American Airlines - A Case Study in Snowflake Data Lake Modernization

Automated Snowflake RBAC, workspace provisioning, and lifecycle management for enterprise users

American Airlines partnered with TaylorMade Software to modernize and streamline its cloud data ecosystem, specifically around its Azure Data Lake and Snowflake platforms. As data volume and complexity grew, the airline faced challenges in efficiently managing access controls, data sharing, and continuous integration processes.

Our team conducted a full assessment of the existing Azure and Snowflake architecture, identifying performance and security gaps in data lake operations and ELT pipelines. We proposed a series of architectural enhancements and best practices that improved processing efficiency by over 20%.

To address data access and change management, we implemented enterprise-grade role-based access control (RBAC) integrated with Azure Active Directory and Single Sign-On. Additionally, we developed a fully automated CI/CD pipeline using Azure DevOps, cutting provisioning and deployment times by 30%.

Finally, we introduced a secure and scalable data sharing architecture—dubbed the “Sharehouse”—which standardized data governance and enabled streamlined collaboration across departments. These changes led to an estimated 25% improvement in data sharing efficiency.

By delivering both strategic oversight and hands-on development, TaylorMade Software helped American Airlines scale its data operations securely and cost-effectively.

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