illuxi, a Canada-based learning management system (LMS) and
learning experience platform (LXP), worked with AWS Partner
Unicorne to modernize its infrastructure and keep pace with
growing demand. As its user base expanded, illuxi needed a more
cost-efficient, scalable solution that could also meet compliance
requirements. Unicorne re-architected illuxi’s Amazon Web Services
(AWS) environments, improving performance, automating security
oversight, and streamlining operations. The changes helped illuxi
cut infrastructure costs by 30 percent, scale seamlessly, and give
engineers more time to focus on product development. With a
stronger foundation in place, illuxi can confidently support more
learners and expand its platform.

Making the Grade in Scalability
and Performance

illuxi offers dynamic, bilingual e-learning experiences through its
advanced LMS and LXP, equipping government agencies and
public institutions with the tools needed to train and upskill their
workforces. With a growing content library and expertise in digital
learning, the company supports more than 200,000 learners each
month. As demand surged, new contracts brought thousands of
additional users, including the Montreal School Board, which
required onboarding 23,000 employees. While its platform
expanded, so did the challenges of scalability, performance, and
security. illuxi needed infrastructure that could handle rapid
growth, support high-demand environments, and meet stringent
compliance requirements.

The urgency of these challenges was felt most when a popular
Canadian morning show featured illuxi’s platform, driving a surge in
traffic that exposed the platform’s technical limitations. illuxi’s
system crashed under the load, highlighting scalability gaps and
performance bottlenecks. As public-sector clients onboarded
thousands of users at once, the need for a more resilient, adaptable
infrastructure became clear. illuxi required a cloud foundation that
could scale to demand while maintaining uninterrupted service.
“Every new customer brings thousands of learners. We needed
confidence that our platform could grow with them—without
limits,” explained Philippe Richard Bertrand, CEO at illuxi.
Beyond infrastructure strain, security and operational challenges
added complexity. illuxi’s customers—many of them public
institutions—required strict data protection and compliance
measures like meeting SOC 2 requirements, but the platform
lacked automated security monitoring and threat detection.
Meeting SOC 2 compliance required proactive security controls,
real-time threat alerts, and structured access management—areas
that illuxi’s existing infrastructure couldn’t support efficiently.
Meanwhile, maintaining the system pulled engineers away from
innovating. “We’re not an infrastructure company. Every hour spent
fixing systems was time lost on building a better product,” said
Marc-André Lanciault, chief of product at illuxi.

From Cold Calls to Cloud Confidence

That’s when Unicorne called. Known for helping software-driven
businesses untangle complex infrastructure challenges, the AWS
Partner stood out from the start. “I usually hang up on cold calls,”
Lanciault said. “This time, I didn’t—probably because Unicorne
didn’t sound like salespeople.” Rather than leading with a pitch,
Unicorne introduced a structured plan to assess illuxi’s
infrastructure, leading to an AWS Well-Architected Review. The
evaluation surfaced 12 key recommendations, each prioritized
based on effort and impact. These ranged from optimizing
database queries and refining access controls to configuring
automated scaling policies and improving cost efficiency.
“Unicorne’s review didn’t just identify problems—it mapped out
exactly where to start and what to prioritize,” Lanciault said.

For its database infrastructure, Unicorne adopted AWS services that
optimized performance and ensured scalability to keep up with
growing user activity. Unicorne migrated illuxi to Amazon
Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) for Amazon Aurora for
MySQL with AWS Graviton instances, reconfiguring database
parameters and resizing workloads to align with Graviton’s
architecture. As part of the migration, Unicorne refined query
execution for efficiency and adjusted read replicas to distribute
traffic more effectively.

To manage fluctuating traffic demands, Unicorne configured Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon
ECS) with AWS Fargate to dynamically scale illuxi’s workloads, setting minimum and maximum scaling
thresholds based on CPU and memory utilization. This setup allowed Amazon ECS to provision and
deallocate resources automatically, preventing over-provisioning while maintaining availability. The
transition involved restructuring Amazon ECS task definitions and integrating Amazon CloudWatch, giving
illuxi’s team real-time visibility into containerized workloads.
Security and compliance were also central to the project, particularly meeting SOC 2 requirements.
Unicorne deployed AWS Web Application Firewall (AWS WAF) and Amazon GuardDuty, configuring custom
rule sets to monitor for abnormal traffic patterns and potential threats. To align with compliance
requirements, Unicorne integrated Amazon GuardDuty alerts with Jira Service Management, allowing
security incidents to be logged and triaged within illuxi’s existing workflows. Unicorne automated illuxi’s
infrastructure deployment using Terraform-based Infrastructure as Code (IaC), making configurations
version controlled and repeatable across environments. Throughout the engagement, Unicorne
maintained direct communication with illuxi’s engineering team, providing real-time support in a
dedicated Slack channel for troubleshooting and architectural refinements.

From Infrastructure Management to Innovation: illuxi Engineers Get
30% Time Back

By migrating to Amazon Aurora for MySQL on Graviton, illuxi reduced database costs by 30 percent while improving performance and scalability. With Amazon ECS and AWS Fargate, workloads scale automatically to meet demand, supporting a 10 percent month-over-month increase in active learners. “Scaling used to be something we had to plan for—now it just happens, and we can focus on expanding our reach,” said Bertrand. Additionally, Unicorne implemented AWS Savings Plans, cutting compute expenses by 20–30 percent.

Security and compliance also improved. As part of illuxi’s pursuit of SOC 2 compliance, Unicorne configured Amazon GuardDuty to provide continuous security monitoring, surfacing real-time alerts in Jira. This automated approach streamlined security oversight and reinforced compliance efforts. AWS WAF and Amazon GuardDuty also eliminated manual threat monitoring, and since implementation, illuxi has experienced zero unplanned downtime. “Deployments are smoother, and our team has more time to focus on what matters—building better learning experiences,” said Lanciault. With IaC, engineers redirected 30 percent of their time from troubleshooting infrastructure to advancing product development. Instead of resolving infrastructure issues internally, they now rely on Unicorne for quick resolutions, allowing them to stay focused on innovation.

With a more scalable, secure, and cost-efficient foundation, illuxi is well-positioned to support its growing learner base while continuing to enhance its platform. As demand rises, its infrastructure is no longer a constraint—it’s a competitive advantage.