Indoor Location Systems / RTLS
Penguin Location Services
Scaling Enterprise RTLS with Full Data Sovereignty
We designed a Kubernetes-based deployment system that enables live software updates while keeping all data within Saudi Arabia as required by local regulations. The solution balances strict data sovereignty requirements with operational flexibility, allowing Penguin to rapidly scale their enterprise customer base.
10+
Enterprise Deployments
3.5M+
Sq Ft Coverage
0
Downtime Deployments
100%
Tenant Isolation
About Penguin Location Services
Penguin Location Services is a Saudi-based technology company specializing in indoor positioning and Real-Time Location Systems (RTLS). Using BLE 5.1 angle-of-arrival technology, their platform provides sub-meter accuracy for tracking people, assets, and equipment within large indoor environments.
Their product suite includes PenNav for indoor navigation, PenTrack for asset tracking, and PenSafe for safety monitoring. These solutions serve healthcare facilities, financial districts, smart campuses, and educational institutions across Saudi Arabia and the region.
King Abdullah Financial District
1.6M sq meter wayfinding
KAMC-Riyadh Medical City
Patient navigation system
STC Smart Campus
40-acre smart environment
KSAU University
17,000 students, 3 campuses
The Challenge
Penguin needed to scale rapidly across enterprise clients while navigating strict regulatory and security requirements:
Saudi Data Residency Requirements
Saudi regulations require that all location data remains within the Kingdom. No customer data—including tracking information from hospitals and financial facilities—can leave Saudi borders.
Live Update Flexibility
Despite data residency constraints, Penguin needed the ability to push software updates, security patches, and new features to all customer sites without manual intervention or service disruption.
Enterprise Security Standards
Healthcare and financial clients operate in strict security environments. The deployment system itself needed to meet the same security standards as the data it was updating.
Rapid Customer Scaling
To grow their business, Penguin needed infrastructure that could onboard new enterprise customers quickly without proportionally increasing operational overhead.
Our Solution
We designed a security-first deployment architecture that keeps all data within Saudi Arabia while enabling seamless live updates across all customer sites.
1. In-Kingdom Control Plane
All management infrastructure runs within Saudi data centers. The control plane orchestrates deployments, collects operational metrics, and manages customer environments—with no data ever leaving the Kingdom.
- Saudi-hosted Kubernetes control plane
- Local container registry for all artifacts
- Full data residency compliance
2. Secure Live Update Pipeline
A lightweight agent on each customer cluster pulls updates from the central control plane. Updates flow one-way—software goes in, but customer data never comes out. This enables live updates while maintaining strict data isolation.
- Outbound-only connections from customer sites
- Cryptographically signed release artifacts
- Zero-downtime rolling deployments
3. Security-First Monitoring
Operational metrics flow to the central platform for health monitoring, but sensitive location data stays on-premise at each customer site. Penguin can monitor system health without accessing customer data.
- Operational metrics only (no business data)
- Per-tenant isolation and RBAC
- Audit logging for compliance
4. Scalable Customer Onboarding
New customer environments can be provisioned and connected to the control plane within hours, not weeks. This automation enables Penguin to scale their customer base without growing their operations team proportionally.
- Automated cluster provisioning
- Self-service agent enrollment
- Fleet-wide release management
Solution Architecture
All Infrastructure Within Saudi Arabia
Control Plane
Saudi Data Center
- Release Management
- Container Registry
- Fleet Dashboard
Software updates only
Customer Sites
On-Premise Clusters
- Location Data (stays local)
- RTLS Application
- Update Agent
How We Worked Together
This wasn't a build-and-handoff engagement. Our team embedded with Penguin's internal infrastructure team for an extended period, working day-to-day on architecture, implementation, and operations.
Embedded Team Model
Our engineers worked alongside Penguin's team as a hybrid unit, sharing knowledge and building capabilities together.
Knowledge Transfer
Before disengaging, we ensured Penguin's team could independently operate, maintain, and extend the infrastructure we built together.
Long-Term Partnership
The engagement evolved over time as Penguin's needs grew, from initial architecture design through production scaling.
The Results
This architecture enabled Penguin to scale their enterprise customer base rapidly—without compromising on security or data sovereignty requirements.
Rapid Scaling
New customers onboarded in hours
100%
Data Residency Compliance
Live Updates
Zero-downtime deployments
10+
Enterprise Deployments
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