everyoneINVESTED’s technology runs inside banking apps across Europe. When the platform has a technical issue, bank customers can feel it too. As everyoneINVESTED grew, so did the demands around availability, security, audits and recovery.
FlowFactor runs and continuously improves everyoneINVESTED’s Azure platform. We handle everything between code and production, from maintenance and disaster recovery to security, new customer environments and cost optimisation.
Reliable without losing flexibility
Recovery is tested, changes are documented and the platform is improved proactively. Meanwhile, everyoneINVESTED can continue adapting quickly as its product, customers and technical requirements evolve.
When your technology runs inside a bank’s digital channels, a technical issue doesn’t just stay on your side. Your customer is literally trusting you with part of their own customer experience.
That is the position everyoneINVESTED is in today. Its behavioural investment technology is used by banks and wealth managers across Europe.
A few years ago, FlowFactor built the Azure platform that gave everyoneINVESTED the foundation to grow beyond its original banking environment.
But the platform was never a one-off job. New customers bring new requirements. The product changes. Security requirements increase. And the infrastructure underneath it has to keep up.
Today, FlowFactor runs that platform through its managed services and takes care of everything between code and production. In practice, we act as everyoneINVESTED’s platform engineering team.
Keeping the platform available
Uptime is high on everyoneINVESTED’s list.
For some customers, it is part of the contract. And simply saying the platform is available is not enough. They need to be able to show it.
Behind the uptime figures sits the daily work of keeping the Azure environment healthy, following up on changes and making sure the platform keeps meeting the security requirements around it.
That work has become more structured as everyoneINVESTED has grown. The company obtained ISO 27001 certification. Preventive maintenance reporting was expanded, and changes to the environment are documented every month.
“We have professionalised enormously compared to the beginning. That was necessary because of the growing number of customers and the ISO requirements, but we still work with FlowFactor in a very flexible way.”
- Geert Bernaerts, CFO
everyoneINVESTED still needs to move quickly. But when a bank or auditor asks what changed or how something is being monitored, the evidence needs to be there too.
Knowing you can recover with full disaster recovery testing
Uptime is one part of the responsibility. Knowing you can recover is another.
FlowFactor runs a full disaster recovery test with everyoneINVESTED every year.
A large part of that recovery process is automated. As the platform changes and new components are introduced, the recovery setup changes with it.
That automation is a big reason why the actual recovery can move quickly. The DR tests consistently finish well within the planned four-hour window.
The exercise follows a clear runbook. Timings, responsibilities and contacts are agreed upfront and progress is followed throughout the test. Anything that does not go as planned is documented and taken into the next one.
“I’ve worked in IT for 25 years and seen different IT environments. This is one of the first times I’ve seen a full disaster recovery test done this way.”
- Bert Tibergijn, IT Manager
The test also gives everyoneINVESTED something very practical: proof. The results and documentation can be used during ISO audits and shared with customers that want evidence that disaster recovery is actually tested, not just written down in a procedure.
Moving fast when customers need it
everyoneINVESTED releases new software every month.
Development builds the changes, everyoneINVESTED tests them in acceptance and the approved release moves into production.
Onboarding a new customer brings different infrastructure work. Access needs to be arranged, environments may need to be prepared, integrations need to be configured. Those requests do not have to wait for the next monthly product release.
Some customers expect that kind of work to take weeks.
There were customers asking how far in advance they needed to request something for acceptance or production. In some cases, they planned two months ahead, as they were used to quite some delay.
FlowFactor had the setup ready the same day.
“Our customers are very happy with the speed we deliver, but we can only offer that level of service to our customers because FlowFactor enables us to do it.”
- Bert Tibergijn, IT Manager
The development team and FlowFactor talk to each other directly. Technical context moves between both teams without everyoneINVESTED having to repeat the same conversation.
“It’s not that if you tell one person something and then tell another person, you have to repeat it. For us, it really feels like one partner.”
- Bert Tibergijn, IT Manager
That’s exactly how we like to work with our customers: close to the people working on the product, so we can solve things together instead of working in separate lanes.
Improving the platform before someone asks
Managed services is not limited to tickets and incoming requests.
FlowFactor continuously looks at how the platform can improve as everyoneINVESTED’s application and requirements evolve.
Sometimes that means larger technical changes.
We proposed moving ingress from NGINX to an API gateway. We changed the way secrets are injected into the cluster, so they no longer move through the pipeline. We also proposed changes to the node pools so the infrastructure better fits how the application is being used, while keeping the cost at roughly the same level.
Then there is the less visible work. Upgrades. Patching. Keeping the underlying platform current.
Cost is part of that same conversation.
Hosting is one of everyoneINVESTED’s larger cost categories. They had noticed that Azure costs tended to creep back up over time, so the environment is now reviewed much more actively.
Every six months, the teams look at possible optimisations. Sometimes that means choosing a more efficient setup. Sometimes it is much simpler.
FlowFactor noticed that one test environment was barely being used and questioned why everyoneINVESTED should keep paying for it.
“The cost management of our Azure environment is really important. It is followed up much more actively now, proactively actually.”
- Geert Bernaerts, CFO everyoneINVESTED
The platform everyoneINVESTED runs today is not the same platform FlowFactor built several years ago. It keeps changing because the product and the business around it keep changing too.
Peace of mind
For everyoneINVESTED, that mainly brings peace of mind.
The environment is being followed up, tecovery is tested and changes are taken care of. And when something happens, there are people who already know the context.
“After two years of working together, it really feels like we’re one team. I sleep better at night knowing there are people who know our environment and can step in when something happens. It’s very comfortable to be responsible for IT here with a partner like FlowFactor beside you.”
- Bert Tibergijn, IT Manager
Looking for more peace of mind? Talk to us about managed services, or use our calculator to compare the cost with building your own platform team.
Kilian Niemegeerts
