Optimizing Compliance and Performance for a Global FinTech on AWS
How Bespin Global built a scalable and secure multi-region architecture.
Optimizing Compliance and Performance for a Global FinTech on AWS
REGION
United Arab Emirates
COMPANY TYPE
Technology
INDUSTRY
FinTech
CLOUD SOLUTION
The implementation of this comprehensive AWS Solution delivered substantial wide-reaching benefits for the customer ... despite the complexity of the multi-account, multi-region set-up, centralized management via AWS Organizations reduced operational overhead by 30%
THE CUSTOMER
The customer is a global fintech company operating in the financial services industry. The company offers a range of services including cross-border payments, foreign exchange, micro-lending, and digital wallet solutions, all designed to facilitate financial transactions. They primarily serve customers in the e-commerce industry, with a particular focus on those in the GCC, India, and Africa.
THE CHALLENGE
The customer began modernizing their applications by containerizing them but encountered several challenges when it came to deploying these applications to AWS.
First, strict data sovereignty regulations mandated that customer data be stored and processed within specific geographical boundaries, requiring separate deployments for India-based customers in the Mumbai region and UAE-based customers in the UAE region. Additionally, they needed multiple distinct environments—development, testing, and production—each requiring its own set of resources and configurations to support different stages of the application lifecycle.
Ensuring strong isolation between these environments was critical to prevent issues happening in one environment from impacting others, maintain security, control access, and enable independent scaling and management.
The application architecture was also complex, consisting of containerized microservices, relational databases, caching layers, and content delivery systems, all of which needed to be well-integrated to ensure high performance, scalability, and reliability.
Furthermore, with a growing user base spread across India and UAE, the application had to scale efficiently and provide low-latency access to users in both regions.
Compliance with strict regulatory requirements, alongside robust security measures, was essential given the sensitive nature of the data being handled.
Finally, despite this multi-region, multi-environment setup, the customer needed a solution that could be managed efficiently without excessive operational overhead.
THE SOLUTION
Architecture Diagram
Bespin designed a comprehensive solution tailored to meet the customer’s complex requirements, leveraging AWS’s advanced services and best practices.
Building a Robust Multi-Account Architecture
“To address the customer’s unique and complex requirements, we adopted a multi-account strategy,” explains Dania Alrefai, Senior DevOps Engineer at Bespin Global. This approach created dedicated AWS accounts for development, testing (UAE and Mumbai), and production (UAE and Mumbai), ensuring strong environment isolation and compliance with standards.
“Meeting data sovereignty requirements was critical,” Dania highlights. “For UAE-based customers, resources were deployed in the UAE region, while India-based customers were served from the Mumbai region. This ensured compliance with local regulations while maintaining operational efficiency.”
Optimizing Application Deployment and Data Management
The application itself was containerized and deployed on Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), providing the scalability and ease of management crucial for a growing, complex application.
Amazon EKS clusters were implemented with managed node groups and Cluster Autoscaler for dynamic scaling, while Amazon Elastic Container Registry (ECR) served as a central, secure repository for Docker images across all environments.
“For data management, we implemented Amazon RDS instances with Multi-AZ configurations and read replicas,” Dania notes, “providing high availability and optimized performance. We also deployed Amazon ElastiCache for Redis in cluster mode to ensure faster data access.”
Content delivery and storage needs were met through a combination of Amazon S3 and CloudFront. Amazon S3 buckets, configured with versioning and lifecycle policies, efficiently stored static content, while CloudFront, integrated with Amazon S3 origins and utilizing geo-restriction features, ensured the content was served from the appropriate region. This setup was secured using Origin Access Identity (OAI) to prevent direct public access to Amazon S3 buckets.
To manage incoming traffic, Application Load Balancers (ALB) were deployed to distribute it across multiple targets in the EKS cluster.
Strengthening Security and Monitoring
“Security was a top priority throughout the design,” emphasizes Dania. Robust VPC architectures, including public and private subnets, network ACLs, and security groups, were deployed to protect critical resources. “To guard against common web exploits, we integrated AWS WAF with Application Load Balancers and CloudFront distributions,” she adds.
Comprehensive monitoring solutions, such as Amazon CloudWatch, CloudWatch Logs, and AWS CloudTrail, provided deep visibility into performance and user activity. Dania concludes, “This ensured the customer could maintain compliance and proactively address any operational issues.”
THE EXECUTION
“The execution began with a detailed discovery phase, analyzing the existing architecture and defining a robust implementation plan”, says Dania. AWS accounts were created within AWS Organizations, and VPCs and networking components were configured in each account and region. Using Infrastructure as Code (IaC), core resources such as Amazon EKS clusters, RDS instances, and ElastiCache clusters were provisioned alongside Amazon S3 buckets and CloudFront distributions.
Application Migration and Security Implementation
The application was containerized for Kubernetes deployment, and ECR repositories were established to streamline container image management. A CI/CD pipeline using AWS CodePipeline was integrated with the customer’s source control system to ensure consistent and reliable deployments. Security configurations included IAM roles, encryption, and monitoring tools such as AWS Config and Security Hub to safeguard the environment.
Testing, Optimization, and Handover
The final stages involved extensive testing of the infrastructure and application stack, followed by performance optimization based on test outcomes. Comprehensive monitoring and logging were configured to ensure visibility and operational efficiency. The project concluded with detailed documentation and training sessions for the customer’s IT team, empowering them to manage the new AWS environment effectively. This phased approach ensured a smooth migration with minimal disruption and maximum benefit realization.
RESULTS & BENEFITS
“The implementation of this comprehensive AWS solution delivered substantial, wide-reaching benefits for the customer”, states Dania. Key among these was achieving full compliance with data residency regulations for customers based in both the UAE and India. This was further strengthened by advanced access controls and audit logging, ensuring regulatory requirements were met. The multi-account strategy also bolstered security by minimizing the impact of potential incidents and adding multiple layers of defense.
Performance improvements were equally notable. The EKS-based architecture showcased exceptional scalability, effortlessly managing three times the previous peak load. “Amazon CloudFront integration led to a 40% reduction in latency, significantly enhancing content delivery speeds for end-users”, notes Dania.
“Operational efficiency saw remarkable gains as well”, says Dania. “Despite the complexity of the multi-account, multi-region setup, centralized management via AWS Organizations reduced operational overhead by 30%”, adds Dania. Automation and CI/CD pipelines sped up deployments, cutting deployment times from days to mere hours.
Cost optimization was a major benefit, with auto-scaling and right-sizing initiatives reducing overall infrastructure costs by 25%. The implementation of separate dev and test environments, combined with a streamlined CI/CD pipeline, accelerated feature deployment time by 50%, fostering stronger collaboration between development and operations teams. High availability was maintained across all production environments, achieving 99.99% uptime.
The implementation of Amazon ElastiCache for Redis was highly effective, decreasing database load by 60% and improving application response times by 35%. CloudFront optimizations boosted global application performance by 25%. Looking forward, the cloud-native, containerized architecture offers flexibility for adopting new technologies and expanding into new regions as necessary.
Finally, the centralized logging and monitoring infrastructure greatly improved incident response capabilities, reducing both detection and resolution times for potential issues. In summary, this solution not only met the customer’s immediate needs but also positioned them for sustained growth, innovation, and operational excellence in a rapidly evolving digital landscape.
About Bespin Global, an e& enterprise company:
Bespin Global established a joint venture with & enterprise, making it the largest public cloud managed and professional service provider in the Middle East. We serve as your strategic ally in the digital landscape, adeptly navigating complexities and unlocking opportunities with precision and foresight.
Our services encompass cloud migration, integration, and management, empowering businesses to scale efficiently and adapt dynamically in an ever-evolving market.
Bespin delivers the tools, expertise, and support needed to ensure a sustained future.
Bespin is committed to elevating the clients’ technological capabilities, emphasizing continuous improvement and proactive engagement. Our holistic, customer-centric approach ensures that every solution not only meets but exceeds expectations.
Bespin forges lasting partnerships and creates enduring value. It is the go-to partner for expert cloud integration and strategic guidance.
Address: The Offices 4, #138-139, One Central, Dubai World Trade Center (DWTC)
Telephone: 800 BESPIN (237746)
P.O. Box: 340729
