Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation is a professional sports and entertainment company based in Calgary, Canada. They host five sports teams across hockey, football, and lacrosse in two different stadiums that attract large audiences for games, concerts, and conventions. The company uses Windows 11 Pro to stay secure and productive in everything they do, from broadcast systems to in-game feeds to business operations.

About the company

Founded in 1980, Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation is a professional sports and entertainment company based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The company owns and operates five franchises across hockey, football, and lacrosse: the NHL’s Calgary Flames, the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, the NLL’s Calgary Roughnecks, the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders, and the AHL’s Calgary Wranglers. They also manage the Scotiabank Saddledome and McMahon Stadium; both venues attract large audiences for sporting events, concerts, and conventions.

Keeping all of those balls—and pucks—in the air isn’t easy, but Calgary Sports has a helping hand. As Vice President of Technology Ziad Mehio explains, “From our coaching videos to our broadcast systems, from our in-game feeds to our business ops, everything we do runs on Windows 11 Pro. We’re a fan,” he smiles, adding that the company uses Microsoft Teams to collaborate between departments and stadiums, and to engage with players and scouts around the world.

“Our office is a 450,000 square foot arena”

Ziad oversees all technology at Calgary Sports, from mobile apps to jumbo screens, stadium Wi-Fi to stadium point-of-sale systems. Security is always top of mind for him: “Our fans share a lot of their data with us to make their lives easier. It’s our most important asset, and it’s imperative we keep it secure and keep that trust with our fans.” Ziad appreciates the layers of security built into Windows 11 Pro, like TPM 2.0 and enhanced phishing and credential protection. As he says, “On event days, we go into a hockey game or a concert and host 20,000 people. We have multiple devices throughout the arena, and it’s really important that they are all secured, all the time.” That’s why he likes lock on leave, a new feature that combines presence detection sensors with Windows Hello for Business to keep devices secure anywhere. It locks your device when you step away and wakes when you approach—security that’s effective yet effortless.

“Windows 11 Pro allows us to focus on our fans, not our devices”

The fan experience is priority number one for Calgary Sports. “When someone leaves the building and they want to be back here the next day because their experience was so good, that to us is success—irrespective of what happens on the ice,” explains Ziad. Naturally, he would rather spend his time optimizing the fan experience instead of optimizing devices. Windows 11 Pro takes care of that, as he points out: “Our people found it very easy to use and to transition from what we had before; they love the look and feel.” Ziad doesn’t have to worry about compatibility either. The company uses several specialized software applications, and they all play together nicely with Windows 11 Pro. Says Ziad, “We have analytics software, broadcast software, rendering software. Every department has specific software that they run, and it all works seamlessly with Windows 11 Pro.”

Read the full Calgary Sports and Entertainment customer story >

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