As the organization grew, the limitations of its legacy systems became impossible to ignore. 

The previous application was based on Microsoft Access, built in VBA, making it difficult to maintain, extend and scale as the business evolved. 

Many critical processes, particularly those involving drivers, were still paper-based. At the same time, the underlying software was rigid, difficult to maintain, and heavily dependent on external vendors for even the smallest changes. 

"The previous system was slow and not very user-friendly. On top of that, every change took time and everything depended on the provider.”
— Adrian Radu, IT Manager at Fly by Nite 

This dependency created a clear bottleneck. New functionality could only be added on request, deployments were complex and restrictive, and the system no longer supported the way the business needed to operate. For IT, the lack of control was the biggest issue. 

"We couldn’t change anything ourselves, every adjustment required external support.”

Fly By Nite was introduced to Thinkwise through a business partner already working with the platform. What stood out was not just the technology, but the fundamentally different way of developing and maintaining software. 

Instead of relying on hard-coded changes, database scripts and complex migrations, Thinkwise introduced a model-driven way of working. Changes are defined at the model level, while the platform automatically handles upgrades, validation, deployment and database restructuring. 

“With our previous systems, updates were complex and required manual database changes. With Thinkwise, much of that complexity is handled by the platform.” 

The implementation was pragmatic and focused on delivering value quickly. 

The system was implemented in phases. The initial phase took less than 12 months, from requirements to a fully working system, delivered in close collaboration with two Thinkwise developers and stakeholders across the business. 

“The experience and knowledge of the developers stood out, but also their approach. They were easy to work with and really understood what we needed.” 

The impact was visible across the entire organization. Paper-driven processes were replaced with digital workflows, making operations faster and more consistent. Built-in logic now guides users in their daily work, automatically responding to different scenarios and flagging potential issues in real time. 

Users also benefit from a more flexible way of working, with configurable screens and improved access to data. 

But the real difference is in how quickly the business can adapt.  

“Where changes used to take weeks with external effort, we now adjust and extend the system ourselves as part of day-to-day operations.” 

This flexibility allows Fly by Nite to continuously expand its system based on business needs. For example, the team developed a fully functional employee expense module in-house, including receipt uploads, approval workflows and financial processing.  

If implemented as a separate solution, this would have introduced recurring costs per user - a significant expense given the number of drivers. By building it internally, these costs were avoided entirely. 

Upgrades are no longer driven by cost and complexity, but by the time the team chooses to invest.  

This has fundamentally changed how the organization operates. Improvements are no longer projects that require planning and budget, but part of how the business continuously moves forward. 

Looking back, the success of the project was driven by strong collaboration between business and IT, combined with the expertise of the Thinkwise team. 

For Fly by Nite, the investment in modernizing its core systems is already delivering value across the business. 

“We’re not just more efficient, we have the flexibility and control to keep improving how we operate.” 

That impact is visible in daily operations, but also in how the organization approaches change. Improvements are no longer dependent on external parties or large projects, but part of how the business continuously evolves. 

“The time you invest in improving your processes now pays off across the entire organization: every day, in how people work and how processes run.” 

For organizations still hesitating, their advice is clear:

“The moment you commit, you don’t just improve your systems: you change how your business operates, in speed, efficiency and control.”