Case study
Enhancing CDN Performance and CI/CD Efficiency at Ally Bank
Problem
High server request volumes and manual CDN release processes created performance bottlenecks, while CI/CD pipelines lacked optimization for speed and developer experience.
Solution
Tuned Akamai CDN configurations for performance and security, streamlined release management, and implemented CI/CD enhancements with Jenkins, OpenShift, and GitLab on AWS.
Result
<p>Reduced server load, improved site performance, strengthened security, and accelerated delivery cycles for development teams.</p>
In 2020, Ally Bank was undergoing significant digital transformation, expanding online services and increasing traffic on its customer-facing platforms. As a result, the bank’s Content Delivery Network (CDN) was under heavy load, and inefficiencies in release processes were impacting both performance and operational efficiency.
Additionally, while CI/CD pipelines existed, they were not optimized for speed or developer experience. Builds were slower than necessary, and transitions between tools (Jenkins, OpenShift, Bitbucket, AWS) lacked cohesion, increasing friction for engineering teams.
Strategic Actions
As Site Reliability Engineer (Production Engineer), I led targeted initiatives to address both CDN and CI/CD challenges:
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CDN Performance & Security Optimization
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Managed all aspects of the Akamai CDN, including release management, performance tuning, and configuration updates.
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Applied caching and compression strategies to reduce server request volume.
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Strengthened security through advanced WAF (Web Application Firewall) configurations and bot management rules.
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CI/CD Pipeline Improvements
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Acted as a Subject Matter Expert on Jenkins, OpenShift, and Bitbucket, guiding the transition to GitLab pipelines on AWS.
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Integrated monitoring and alerting with Splunk, LogRocket, Grafana, and AWS CloudWatch to quickly identify and resolve build or deployment issues.
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Created improved documentation and knowledge-sharing resources, enabling application teams to self-manage deployments more effectively.
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Team Enablement & Support
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Provided training for application teams on CI/CD best practices and CDN operations.
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Assisted in firewall configuration management to ensure secure internal operations without sacrificing development agility.
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Impact
The combined CDN and CI/CD optimization delivered measurable improvements:
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Reduced server request volume, improving site performance and lowering infrastructure strain.
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Enhanced application security through advanced CDN configurations and proactive monitoring.
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Faster delivery cycles via optimized pipelines and streamlined workflows.
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Improved developer experience, empowering teams to move quickly without sacrificing quality or compliance.
These changes not only solved immediate operational challenges but also positioned Ally Bank’s engineering teams for scalable, secure growth in their digital services.