Arts and Entertainment Company Restores Digital Reliability Through Unified Managed Services and Operations Framework

The Challenge

Aurora Stage Productions, a leading Canadian entertainment organization operating multiple theaters and event venues, was struggling with recurring IT disruptions that jeopardized ticket sales, performance scheduling, and audience experience. Over several years, the company had outsourced its IT and digital infrastructure, including ticketing systems, marketing platforms, and streaming environments, to multiple managed service providers without centralized oversight.

Each vendor managed its own contracts and service-level agreements (SLAs), leading to duplication of costs, inconsistent patching schedules, and finger-pointing during outages. A major disruption occurred when the primary ticketing database crashed during a high-profile event series, causing online sales to fail for 48 hours. No single vendor took responsibility for resolving the issue, forcing cancellations and refund processing losses exceeding $750,000.

An internal review revealed fragmented service governance, minimal monitoring, and inconsistent incident escalation procedures. In addition, privacy concerns arose under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) due to untracked third-party access to customer data across cloud systems. Leadership recognized that without unified operational management, service fragmentation threatened both revenue and regulatory compliance.

Our Solution

Our Managed Services and Operations team was retained to design and implement a unified Entertainment Managed Operations Framework tailored to Aurora’s multi-venue environment and customer-centric services. The engagement began with an operational audit covering all vendors, applications, and digital service providers.

The following key measures were implemented:

• Centralized Operations Hub: Creation of an Entertainment Network Operations Center (ENOC) providing 24/7 visibility into venue IT, ticketing, marketing, and streaming platforms.
  – Vendor Consolidation: Integration of multiple service contracts into a single governance model with standardized SLAs, escalation pathways, and compliance metrics.
  – Unified ITSM Platform: Deployment of a shared IT Service Management (ITSM) system to streamline issue tracking, change management, and incident resolution across all vendors.
  – Automation and Monitoring: Introduction of automated patching, backup verification, and real-time performance dashboards for proactive maintenance.
  – Compliance Integration: Enforcement of access control, audit trails, and vendor accountability aligned with PIPEDA and ISO/IEC 27001 standards.

  This centralized approach transformed Aurora’s reactive operations into a predictive, performance-driven model that ensured accountability, compliance, and continuous reliability.

The Value

Within six months, Aurora Stage Productions achieved major improvements in reliability, accountability, and compliance readiness:
– 80% reduction in downtime incidents through unified monitoring and automated remediation.
– Mean time to resolution (MTTR) improved from 10 hours to less than 90 minutes.
– Full compliance validation under PIPEDA and ISO/IEC 27001, confirmed by external audit.
– Renewed cyber insurance coverage with no premium increases.
– 25% improvement in digital sales performance due to stabilized platforms and consistent uptime.
– Stronger stakeholder trust, with clients and audiences praising uninterrupted access to ticketing and media services.

By embedding managed operations governance into every layer of its digital ecosystem, Aurora converted IT reliability into a competitive advantage, ensuring that creativity and audience engagement were never compromised by technical failures.

Implementation Roadmap

1. Assessment (Weeks 1–3): Conduct audit of vendors, systems, and service-level performance.
2. Framework Design (Weeks 4–6): Develop unified operations framework, escalation matrix, and SLA templates.
3. Deployment (Weeks 7–12): Establish centralized ENOC, migrate vendors to the ITSM platform, and implement automated monitoring.
4. Optimization (Weeks 13–16): Roll out vendor scorecards, refine reporting dashboards, and automate maintenance workflows.
5. Continuous Improvement (Ongoing): Perform quarterly operational audits, compliance reviews, and resilience assessments.

Info Sheet

Necessary Action Type and Steps to Be Taken:

• Centralize monitoring and service coordination through an ENOC to improve incident response.
  – Consolidate vendor relationships under a unified governance model and standardized SLAs.
  – Implement a shared ITSM platform for ticket tracking, change control, and compliance documentation.
  – Automate patching, maintenance, and data backup verification.
  – Enforce PIPEDA-aligned access controls and audit trails for third-party vendors.
  – Maintain quarterly reviews of performance metrics, vendor accountability, and compliance posture.

Industry Sector:
Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation — Live Performance, Digital Media, and Venue Management

Applicable Legislation:
– PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act)
– ISO/IEC 27001 (Information Security Management)
– Canadian Cyber Security Standards for Managed Services Providers
– Provincial Cultural Infrastructure Funding Guidelines

Third Parties:
– Managed IT and streaming service providers
– Cloud hosting and marketing automation vendors
– Ticketing platform providers and payment processors
– Cyber insurance underwriters
– Compliance auditors and cultural funding agencies