How Zhongyuan Bank Accelerated Digital Transformation with DevOps: A Case Study

On January 6, 2023, the "2022 GOLF+ IT New Governance Leadership Forum" organized by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology and the China Communications Standards Association was held in Beijing, where Zhongyuan Bank Co., Ltd. was honored as the "Annual Pioneer Enterprise".

Company Overview

Zhongyuan Bank is the only provincial state-owned commercial bank in Henan with a branch network covering the entire province. After the successful restructuring and rebranding on May 27, 2022, the bank's total assets exceeded 1.2 trillion CNY, ranking eighth among national city commercial banks, with over 750 outlets, the most nationwide. It has earned titles such as "Top Ten City Commercial Banks of the Year" and "Outstanding City Commercial Bank", continuously enhancing its social reputation and brand influence.

DevOps Achievements

Aligning with its digital transformation strategy, Zhongyuan Bank built a dual‑mode, multi‑speed R&D and operations management system, developing an enterprise‑grade one‑stop DevOps collaboration platform that integrates toolchains, automates security controls, and implements full‑lifecycle security management. The platform now supports more than 170 R&D teams and thousands of developers, shortening product iteration cycles from an average of two months to two weeks, improving delivery quality by about 38%, and reducing security vulnerability rates by over 30%.

Digital Transformation Practices

Establish a full‑cycle delivery management system that balances "agile" and "stable" modes, strengthening fine‑grained management capabilities.

Scale DevOps technical practices such as configuration management, code scanning, quality gates, continuous integration, continuous deployment, and automated operations.

Build a full‑cycle secure development system to ensure smooth, safe, high‑quality delivery.

Create a performance insight framework covering business value, delivery efficiency, and personnel capability, using data‑driven decision‑making.

Develop an enterprise‑grade one‑stop R&D‑operations collaboration platform to boost team collaboration and continuous delivery.

Social Benefits and Honors

During the COVID‑19 pandemic, the bank formed an agile "One Area One Code" team that delivered a product in less than three days, achieving over 2 million registered users within 20 days and providing pandemic‑control technical support to nearly 100 000 entities across Henan. It also launched the "JuShang Quick Loan" product for micro‑enterprises in three days, reaching nearly 20 000 users and disbursing about 600 million CNY in credit within a month, addressing financing needs in the crisis.

The bank’s DevOps platform has earned multiple honors, including the 2020 GOLF Gold Medal Operations Forum IT Governance Excellent Case, several evaluations by the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology (e.g., excellence in integrated R&D‑operations maturity models, DevSecOps assessments, and industry‑promotion level tool evaluations), and selection as a "Digital Transformation Typical Case" at the Beijing International Trade Fair.