Provides instant visibility with real-time dashboards for 6,000 non-profits and their stakeholders
Improves scalability and cuts maintenance costs with an events-driven architecture, orchestrated with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)
Accelerates decision-making for non-profits, regulators, and donors with automation and reduced processing times
To keep pace with a growing non-profit sector, the NCNP rebuilt its non-profits governance platforms on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), enabling faster approvals, real-time transparency, and a scalable foundation for future growth.
To keep pace with a growing non-profit sector, the NCNP rebuilt its non-profits governance platforms on Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), enabling faster approvals, real-time transparency, and a scalable foundation for future growth.
The makings of a modern governance platform
Our IT platforms had come to the end of their life cycles, and becoming difficult to scale and costly to maintain. With Google Cloud, we seized the opportunity to build a modern, microservices-based solution designed for scalability and sustainability.
Abdulmajeed Alameer
General Manager of IT, NCNP
From hyper-local co-operatives to multinational charities, non-profit organizations play a vital role across all levels of society, stepping in to address needs that can't be met by state agencies and private businesses.
The National Center for Non-Profit Sector (NCNP) in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia exists to help non-profits operate at their full potential. "We have more than six thousand non-profits in Saudi Arabia of all sizes, and that number is growing all the time," says Mr Dakheel AlJber, VP Digital transformation at the NCNP. "As regulators, our role is to empower and expand the non-profit sector."
As the sector has grown, so have the NCNP's responsibilities. In 2023, anticipating future demands, Abdulmajeed Alameer, the NCNP's General Manager of IT, and his team recognized that their existing governance procedures wouldn't scale.
Empowered by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's Digital Government Authority (DGA) and its mission to bring digital transformation to government entities, NCNP began looking for a new technology solution, and found one with Google Cloud.
"Our IT platforms had come to the end of their life cycle, and becoming difficult to scale and costly to maintain," says Alameer. "With Google Cloud, we seized the opportunity to build a modern, microservices-based solution designed for scalability and sustainability."
Microservices and events-driven architecture
When the NCNP first launched, its products and solutions were fragmented over several systems and relied heavily on manual operations. Repeated, often complex procedures led to limited visibility and inefficiencies for the NCNP as well as its partners. For example, establishing a non-profit entity involved working with several processes and data streams, which could result in delays for getting approvals.
As a government agency, data sovereignty is essential for the NCNP. Google Cloud was one of a small number of cloud providers able to meet this requirement with data centers in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Google Cloud also stood out from the competition with its comprehensive portfolio of products and exceptional support. "We engaged with the Google Cloud team right from the start of the process, getting their advice on how best to transition," says Alameer. "Looking back, I'd say the level of support we got from them made them the best choice for us."
As a managed service, Google Kubernetes Engine has been great for us. The way it handles, the visibility it provides with the UI, and the ease of use all make it an amazing product to work with.
Abdulmajeed Alameer
General Manager of IT, NCNP
The NCNP's existing governance systems were already cloud-based, but they followed a monolithic architecture. To meet growing demands for scalability and maintainability, Alameer and his team opted to rebuild the platform using a microservices-based, event-driven architecture. With Google Cloud, they had the opportunity to put this new approach into practice. "This wasn't a migration, more of a transformation," explains Alameer. "Rather than simply lifting and shifting the old technology onto a new platform, we were able to design a solution that truly fit our needs."
The NCNP restructured the core business functions of its IT platform into individual microservices, managed with Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) serving as the beating heart of the new system. "As a managed service, Google Kubernetes Engine has been great for us. The way it handles, the visibility it provides with the UI, and the ease of use all make it an amazing product to work with," explains Alameer.
Using Cloud SQL and BigQuery for analytics, the center brings all of its data streams onto one platform for a single source of truth that keeps stakeholders aligned. Meanwhile, Cloud Key Management gives the NCNP the fine-grained control it needs to ensure that its most sensitive data is held securely.
With unique use cases, the NCNP often requires specialized integrations. With Google Cloud, the team can easily integrate third-party and open-source tools without relying on complex workarounds. "We've been impressed with the Google Cloud marketplace," says Mr Fahad Alsubaie, Enterprise Architecture Manager at the NCNP. "Everything just seems to work out of the box, so we can have open-source software as a service, with minimal issues."
Faster, higher quality decisions for all stakeholders
Since 2024, the NCNP has certainly achieved its primary goal: building a platform that is both scalable and easy to maintain. But it has gone much further. For example, NCNP has launched the digital Nawa 2 platform, an integrated electronic portal that serves as a comprehensive service hub for non-profit organizations and related entities operating within the Kingdom. With Google Cloud, the center has automated key workflows, reducing processing times for issuing licenses, activating campaigns, and approving disbursements. With manual bottlenecks removed, stakeholders can make better decisions, faster.
With all the data in one place, the NCNP can provide full visibility into its entire range of products to its partners. Real-time dashboards give both non-profits and donors up-to-date insights into fund allocations and campaign performance.
We've had so many wins with Google Cloud right from the start of our journey, and we're always on the lookout for more. For anyone who's not worked with the platform before, I'd say this: Google Cloud is always innovating and always moving forward — and helping us do the same.
Sarah A. Aljuma
Director of Enterprise Architecture, NCNP
The enhanced visibility goes hand in hand with strong data protection. With secure, role-based access controls, the NCNP ensures that sensitive information is only accessible to authorized users. This combination of transparency and control has helped to improve stakeholder trust in the process and has improved adoption rates.
For Alameer and his team, the work is far from done. As the NCNP continues to grow, so do its ambitions, and Google Cloud remains central to that journey. Working with technical partners, the next phase includes embedding regulatory checks and automating reporting processes, using Google Cloud tools to further strengthen compliance and drive efficiency.
"We've had so many wins with Google Cloud right from the start of our journey, and we're always on the lookout for more," says Ms. Sarah A. Aljuma, Director of Enterprise Architecture at the NCNP. "For anyone who's not worked with the platform before, I'd say this: Google Cloud is always innovating and always moving forward — and helping us do the same."
The National Center for the Non-Profit mission is to organize and activate non-profit sector organizations by fostering their development, facilitating government licensing, and overseeing financial and administrative operations.
Industry: Government and Public Sector
Location: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Products: Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE), BigQuery, Cloud SQL, Cloud Key Management
