German Banking Leader Shifts Left and Slashes Critical Vulnerabilities by 99%
Finance
Enterprise
When one of Europe’s most prominent banks embarked on an ambitious digital transformation, it reimagined its entire approach to software development and security. By implementing an in-house CI/CD program, the bank automated its development pipeline, enhanced security protocols, and empowered its distributed teams to deliver software faster and more securely than ever before.
Overcoming Bottlenecks in Deployment, Security, and Operational Stability
In recent years, the bank underwent a fundamental organizational shift from classic centralized IT operations to a decentralized cluster model. This move was, in part, motivated by a need to respond to increased global cybersecurity threats and operational stability challenges for more than 500 BizDevOps teams.
THE PROBLEM:
Operational Inefficiencies
Unreliable OSS Governance
Regulatory and Compliance Burden
Increased Security Risks and Threats
Manual deployment processes created bottlenecks that slowed software delivery and limited scalability across their expanding development teams. The API Banking division exemplified these struggles, with a small team managing numerous APIs daily from various software teams, leading to delivery delays and operational constraints. Compliance requirements in the heavily regulated banking sector demanded rigorous oversight of every software component, yet manual processes made comprehensive security scanning and vulnerability management increasingly difficult to scale.
Building a Standardized, Compliant CI/CD Framework
The CI/CD program became the standardized deployment method across all development teams, ensuring consistent security protocols while enabling rapid, reliable software delivery. The solution incorporated multiple integrated components working in harmony. The bank’s customized library, built on Sonatype Lifecycle, provided comprehensive open source governance and vulnerability management. Sonatype Nexus Repository and Sonatype Repository Firewall handled artifact management and malicious package blocking, while the DASY archiving system ensured compliance with regulatory requirements.
Central to the platform's effectiveness was its shift-left security approach, integrating Nexus Lifecycle evaluation directly within pull requests. Sonatype Firewall shifts this even further left, preventing unapproved and malicious components from entering the environment at all. This early-stage integration meant security and compliance checks occurred automatically during code development, preventing vulnerabilities from advancing through the pipeline. The Compliance as Code framework automated regulatory adherence, ensuring that all deployments met banking industry standards without requiring manual intervention.
“By increasing early-stage source control scans by over 175%, our development team is now equipped to find and fix issues faster, which directly increases their productivity and reduces friction.”
Head of CI/CD Program
Leading Financial Institution
Results You Can Bank On
Driving Scale, Security, and Agility Across the Enterprise
The transformation delivered measurable improvements across all key performance indicators. The bank now processes approximately 7,500 production deployments per year, representing a dramatic increase in deployment frequency and reliability. API deployment times decreased to just 15-20 minutes for well-designed APIs, enabling teams to iterate rapidly and respond quickly to business requirements.
Security metrics showed equally impressive gains. Source control repository scans grew from 16,027 to 44,577 per month, while monthly application scans increased from 2,232 to 3,165, demonstrating comprehensive coverage across the expanding development ecosystem. Most significantly, the bank achieved a 99% reduction in open critical vulnerabilities, substantially lowering its cyber risk exposure.
“Sonatype’s deep integration with our source control gives developers early risk indicators, embedding security into daily work long before code reaches release in the CI/CD pipeline.”
Head of CI/CD Program
Leading Financial Institution
The platform's adoption accelerated throughout the organization, with 2,697 new applications onboarded last year alone. This rapid adoption reflected high user satisfaction and demonstrated the platform's ability to scale effectively across diverse development teams and use cases.
Beyond quantitative metrics, the solution fostered cultural transformation within the organization. Development teams gained autonomy to release software on demand while maintaining security and compliance standards. The CCB Securities Frontend team, previously constrained to quarterly releases, now deploys new features and fixes as needed. Similarly, the Big Data & Advanced Analytics team can develop and deploy new software products on demand, enabling rapid innovation and market responsiveness.
Leading the Way with Secure Digital Transformation in Financial Services
The successful implementation of the CI/CD program demonstrates how financial institutions can embrace digital transformation without compromising security or compliance requirements. This transformation positioned the bank to compete more effectively in the digital banking landscape while maintaining the strict regulatory compliance and security standards required in the financial services industry.
Ready to transform your software development lifecycle? Book a demo to discover how Sonatype can help your organization achieve similar results, or explore our Financial Services solutions to learn more about securing your software supply chain at scale.
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