At a Glance

Industry: Aviation, Transportation

Goal: Modernize a mission-critical analytics platform to improve performance, maintain compliance continuity, and establish a secure, scalable foundation for future cloud initiatives.

Services & Technologies

• OpsGuru Services: Clear Path Forward (CPF) Methodology, Cloud Architecture Design, Data Platform Modernization, Application Migration, Enablement & Knowledge Transfer

• Tooling: AWS Control Tower, AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), AWS Redshift, AWS Data Migration Service (DMS) with Change Data Capture (CDC), AWS Transit Gateway, DBT (Data Build Tool), Logi Symphony, Amazon CloudWatch, Terraform (IaC)

Outcomes

• Sub-second (down from 12-20s) dashboard performance and faster operational reporting

• Continuous compliance and uninterrupted business operations during migration

• Scalable, secure AWS foundation supporting future modernization

• Accelerated cloud maturity through 100% knowledge transfer and enablement for internal teams

• On-time and on-budget delivery within a 10-week implementation window

Background

Jazz Aviation LP (Jazz), the largest regional airline in Canada and primary operator of Air Canada Express service, depends on timely, accurate data to manage daily operations, monitor performance, and meet strict aviation compliance standards.

When the organization’s analytics platform approached a natural refresh point, leadership saw an opportunity to strengthen its data capabilities and future-proof a system that had become integral to decision-making across the business.

To realize this vision, Jazz partnered with OpsGuru, an AWS Premier Tier Partner, to re-architect its analytics environment on Amazon Web Services (AWS). The initiative aimed not only to modernize a critical platform but to build a secure, scalable foundation that would accelerate future cloud adoption and improve operational resilience across the enterprise.

Challenge

• Maintaining Critical Operations Amid Transition: Jazz’s analytics system underpinned essential operational dashboards and regulatory reporting. Any disruption could affect compliance and decision-making across departments. Migrating such a strategic system while ensuring continuity demanded precise planning and execution.

• Enhancing Performance and User Experience: As data volumes and use cases expanded, dashboard response times began to lag behind business expectations, taking between 12 - 20 seconds for every refresh. Jazz wanted to deliver faster insights to operational and executive teams while improving the efficiency of its data processing workflows.

• Building Cloud Readiness and Confidence: The project represented one of Jazz’s first large-scale moves into AWS. It provided an opportunity to strengthen internal cloud skills and establish repeatable governance models to guide future modernization initiatives.

• Coordinating Complex Data Integration: The analytics platform drew from multiple operational databases, each with its own performance and synchronization requirements. Maintaining real-time accuracy during the transition to a new architecture became a central focus of the project’s design and risk management strategy. This complexity was compounded by the need to integrate time-sensitive, operational data from diverse on-premise systems into the new cloud data pipeline.

Solution

OpsGuru guided the transformation through its Clear Path Forward (CPF), a structured assessment and strategic planning engagement that emphasizes de-risking projects through strong architecture, collaboration, and enablement. The engagement was structured into two key phases over a 10-week period.

Phase 1: Foundation

The first phase focused on creating a secure, scalable, and well-governed cloud foundation.

OpsGuru deployed an AWS Control Tower–based Landing Zone using Infrastructure as Code, which was deployed with Terraform, providing Jazz with a repeatable model for future cloud environments. To ensure seamless integration with existing systems, hybrid connectivity was established using AWS Transit Gateway, enabling low-latency data transfer between AWS and the on-premise environment. Non-production validation ensured the environment met all compliance and security standards before full rollout.

Phase 2: Migration and Modernization

With the foundation in place, OpsGuru migrated the analytics platform to AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) and deployed the next-generation analytics application across both non-production and production environments.

To enhance performance and reliability, OpsGuru implemented a modern data pipeline using AWS Data Migration Service (DMS) with Change Data Capture (CDC) to replicate information from on-premises databases into Amazon Redshift in near real-time. Additionally, a Semantic Data Layer was built using DBT (Data Build Tool), transforming raw data into pre-computed, ready-to-use metrics. This eliminated redundant computation at the application layer, reducing dashboard load times to under a second.

Throughout delivery, OpsGuru embedded knowledge transfer sessions and enablement workshops, equipping Jazz’s teams with the skills to manage, monitor, and optimize the new environment independently.

For a team new to AWS, the OpsGuru engagement was a game-changer. Their Clear Path Forward (CPF) methodology systematically de-risked the entire transition. Beyond implementation, their focused enablement made advanced technologies immediately accessible. OpsGuru built the strong internal foundation that empowered us to manage our mission-critical migration with complete confidence and capability.

- Justin Breen, Director, Data & Applications 

Outcomes

Performance and Visibility

By rearchitecting the analytics platform on AWS, dashboard response times improved from 12 to 20 seconds to under one second.

This gave operations and leadership teams near real-time visibility into key performance indicators. The speed gains enhanced day-to-day decision-making and enabled smoother, faster reporting to partners and regulators.

Reliability and Continuity

Throughout the migration, OpsGuru ensured that all reporting and compliance functions remained uninterrupted. The new architecture eliminated single points of failure and replaced the on-premises infrastructure with a scalable, redundant, and containerized deployment model capable of adapting to business demands while maintaining strict compliance standards.

Strategic Validation

Delivered from design to production in just 10 weeks, the project validated Jazz’s broader cloud strategy and demonstrated that even complex, regulated workloads can be modernized efficiently and safely.

The success of the deployment built internal confidence in cloud adoption and positioned the organization to accelerate future modernization programs.

Enablement and Capability Building

OpsGuru’s embedded enablement approach provided Jazz’s IT and analytics teams with hands-on experience in AWS services, Kubernetes management, and Infrastructure-as-Code workflows. By project completion, 100% of knowledge transfer activities and documentation were delivered, ensuring the internal team could operate and evolve the platform independently.

Long-Term Impact

Through this partnership, Jazz not only modernized a mission-critical analytics system but also established a secure, scalable foundation for continued innovation. What began as a compliance requirement evolved into a strategic opportunity to enhance data-driven decision-making and strengthen the organization’s long-term operational agility.