thus, plans are underway to integrate AI further to optimise offer creation and the real-time management process.

– Thanks to the cloud technologies developed in collaboration with Google Cloud, we can utilise generative artificial intelligence and machine learning. This represents a breakthrough in software production – says Łukasz Żmudziński, Director Software Engineering at Sabre Poland. – We have already launched cutting-edge products that aid airlines in leveraging real data and advanced machine-learning models. We are convinced that this will revolutionise processes for our clients – he adds.

The current technological transformation of Sabre – key data:

Migration to the Google Cloud Platform:

migration of in-house data centres: 17

servers migrated: 40 000

mass storage migration: 50 PB

Other data related to the transformation:

reduction of maintenance costs for infrastructure supporting systems: 50%

deployment of Google Kubernetes Engine containers: 50,000

Sabre and Google Cloud engineers involved in the transformation: 600 individuals

About Sabre Corporation   

Sabre Corporation is a software and technology company that takes on the biggest opportunities and solves the most complex challenges in travel. The Company connects travel suppliers and buyers around the globe and across the ecosystem through innovative products and next-generation technology solutions. Sabre harnesses speed, scale and insights to build tomorrow’s technology today – empowering airlines, hoteliers, agencies and other partners to retail, distribute and fulfill travel worldwide. Headquartered in Southlake, Texas, USA, Sabre serves customers in more than 160 countries around the world. For more information visit www.sabre.com.