How Xinwang Bank Overcame DevOps Hurdles to Pass a Level‑3 Continuous Delivery Assessment

Time quietly passed, and by the end of 2021 Xinwang Bank had earned numerous honors and set out to share the story behind its successful DevOps assessment.

As a next‑generation digital‑native bank, Xinwang Bank places “technology‑driven” at its core. On 24 December 2021, its distributed consumer‑credit core system passed the third‑level continuous‑delivery assessment of the “DevOps Capability Maturity Model” hosted by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, marking a new milestone in its software‑development efficiency.

Challenges and Team Effort

Difficulty 1: The project was launched at the end of March 2021 and had less than six months to deliver. Over 80 improvement tasks were identified, covering tool‑platform migrations, process refinements, and extensive code‑base changes. One source‑code tool migration alone consumed a month, and the migration day required the team to work until after 4 a.m.

Difficulty 2: Personnel changes added pressure. When the credit‑core team lead had to leave, his replacement had to quickly assume responsibility for daily management and project optimisation.

Intense Collaboration and Containerisation

The ten‑plus‑person team spanned efficiency, development, testing, operations, and security. Debates over implementation plans were heated, but the group ultimately converged on a unified solution. Containerisation, originally part of another project, was tightly integrated with the DevOps workflow, requiring joint effort with the operations centre.

By running parallel testing across both projects, the team achieved stable continuous operation and successfully merged containerisation technology, delivering a “one‑stroke‑two‑birds” outcome.

Final Push and Success

The team aimed for 100% continuous‑delivery success with a maximum 30‑minute recovery window. Simulated assessments revealed gaps such as insufficient automated test cases and environment inconsistencies, prompting intensive re‑checks. Despite personal hardships—including a team member’s child undergoing surgery—the group maintained relentless focus.

When the final two‑day evaluation took place in late November, the system performed flawlessly, achieving high‑quality, continuous, rapid delivery. In mid‑December, Xinwang Bank received notification that its distributed consumer‑credit core system had passed the initial Level‑3 DevOps continuous‑delivery assessment, prompting jubilant celebrations.