Client Overview
Delaware North operates six casinos supported by the WinOasis gaming platform. Seeking to transform distributed transactional records into actionable insights, they engaged Chariot Solutions to build a unified data ingestion pipeline. The solution, architected on AWS infrastructure and powered by Databricks, was designed to track each player’s journey, enrich profiles with loyalty and identification data, and streamline slot revenue reporting.
Defining the Challenge
Delaware North faced several obstacles before deriving value from WinOasis data. First, WinOasis does not natively support change data capture, making it difficult to distinguish new or updated records. Second, table structures differed slightly across properties, impacting consistency in the Data Lake. Third, any solution would need to scale smoothly as more casinos came online. Finally, business teams required the flexibility to tweak ingestion parameters—such as polling intervals or table selections—without redeploying code.
Our Approach
Chariot began by examining the existing WinOasis schema and custom code to identify reusable APIs and pinpoint timestamp columns and unique keys suitable for polling-based change detection. Collaborating closely with Delaware North, we cataloged variations across each casino’s database, ensuring we defined schemas that would validate data types and guard against drift.
To meet configurability requirements, we externalized all ingestion parameters—connection details, table lists, polling frequency, and column mappings—into AWS Secrets Manager. This design allowed stakeholders to update configurations without touching the codebase.
Implementation Highlights
A lightweight, modular ingestion framework was developed, capable of:
Polling WinOasis Tables
Reading timestamp and key columns to identify new or modified rows, then fetching only the incremental data.
Configuration Management
Stored ingestion configurations in AWS keys, allowing for easy customization of specific table ingestions without the need for job redeployment on Databricks.
Job Scheduling and Deployment:
- Integrated the Databricks jobs into their existing Airflow based scheduling approach.
- Configured Databricks bundles for seamless deployment.
- We documented every step in a comprehensive runbook: ensuring that Delaware North’s team could easily understand, maintain, and extend the implemented solutions
Results & Business Impact
Having data accessible within their own environment has significantly enhanced Delaware North’s ability to make informed decisions. Thanks to the robust ETL processes developed by Chariot, the company maintains a high level of confidence in the quality and reliability of its data. This capability provides daily insights into the health of the business, enabling Delaware North to respond immediately to evolving business needs. As a result, the company’s agility and decision-making processes have been greatly improved, leading to more timely and effective strategic actions that drive revenue and efficiency.
“Chariot Solutions has empowered us with immediate, actionable insights into our data. With daily visibility into customer activity and business transactions, we always know exactly where our business stands. This allows us to quickly identify and address areas of concern, and to create personalized offers for our customers based on their most recent activity,”
Angie McNew, VP of Business Intelligence and Analytics
Looking Ahead
The flexible, scalable architecture provides a solid foundation for integrating future data sources without significant rework. Delaware North can now iterate rapidly on player insights and incentives, ensuring sustained engagement across its gaming properties.
Tech Stack:
Python
AWS
Delta Live Tables
Spark