How a Chinese FinTech Achieved Leading DevOps Maturity: 2022 Assessment Insights

On July 28, 2022, the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT) announced the latest batch of DevOps standard continuous delivery and system‑tool assessments. Agricultural Bank FinTech Co., Ltd. (Nongyin Jinke) participated with two projects: the Fruit‑Cooperative Smart Service Platform and the Efficiency Management System (EMS), both achieving the excellent level for the pipeline module in the continuous delivery level‑3 assessment.

The assessment was conducted by CAICT, whose Cloud Computing and Big Data Research Institute director He Baohong presented the results.

Interview Highlights

Company Overview

Wang Zhan, General Manager of the Technology Service Department, explained that Nongyin Jinke, founded in 2020, provides IT construction, financial ecosystem, and innovative technology research for the Agricultural Bank group, aiming to build a cloud‑native, data‑driven digital financial ecosystem.

Project Details

The Smart Fruit‑Cooperative Platform (SFIP) was built jointly with the Agricultural Bank’s Rural Revitalization Department to digitize fruit production management, online sales, and financial services for cooperatives. The EMS platform is an end‑to‑end R&D‑operations platform supporting code, demand, CI/CD pipelines, and product version management for over 500 users.

Assessment Impact

Wang noted that passing the DevOps continuous delivery level‑3 and pipeline assessments validates the company’s DevOps capabilities, boosts market competitiveness, and serves as a benchmark for future projects.

Toolchain Importance

Chen Jiong, head of the Efficiency Team, emphasized that an integrated toolchain is essential for DevOps collaboration. Their EMS pipeline enables flexible task orchestration, real‑time tracking, and feedback, reducing communication overhead.

Motivation for Assessment

The company joined the assessment to gain market credibility (similar to CMMI, ISO) and to establish a cloud‑native R&D‑operations framework, using the DevOps standard as a proven industry guideline.

Benefits Realized

After the assessment, the team reported improved product delivery capability, faster release cycles (from 3‑4 days to same‑day releases), reduced rework, better test automation, and enhanced data‑change reliability through Flyway integration.

Challenges Overcome

Early issues included chaotic branch management, insufficient code reviews, unstable test versions, and frequent database script errors. The team introduced a dual‑long‑branch model, strict naming and review standards, unit testing, and Flyway‑based script management to resolve these problems.

Future Plans

They plan to select 1‑2 pilot projects for broader promotion, cultivate DevOps coaches, and continue enhancing the DevOps platform to empower more teams.

The DevOps standard, jointly developed by CAICT, cloud‑computing alliances, and leading internet companies, is the first comprehensive DevOps series standard in China and was recognized as an international standard by ITU‑T in 2020.