diff --git a/.github/workflows/build_and_test_workflow.yml b/.github/workflows/build_and_test_workflow.yml
index 7788a2ed7f42..4473e31a34bf 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build_and_test_workflow.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build_and_test_workflow.yml
@@ -6,12 +6,12 @@ name: Build and test
 # trigger on every commit push and PR for all branches except pushes for backport branches
 on:
   push:
-    branches: [ '**', '!backport/**' ]
+    branches: ['**', '!backport/**']
     paths-ignore:
       - '**/*.md'
       - 'docs/**'
   pull_request:
-    branches: [ '**' ]
+    branches: ['**']
     paths-ignore:
       - '**/*.md'
       - 'docs/**'
@@ -28,81 +28,28 @@ env:
   NODE_OPTIONS: "--max_old_space_size=4096"
 
 jobs:
-  build-lint-test-linux:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Build and Verify on Linux
-    steps:
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-
-      - name: Setup Node
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
-        with:
-          node-version-file: '.nvmrc'
-          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
-
-      - name: Setup Yarn
-        run: |
-          npm uninstall -g yarn
-          npm i -g yarn@1.22.10
-          yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
-
-      - name: Configure Yarn Cache
-        run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
-      - name: Initialize Yarn Cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.YARN_CACHE_LOCATION }}
-          key: yarn-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            yarn-
-
-      - name: Run bootstrap
-        run: yarn osd bootstrap
-
-      - name: Run linter
-        id: linter
-        run: yarn lint
-
-      - name: Validate NOTICE file
-        id: notice-validate
-        run: yarn notice:validate
-
-      - name: Run unit tests with coverage
-        id: unit-tests
-        run: yarn test:jest:ci:coverage
-
-      - name: Run mocha tests with coverage
-        id: mocha-tests
-        run: yarn test:mocha:coverage
-
-      - name: Upload Code Coverage
-        id: upload-code-coverage
-        uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
-        with:
-          directory: ./target/opensearch-dashboards-coverage
-          flags: Linux
-
-      - name: Run integration tests
-        id: integration-tests
-        run: yarn test:jest_integration:ci
-
-  build-lint-test-windows:
-    runs-on: windows-latest
-    name: Build and Verify on Windows
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        shell: powershell
+  build-lint-test:
+    name: Build and Verify on ${{ matrix.name }}
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
+        include:
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            name: Linux
+          - os: windows-latest
+            name: Windows
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
-      - name: Configure git's autocrlf
+      - name: Configure git's autocrlf (Windows only)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           git config --global core.autocrlf false
 
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      - name: Setup JDK
+      - name: Setup JDK (Windows only)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           java-version: '11'
@@ -120,7 +67,12 @@ jobs:
           npm i -g yarn@1.22.10
           yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
 
-      - name: Configure Yarn Cache
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
+        run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
           echo C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin>>"%GITHUB_PATH%"
@@ -133,10 +85,13 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             yarn-
 
-      - name: Run bootstrap
-        run: |
-          yarn osd bootstrap
-          if ($LASTEXITCODE) { yarn osd bootstrap }
+      - name: Run bootstrap (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
+        run: yarn osd bootstrap
+
+      - name: Run bootstrap (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: yarn osd bootstrap || yarn osd bootstrap
 
       - name: Run linter
         id: linter
@@ -159,104 +114,37 @@ jobs:
         uses: codecov/codecov-action@v3
         with:
           directory: ./target/opensearch-dashboards-coverage
-          flags: Windows
+          flags: ${{ matrix.name }}
 
       - name: Run integration tests
         id: integration-tests
         run: yarn test:jest_integration:ci
 
-  functional-tests-linux:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Run functional tests on Linux
-    strategy:
-      matrix:
-        group: [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ]
-    steps:
-      - run: echo Running functional tests for ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
-
-      - name: Checkout code
-        uses: actions/checkout@v3
-
-      - name: Setup Node
-        uses: actions/setup-node@v3
-        with:
-          node-version-file: '.nvmrc'
-          registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
-
-      - name: Setup Yarn
-        run: |
-          npm uninstall -g yarn
-          npm i -g yarn@1.22.10
-          yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
-
-      - name: Configure Yarn Cache
-        run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
-
-      - name: Initialize Yarn Cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v3
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.YARN_CACHE_LOCATION }}
-          key: yarn-${{ hashFiles('**/yarn.lock') }}
-          restore-keys: |
-            yarn-
-
-      # Node 10 is only supported by ChromeDriver 107 and lower
-      - name: Download Chrome
-        id: download-chrome
-        uses: abhi1693/setup-browser@v0.3.5
-        with:
-          browser: chrome
-          # https://omahaproxy.appspot.com/deps.json?version=107.0.5304.150
-          version: 1047731
-
-      - name: Setup Chrome
-        run: |
-          sudo rm -rf /usr/bin/google-chrome
-          sudo ln -s ${{steps.download-chrome.outputs.path}}/${{steps.download-chrome.outputs.binary}} /usr/bin/google-chrome
-
-      - name: Run bootstrap
-        run: yarn osd bootstrap
-
-      - name: Build plugins
-        run: node scripts/build_opensearch_dashboards_platform_plugins --no-examples --workers 10
-
-      - name: Run CI test group ${{ matrix.group }}
-        id: ftr-tests
-        run: node scripts/functional_tests.js --config test/functional/config.js --include ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
-        env:
-          CI_GROUP: ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
-          CI_PARALLEL_PROCESS_NUMBER: ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
-          JOB: ci${{ matrix.group }}
-          CACHE_DIR: ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
-
-      - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
-        if: failure()
-        with:
-          name: failure-artifacts
-          path: |
-            test/*/failure_debug/
-            test/*/screenshots/
-
-  functional-tests-windows:
-    runs-on: windows-latest
-    name: Run functional tests on Windows
+  functional-tests:
+    name: Run functional tests on ${{ matrix.name }} (ciGroup${{ matrix.group }})
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        group: [ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 ]
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        shell: powershell
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, windows-latest]
+        group: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
+        include:
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            name: Linux
+          - os: windows-latest
+            name: Windows
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     steps:
       - run: echo Running functional tests for ciGroup${{ matrix.group }}
 
-      - name: Configure git's autocrlf
+      - name: Configure git's autocrlf (Windows only)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           git config --global core.autocrlf false
 
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
 
-      - name: Setup JDK
+      - name: Setup JDK (Windows only)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         uses: actions/setup-java@v3
         with:
           java-version: '11'
@@ -274,7 +162,12 @@ jobs:
           npm i -g yarn@1.22.10
           yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
 
-      - name: Configure Yarn Cache
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
+        run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
           echo C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin>>"%GITHUB_PATH%"
@@ -302,10 +195,13 @@ jobs:
           Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$Env:Programfiles/Google/Chrome/Application/*"
           Copy-Item -Force -Recurse "${{steps.download-chrome.outputs.path}}/*" "$Env:Programfiles/Google/Chrome/Application"
 
-      - name: Run bootstrap
-        run: |
-          yarn osd bootstrap
-          if ($LASTEXITCODE) { yarn osd bootstrap }
+      - name: Run bootstrap (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
+        run: yarn osd bootstrap
+
+      - name: Run bootstrap (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: yarn osd bootstrap || yarn osd bootstrap
 
       - name: Build plugins
         run: node scripts/build_opensearch_dashboards_platform_plugins --no-examples --workers 10
@@ -327,24 +223,37 @@ jobs:
             test/*/failure_debug/
             test/*/screenshots/
 
-  build-min-artifact-tests-linux:
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    name: Build min release artifacts on Linux
-    defaults:
-      run:
-        working-directory: ./artifacts
+  build-min-artifact-tests:
+    name: Build min release artifacts on ${{ matrix.name }}
     strategy:
       matrix:
         include:
-          - name: Linux x64
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            name: Linux x64
             ext: tar.gz
             suffix: linux-x64
             script: build-platform --linux --skip-os-packages
-          - name: Linux ARM64
+          - os: ubuntu-latest
+            name: Linux ARM64
             ext: tar.gz
             suffix: linux-arm64
             script: build-platform --linux-arm --skip-os-packages
+          - os: windows-latest
+            name: Windows x64
+            ext: zip
+            suffix: windows-x64
+            script: build-platform --windows --skip-os-packages
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
+    defaults:
+      run:
+        working-directory: ./artifacts
     steps:
+      - name: Configure git's autocrlf (Windows only)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: |
+          git config --global core.autocrlf false
+        working-directory: .
+
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
@@ -362,9 +271,16 @@ jobs:
           npm i -g yarn@1.22.10
           yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
 
-      - name: Configure Yarn Cache
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
         run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
+      - name: Configure Yarn Cache (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: |
+          echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+          echo C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin>>"%GITHUB_PATH%"
+
       - name: Initialize Yarn Cache
         uses: actions/cache@v3
         with:
@@ -373,14 +289,26 @@ jobs:
           restore-keys: |
             yarn-
 
-      - name: Get package version
+      - name: Get package version (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           echo "VERSION=$(yarn --silent pkg-version)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-      - name: Get artifact build name
+      - name: Get artifact build name (Linux)
+        if: matrix.os != 'windows-latest'
         run: |
           echo "ARTIFACT_BUILD_NAME=opensearch-dashboards-${{ env.VERSION }}-${{ matrix.suffix }}.${{ matrix.ext }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
+      - name: Get package version (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: |
+          echo "VERSION=$(yarn --silent pkg-version)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Get artifact build name (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        run: |
+          echo "ARTIFACT_BUILD_NAME=opensearch-dashboards-${{ env.VERSION }}-${{ matrix.suffix }}.${{ matrix.ext }}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+
       - name: Run bootstrap
         run: yarn osd bootstrap
 
@@ -394,34 +322,32 @@ jobs:
           path: ./artifacts/target/${{ env.ARTIFACT_BUILD_NAME }}
           retention-days: 1
 
-  build-min-artifact-tests-windows:
-    runs-on: windows-latest
-    name: Build min release artifacts on Windows
+  bwc-tests:
+    needs: [build-min-artifact-tests]
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    container:
+      image: docker://opensearchstaging/ci-runner:ci-runner-rockylinux8-opensearch-dashboards-integtest-v2
+      options: --user 1001
+    name: Run backwards compatibility tests
     defaults:
       run:
-        working-directory: artifacts
+        working-directory: ./artifacts
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        include:
-          - name: Windows x64
-            ext: zip
-            suffix: windows-x64
-            script: build-platform --windows --skip-os-packages
+        version: [osd-2.0.0, osd-2.1.0, osd-2.2.0, osd-2.3.0, osd-2.4.0, osd-2.5.0]
     steps:
-      - name: Configure git's autocrlf
-        run: |
-          git config --global core.autocrlf false
-        working-directory: .
-
       - name: Checkout code
         uses: actions/checkout@v3
         with:
-          path: artifacts
+          path: ./artifacts
+
+      - run: echo Running backwards compatibility tests for version ${{ matrix.version }}
+      - run: echo [NOTE] These tests will be ran using Linux x64 release builds without security
 
       - name: Setup Node
         uses: actions/setup-node@v3
         with:
-          node-version-file: 'artifacts/.nvmrc'
+          node-version-file: './artifacts/.nvmrc'
           registry-url: 'https://registry.npmjs.org'
 
       - name: Setup Yarn
@@ -431,9 +357,7 @@ jobs:
           yarn config set network-timeout 1000000 -g
 
       - name: Configure Yarn Cache
-        run: |
-          echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
-          echo C:\Program Files\Git\usr\bin>>"%GITHUB_PATH%"
+        run: echo "YARN_CACHE_LOCATION=$(yarn cache dir)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
       - name: Initialize Yarn Cache
         uses: actions/cache@v3
@@ -445,21 +369,45 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Get package version
         run: |
-          echo "VERSION=$(yarn --silent pkg-version)" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "VERSION=$(yarn --silent pkg-version)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-      - name: Get artifact build name
+      - name: Set OpenSearch URL
         run: |
-          echo "ARTIFACT_BUILD_NAME=opensearch-dashboards-${{ env.VERSION }}-${{ matrix.suffix }}.${{ matrix.ext }}" >> $env:GITHUB_ENV
+          echo "OPENSEARCH_URL=https://ci.opensearch.org/ci/dbc/distribution-build-opensearch/${{ env.VERSION }}/latest/linux/x64/tar/dist/opensearch/opensearch-${{ env.VERSION }}-linux-x64.tar.gz" >> $GITHUB_ENV
 
-      - name: Run bootstrap
-        run: yarn osd bootstrap
+      - name: Verify if OpenSearch is available for version
+        id: verify-opensearch-exists
+        run: |
+          if curl -I -L ${{ env.OPENSEARCH_URL }}; then
+            echo "::set-output name=version-exists::true"
+          fi
 
-      - name: Build `${{ matrix.name }}`
-        run: yarn ${{ matrix.script }} --release
+      - name: Skipping tests
+        if: steps.verify-opensearch-exists.outputs.version-exists != 'true'
+        run: echo Tests were skipped because an OpenSearch release build does not exist for this version yet!
+
+      - name: Setting environment variable to run tests for ${{ matrix.version }}
+        if: steps.verify-opensearch-exists.outputs.version-exists == 'true'
+        run: echo "BWC_VERSIONS=${{ matrix.version }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+      - name: Download OpenSearch Dashboards
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        id: download
+        with:
+          name: linux-x64-${{ env.VERSION }}
+          path: ./artifacts/
+        if: steps.verify-opensearch-exists.outputs.version-exists == 'true'
+
+      - name: Run tests
+        if: steps.verify-opensearch-exists.outputs.version-exists == 'true'
+        run: |
+          ./bwctest.sh -s false -o ${{ env.OPENSEARCH_URL }} -d ${{ steps.download.outputs.download-path }}/opensearch-dashboards-${{ env.VERSION }}-linux-x64.tar.gz
 
       - uses: actions/upload-artifact@v3
-        if: success()
+        if: ${{ failure() && steps.verify-opensearch-exists.outputs.version-exists == 'true' }}
         with:
-          name: ${{ matrix.suffix }}-${{ env.VERSION }}
-          path: artifacts/target/${{ env.ARTIFACT_BUILD_NAME }}
+          name: ${{ matrix.version }}-test-failures
+          path: |
+            ./artifacts/bwc_tmp/test/cypress/videos/without-security/*
+            ./artifacts/bwc_tmp/test/cypress/screenshots/without-security/*
           retention-days: 1
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 238bd3fc5909..3ce12271be6e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ Inspired from [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/)
 - Add verification workflow for release builds ([#1502](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/1502))
 - Record functional test artifacts in case of failure ([#3190](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/3190))
 - Improve yarn's performance in workflows by caching yarn's cache folder ([#3194](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/3194))
+- [CI] Reduce redundancy by using matrix strategy on Windows and Linux workflows ([#3514](https://github.com/opensearch-project/OpenSearch-Dashboards/pull/3514))
 
 ### 📝 Documentation