China Life (Overseas) Boosts DevOps Maturity: OnePartner Platform Success

Large enterprises have demonstrated that standardisation and tooling are key to success. The DevOps standards and a standards‑based continuous‑delivery pipeline platform can markedly improve quality, efficiency and safety, thereby enhancing market competitiveness.

On 29 June 2023, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) announced the latest batch of DevOps standard assessment results.

China Life Insurance (Overseas) participated with its OnePartner project and passed CAICT’s "R&D Operations Integration (DevOps) Capability Maturity Model" Continuous Delivery Level 2 assessment, indicating that its DevOps capability reaches an advanced domestic level.

The assessment was conducted by CAICT. At the 2023 DOIS DevOps International Summit & BizDevOps Enterprise Summit in Beijing, Yang Lingling, Director of the Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute, Audit and Governance Department, presented the award.

In a Q&A session, the DevOps team shared the project background, motivations, outcomes, challenges and future plans.

Q: Please introduce your company and the project you evaluated.

A: China Life Insurance (Overseas) is the sole overseas wholly‑owned subsidiary of China Life, the largest state‑owned financial‑insurance group in China. The OnePartner project is a self‑developed, multi‑channel insurance marketing platform launched in 2019, integrating open‑source technologies to provide agents, banks and intermediaries with a one‑stop, multi‑terminal service. It enables full‑process channel management, commission automation, electronic underwriting, and online service, greatly improving customer experience and corporate efficiency.

Q: How does passing the DevOps standard assessment feel?

A: We are delighted that the assessment validates our digital‑transformation efforts, improves efficiency and quality, and positively impacts both the company and the team. The OnePartner project is a key driver of our transformation, and the recognition boosts our confidence and motivation.

Q: Why did you decide to join the DevOps standard assessment?

A: We recognised that competitive advantage in the digital era requires higher software development and delivery efficiency and quality. By benchmarking against the standard, we aim to redesign our organisation, enhance digital capabilities, and support rapid, high‑quality delivery for our overseas‑focused, complex business.

Q: What benefits has the assessment brought to your enterprise and team?

A: At the enterprise level, our R&D capabilities have improved, reducing redundant effort and increasing efficiency and quality. Specific gains include: establishing and applying standardised processes; unified code and artifact management with automated security scanning; visualised value streams; and an end‑to‑end integrated platform that drives digital R&D.

At the team level, DevOps capabilities across domains have matured, fostering strong collaboration and cohesion.

Q: Which metrics demonstrate the project’s improvement?

A: The implementation of the DevOps standards and platform has significantly boosted R&D efficiency. Detailed results are shown in the following charts.

Q: What are the technical characteristics of the OnePartner system?

A: OnePartner adopts a high‑cohesion, low‑coupling micro‑service architecture with front‑back separation. It supports multi‑channel business, multilingual features, and multi‑region deployment, emphasizing usability, extensibility, and a superior user experience.

Q: Was the assessment process smooth? What challenges did you face?

A: The process was challenging but ultimately successful. We identified maturity gaps across 49 capability items, addressed them through coordinated effort, and achieved improvements in a few months. Key challenges included aligning understanding of improvement goals, coordinating across development, testing, tooling and operations, revamping the R&D efficiency platform, and building a comprehensive measurement system.

Q: What is the biggest takeaway from this year’s DevOps implementation, and what are your next steps?

A: We see DevOps as embodying a craftsman spirit, providing new thinking, automation tools, and value delivery to customers. Our next steps are to codify DevOps engineering practices into organisational rules, refine our R&D management system, and propagate the OnePartner successes to other projects.

Q: How do you view the future of DevOps?

A: We believe standardised DevOps implementation will become a necessary trend for IT practice, helping enterprises improve efficiency, quality, and innovation speed to adapt to market changes.

For further information about the DevOps standard assessment, contact CAICT or the listed consultants.