How Rekor Systems enhanced public safety analytics with HAQM QuickSight

This is a guest post written by Itzik Shachar and Adi Vaknin of Rekor Systems.

At Rekor Systems, we’re at the forefront of revolutionizing public safety and transportation systems through AI-driven technology solutions. Our innovative approach combines machine learning and advanced analytics to transform how organizations manage infrastructure and enhance public safety. In this post, we share our journey of migrating from our legacy business intelligence (BI) tool to HAQM QuickSight, detailing how this transition has dramatically improved our analytics capabilities, reduced costs, and enhanced the user experience for our customers.

Background

Rekor Systems specializes in developing cutting-edge solutions that use AI technology to revolutionize public safety and transportation systems. Our BI and analytics team is integral to our operations, focusing on delivering embedded intelligence tools that enable real-time, data-driven decision-making capabilities for both internal teams and customers. Our solutions help municipalities and organizations improve operational efficiency while enhancing public safety through advanced data analytics.

The challenge

Prior to implementing HAQM QuickSight, we faced several critical challenges with our previous BI solution. The platform’s limitations in handling complex queries and real-time data integrations significantly impacted our ability to provide timely insights to our customers. This was particularly problematic when working with large datasets, where performance issues led to slower dashboard responsiveness and diminished user satisfaction.

Our embedded analytics functionality was particularly affected by stability issues. Users frequently encountered session timeouts that disrupted their workflows, creating a frustrating experience. Additionally, data caching problems often resulted in outdated or incorrect information being displayed on embedded dashboards, which undermined user trust in our analytics capabilities. These technical limitations were becoming increasingly problematic as our user base grew and demanded more sophisticated analytical capabilities.

Solution selection process

During our evaluation of alternative BI solutions, we sought a platform that could offer dynamic capabilities while maintaining cost efficiency. Our search focused on finding a solution that would integrate seamlessly with our existing AWS infrastructure while providing the flexibility to customize features according to our specific needs.

QuickSight emerged as the clear choice for several compelling reasons. First, we used its flexible and dynamic capabilities to tailor the solution precisely to our requirements while benefiting from a pay-as-you-go pricing model. Second, as an AWS partner, the native compatibility with AWS services such as HAQM Simple Storage Service (HAQM S3) and HAQM Athena aligned perfectly with our technical architecture. Finally, our team’s existing familiarity with QuickSight from our internal dashboard use meant we could transition smoothly without extensive training requirements.

Implementation and architecture

Our migration to QuickSight began in June 2024 with a comprehensive research and proof of concept (POC) phase. We approached the implementation methodically, making sure that every aspect of our analytics infrastructure would be optimized for performance and reliability. The full migration was completed by October 2024, demonstrating the efficiency of our implementation process and the ease of adoption that QuickSight offers.

The technical architecture we developed centers around Athena as our primary data source, implementing a sophisticated medallion architecture. This approach organizes our data through three distinct layers: bronze for raw data, silver for cleaned and enriched data, and gold for optimized and aggregated data. This structured approach helps ensure optimal data management and query performance while maintaining data integrity throughout our analytics pipeline.

Security and seamless access were paramount in our implementation. We integrated Auth0 for single sign-on (SSO), creating a secure and frictionless authentication experience. When users sign in to our Rekor Command application, they automatically receive access to their authorized QuickSight dashboards, eliminating any additional authentication steps and helping to ensure a smooth user experience.

Embedded analytics capabilities

The cornerstone of our QuickSight implementation is our main customer-facing dashboard within Rekor Command. The dashboard shown in the following figure focuses on incident analysis and real-time traffic monitoring, providing vital insights that our customers can use to make data-driven decisions about public safety and operational efficiency.

Our embedded analytics solution is included in every Rekor Command package, offering customers comprehensive access to both high-level overviews and advanced BI analytics of their road behavior data. This integration allows users to monitor trends, analyze patterns, and make informed decisions to enhance road safety and operational efficiency directly within their workflow.

Measurable benefits and results

The transition to QuickSight has delivered substantial benefits across multiple dimensions of our operations:

• Performance: From a technical perspective, we’ve seen dashboard load times improve by 20%, particularly noticeable when handling large and complex datasets.
• Stability: The platform’s stability has eliminated the session timeouts and data caching problems that previously plagued our system, resulting in a more reliable and trustworthy analytics experience.
• Maintenance: Our BI analyst team has experienced a dramatic reduction of more than 80% in dashboard technical maintenance time. This efficiency gain has enabled our team to shift their focus from routine maintenance to strategic initiatives that add more value to our organization and customers.
• Customer satisfaction: Customer satisfaction has significantly improved, with analytics-related complaints decreasing by 50%. This improvement is directly attributed to the enhanced stability and reliability of our embedded analytics solution. The seamless integration and consistent performance have helped build stronger trust in our analytics capabilities among our user base.
• Cost reduction: From a financial perspective, the switch to QuickSight has resulted in a remarkable 85% reduction in our annual BI tool expenses. The return on investment was so substantial that the migration paid for itself within the first quarter of implementation. These cost savings have enabled us to reinvest in other critical areas of our business while maintaining a more efficient and effective analytics infrastructure.

Future plans and expansion

With our current base of over 400 active users growing daily, we’re continuing to expand our QuickSight implementation. Our roadmap includes developing new and improved embedded BI analytics dashboards for our customers, focusing on delivering even greater value and insights directly within their workflows.

We’re also in the process of building a new internal Customer Success Dashboard using QuickSight to enhance our customer observability capabilities. This initiative will provide our internal teams with deeper insights into customer behavior and engagement, enabling more proactive support and optimization of client outcomes.

Conclusion

The migration to QuickSight has fundamentally transformed how we deliver analytics to our customers. By resolving our previous stability issues and providing a more cost-effective, scalable solution, we’ve significantly enhanced the value we provide to our users. The seamless integration with our AWS infrastructure, combined with improved performance and reliability, has positioned us to better serve our growing user base and continue innovating in the public safety and transportation sectors.

The success of this implementation demonstrates the power of choosing the right analytics solution that aligns with both technical requirements and business objectives. As we continue to grow and evolve, HAQM QuickSight will remain a crucial component in our ability to deliver cutting-edge analytics solutions that help make our communities safer and more efficient.

About the Authors

Itzik Shachar is the Director of R&D at Rekor, leading engineering activities across multiple domains, including business intelligence and data analytics.

Adi Vaknin is a BI Analyst at Rekor and the Technical Lead of the project. Adi played a key role in leading the migration from Domo to HAQM QuickSight in collaboration with Rekor’s Israeli R&D site.