When the National Hockey League (NHL) announced its expansion into Seattle, local hockey fans were excited to get the chance to root for their first home team. The newly formed Seattle Kraken (Kraken) knew they had a unique chance to build a foundation for decades of fan engagement as they prepared for the 2021–2022 season.
To deliver that foundation in time for the first puck drop at Climate Pledge Arena, the Kraken engaged Amazon Web Services (AWS)—more specifically, AWS Partner Integrated Media Technologies Inc. (IMT). Rather than build a monolithic system for the Kraken, IMT chose to adopt a microservices architecture and use a host of AWS solutions, to validate that the Kraken could flexibly change their offering as the years go by. “We aimed for the harmony of a multi-vendor, multi-solution approach using reference architecture,” says Roy Burns, vice president of media solutions at IMT.
IMT has a proven track record of providing comprehensive AWS services to customers at any stage of the cloud journey. With guidance from IMT, the Kraken implemented a cost-effective infrastructure that will evolve with the team. “We set out to unlock fan engagement for decades to come by building the system on AWS,” says Jason Kranitz, president of systems integration at IMT.
Accelerating the production of engaging assets for Kraken fans
As an NHL franchise, the Kraken was looking forward to inspiring fans around the world. The team plays home games at Climate Pledge Arena, but also engages ice-sports lovers at their headquarters, the Kraken Community Iceplex in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood. Moreover, half the team’s 82-game season is played on the road. Because the Kraken has two “homes” and travels extensively, the team knew they needed a hybrid infrastructure for their distributed workforce.
The Kraken decided early on to build their offering on AWS. “AWS is the leader in cloud infrastructure, so the decision was pretty clear,” says Erik Jones, vice president of technology at the Seattle Kraken and the Kraken Community Iceplex. The Kraken were drawn to working with IMT because of the consulting company’s long record of delivering innovative projects on AWS.
