Containerization of Cloud Applications
Project Title: Containerization of Cloud Applications
Client: Global leader in corporate banking
Industry: Banking, Finance & Insurance
Expertise: Cloud & Infrastruture
Scope of the project: Infrastructure Design, Cloud Migration
Tools: Kubernetes, C, Python, Bash
Containerization of Cloud Applications refers to packaging applications and their dependencies into isolated, portable containers that can run consistently across different cloud environments. This approach enhances scalability, flexibility, and resource efficiency by allowing applications to be deployed, managed, and updated more efficiently. Containerization enables rapid deployment, streamlined updates, and improved security, making it a popular solution for cloud-native and cloud-migrated applications.
In response to the growing demands for real-time data processing and financial security, the ALTEN Polska team undertook a project to migrate the client’s key banking application to the Google Cloud Platform (GCP). Initially, the objective was to simply transfer the system to the cloud environment, but as the project progressed, the scope was expanded to include containerization and infrastructure optimization to enhance the application’s scalability and operational efficiency.
Project Execution
The first phase of the project—cloud migration—was completed before ALTEN Polska’s team joined. A “Lift and Shift” approach was used, transferring resources to the cloud platform without fully utilizing its capabilities. Upon the involvement of ALTEN developers, this approach evolved towards containerization.
The team focused on the Middleware application, responsible for analyzing client networks and detecting potential fraud. Using a customized Kubernetes setup, the team began containerizing the application, moving towards advanced automation. Currently, 70% of the application has been containerized in the development environment, with ongoing work on further automation and the implementation of Canary Deployment, which enables incremental testing of updates.
Final Outcome
The project’s completion includes a stable, automated infrastructure that enables rapid deployment of new features or patches. Containerization allows the ALTEN Polska team to significantly reduce the time required to release a new version of the application, eliminating the need for lengthy release processes. With the Canary Deployment model, changes can be implemented and tested in production without affecting the stability of the entire system.
Conclusion
The GCP migration and containerization project contributes to increased flexibility, scalability, and speed of the banking system’s performance. By implementing modern automation methods, the client has gained greater operational efficiency and a higher level of system responsiveness.
