Global Messaging Provider Cuts Software Release Cycle by 5 Days by Building a Culture of Collaboration
Finance
3,000 Employees
A global finance infrastructure organization relied on manual release processes that delayed deployments and fragmented security reporting across teams. The organization needed a way to accelerate software delivery without compromising the rigorous security standards required for global financial operations. Its technology teams support a diverse application portfolio including Java, C++, Python, and containerized deployments, all of which demand seamless integration and strong security controls.
The organization's commitment to maintaining 24/7 availability for global financial markets demands both rapid innovation and uncompromising security practices. This dual imperative creates unique challenges for their development teams, who must balance aggressive delivery timelines with the heightened security requirements inherent to financial services infrastructure.
Operational, Security, and Dependency Challenges Hindering Software Delivery
The organization’s development teams faced significant operational bottlenecks that threatened their ability to deliver critical updates efficiently. Manual software promotion processes were time-consuming, taking 3-5 additional days for each release while exposing its critical financial messaging infrastructure to security vulnerabilities. Developers had to prepare physical media or perform direct software transfers to deployment hosts, an antiquated approach that caused unnecessary delays and introduced potential points of failure into their release pipeline.
The Problem
Security governance presented equally challenging obstacles. The AppSec team spent considerable time manually collecting vulnerability reports from individual development teams, creating a fragmented view of organizational risk. This siloed approach prevented real-time visibility into their security posture and delayed remediation efforts across their diverse application landscape.
Dependency management added another layer of complexity. Development teams relied heavily on public repositories, creating consistency issues and network latencies that further slowed build processes. The lack of centralized artifact management meant teams couldn't guarantee the availability of critical software components when needed most.
Streamlining Software Delivery and Security with a Unified Source of Truth
Through the strategic implementation of Sonatype Nexus Repository, Sonatype Repository Firewall, and Sonatype Lifecycle, they achieved immediate deployment capabilities while establishing unified vulnerability management across their development ecosystem. The company now had a single source of truth for artifacts and integrated Nexus Lifecycle for automated vulnerability management across its entire CI/CD pipeline. This made it possible to eliminate 3-5 days from each software release cycle while establishing centralized security governance that protects the global financial messaging network relied upon by institutions worldwide.
“Moving to Nexus Lifecycle transformed how we collaborate. What once required manual, fragmented security reporting is now centralized and automated — giving every team real-time insights and dramatically reducing the burden of governance”
The organization established Nexus Repository as the central hub for all application formats, successfully migrating C++ applications from their previous solution while maintaining support for Java, Python, and containerized workloads. Local caching of third-party dependencies through repository proxies eliminated external dependencies and significantly reduced build times.
Nexus Lifecycle became the cornerstone of a unified vulnerability management strategy. The platform integrated seamlessly with their ServiceNow CMDB system, creating automated dashboards that eliminated manual reporting requirements. Cross-functional collaboration between AppSec and CI/CD teams resulted in clearly defined policies and streamlined vulnerability tracking across all applications.
Sonatype Repository Firewall provided an additional security layer, ensuring only approved components entered build environments while blocking potential malware. This proactive approach protected critical infrastructure from supply chain attacks that could compromise global financial operations.
Faster Time-to-Market and Stronger Security
The organization achieved dramatic improvements across both operational efficiency and security governance through its Sonatype implementation. The automated software promotion process eliminated the previous delay, enabling immediate deployment capabilities that accelerate time-to-market for critical updates. Build times decreased significantly through local dependency caching, reducing network latencies and operational costs while improving developer productivity.
“We are able to efficiently track vulnerabilities across different applications with Sonatype Lifecycle. The automated dashboard provided by Sonatype Lifecycle allows for the efficient tracking of vulnerabilities across different applications, eliminating the need for manual reporting and approvals from individual teams.”
Security visibility transformed from fragmented manual processes to centralized automated governance. The unified dashboard eliminated individual team reporting requirements while providing real-time insights into organizational security posture. Vulnerability tracking became streamlined and transparent, enabling faster remediation cycles across their entire application portfolio.
The malware protection capabilities have proven particularly valuable, blocking malicious components before they can enter the build environment. Recent implementations of advanced threat detection have helped identify previously downloaded malicious components, further strengthening their security posture.
By establishing centralized artifact management and automated vulnerability governance, the organization has positioned itself to continue innovating safely while maintaining the operational excellence required for global financial infrastructure.
Discover how Sonatype's platform can accelerate your software delivery while strengthening security governance by scheduling a demo today.
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