In the digital banking sector, fast releases of new features and security patches have become the norm. Unfortunately, many institutions lack the organization or the processes necessary to make the speed of necessary releases coincide with the need to follow strict regulatory guidelines. A failure to accurately test and ensure compliance can lead to critical errors. Slow processes to confirm these aspects often lead to delayed release dates. By implementing a unified DevSecOps into their processes, institutions can find an efficient middle-ground between the pressure to release frequently and the necessity of maintaining security and compliance.
Challenges in Implementing DevSecOps
Siloed Processes
Historically, organizations tended to keep development, security, and operations as separate teams. Even financial institutions that have done some work to modernize their development systems may still suffer from siloed departments and processes. A lack of overt processes designed to integrate these aspects of new feature development, release, and management can lead to teams failing to work with each other when necessary. As a result, there is a lack of efficient collaboration that contributes to delayed releases and unsatisfactory results.
Fragmented Workflows
Siloed departments usually go hand in hand with fragmented workflows that cut productivity and efficiency. Developers work on the feature independently of workflows designed to provide effective testing and audit preparation. This approach creates an excess of gatekeepers who can stop production working toward the final deployment. Progress can slow down or even stop based on conflicting timelines, diverging expectations, or even a single person taking an extended leave.
Team Conflict
This friction often contributes to conflict between teams that can be difficult to resolve mid-development. Developers may resist heavy scrutiny of their code and resent security and ops teams for flooding their queues with issues to resolve, when they are already pressured to perform quickly. Compliance teams feel squeezed between the pressure to avoid overcomplication and the legitimate need to ensure the system works correctly. All teams lack a sense of ownership over the whole.
High-Stakes Decision-Making
Everyone working on the release feels the pressure of getting it right, and for good reason. A simple oversight could lead to millions of dollars in penalties or lost productivity, or even a failed release. An increase in the frequency of the release schedule does not necessarily relieve the pressure for accuracy and competency. Rather, it triggers a seemingly unending cycle of stress about the next big goal, leading to burnout and continued resistance.
How to Integrate DevSecOps Into Digital Banking Processes
Create Unified Teams
To start integrating DevSecOps into existing systems, institutions need to create unified teams that have a shared vision and set of goals for the integration. Although the team development discussion necessarily involves details about what each release is intended to accomplish and how it will be done, it must also tie in a broader conversation about the importance and practical uses of DevSecOps integration. Gaining buy-in from all parties leads to less conflict when implementing new processes and systems.
Integrate Workflows and Timelines
A seamless feature release requires integration of workflows and timelines. Organizations should aim to standardize their processes for the release of new features, which will minimize extraneous discussion and disagreement during design phases. Instead of siloing workflows between departments, these processes and timelines should be integrated into the whole. Aligned goals and plans decrease bottlenecks in productivity and increase the likelihood of reaching deployment on the planned date.
Automate Processes
Automation becomes a key tool in achieving true integration of these aspects of feature releases without compromising efficiency or compliance. Automated processes like continuous monitoring, code scanning, and audit record-keeping can reduce the workload of testing and often increase accuracy. QA teams spend less time trying to replicate a problem when the system can automatically highlight the circumstances that trigger it. As such, developers receive updated feedback on their code as they develop it, leading to fewer issues near the end of production.
Front-Load Security Checks and Audit Prep
A standardized plan to front-load security checks and audit prep can help to keep the project on the rails and minimize extensive, unexpected delays shortly before the planned release date. Integration of systems like fraud and risk management solutions can seamlessly capture necessary data to generate issue tickets for developers or integrate into reporting systems. The ultimate result converts these processes into useful, practical steps toward the final release, instead of gates that hinder efficiency.
Integrating DevSecOps is not without its challenges. Institutions may face resistance from managers and teams who worry about how implementation could affect their processes. In most cases, DevSecOps can solve problems plaguing digital banking releases, like slow review processes or security lapses. By following these best practices, organizations can minimize the hurdles involved in a DevSecOps integration, while maintaining a strong commitment to accuracy, security, and compliance.
