Saudi Awwal Bank Case Study

SAB uses Google Cloud to achieve its objectives of digital transformation and building a private cloud capability that can securely integrate with the public cloud as well.

Google Cloud results

Combines cloud scalability with on-premises security, optimizing Kubernetes management using Anthos
Boosts scalability, reducing time to market, and enabling the swift rollout of applications for business impact
Develops true microservices due to the horizontal scaling feature
Scales runtime for applications that have varying load, helping to save costs
Secures service to service communication through a service mesh, reducing risk of data breach

Accelerates time to market with instant scalability

A booming economy needs a robust and efficient banking sector - and Saudi Arabia's economy is, by most relevant metrics, on the rise. For more than 90 years, Saudi Awwal Bank (SAB) has actively supported the Kingdom's growth and social development with market-leading financial and investment solutions. Regulated by the Saudi Central Bank and in close strategic partnership with the HSBC group, SAB is one of the leading corporate and institutional banks in the Kingdom.

"Our IT strategy envisions a complete digital transformation including best-in-class infrastructure that supports agile development and maintenance of applications on digital architectures. Containerization is a key technology that makes our applications more agile, scalable, and flexible, and enables us to create better customer experiences. This is why we chose Google Cloud."

—Abdulrahman Bahwaireth, Head of IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity, SAB

While SAB has deep roots in Saudi Arabia, its current shape is the result of a historic 2021 merger, which united Saudi British Bank and Alawwal Bank under one single roof. In joining forces, the two banks have solidified a commitment to not only enhance their services but also modernize their digital infrastructure. This promise of innovation extends to the company's strategic push toward full digital transformation and cloud-based solutions.

"Our IT strategy envisions a complete digital transformation including best-in-class infrastructure that supports agile development and maintenance of applications on digital architectures," explains Abdulrahman Bahwaireth, Head of IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity at SAB. "Containerization is a key technology that makes our applications more agile, scalable, and flexible, and enables us to create better customer experiences. This is why we chose Google Cloud."

Banking in the cloud, secured on the ground

Containerized applications come with great advantages but require modern infrastructure to get the most out of them. After selecting Kubernetes as its primary orchestration tool, the SAB team went looking for the right cloud provider to deliver a secure and reliable solution. Faced with numerous local and global cybersecurity standards and regulations, security and compliance were among the top priorities for the bank.

"Every technology we adopt has to go through extensive cycles of selection criteria," says Asim Mousa, Head of IT infrastructure and Cloud Engineering, SAB. "Besides offering the scalability, performance, and innovation we needed, Google Cloud also stood out through its regional presence in Saudi Arabia. That's why we selected Google Cloud as the foundation for our containerized application infrastructure."

"Anthos is a leading Kubernetes distribution solution and helps us to orchestrate our workloads and clusters efficiently, bringing agility and scalability while keeping critical data and application components on-premise. It allows us to implement a hybrid infrastructure which stretches between Anthos and the public Google Cloud."

—Asim Mousa, Head of IT infrastructure and Cloud Engineering, SAB

To comply with strict banking regulations on its journey toward innovation, SAB sometimes has to weigh the benefits of managed services against the need to maintain rigorous data security standards. With Anthos, it's not an either-or scenario when it comes to SAB's containerized applications.

"Anthos is a leading Kubernetes distribution solution and helps us to orchestrate our workloads and clusters efficiently, bringing agility and scalability while keeping critical data and application components on-premise. It allows us to implement a hybrid infrastructure which stretches between Anthos and the public Google Cloud," says Mousa.

Working together to modernize SAB, one workload at a time

SAB moved smaller applications to Anthos, and then eventually migrated critical workloads, which can truly benefit from the containerized Kubernetes environment. From here, SAB can move more and more workloads to the cloud and expand its Anthos footprint application by application.

For Mousa and his colleagues, it was an easy transition - thanks in large part to the close collaboration with the Google Cloud team: "The exceptional support from Google, especially the Saudi team, played a crucial role in our smooth transition. They went the extra mile to ensure every aspect, from implementation to licensing, was seamless for us. This is undeniably a significant part of our successful collaboration."

Putting customers first with enhanced, efficient, and secure banking services

Today, Anthos is one of the main platforms for SAB's containerized application layer. It runs on-premises, ensuring stringent data protection while giving SAB crucial access to the flexibility and performance of the cloud technology.

For SAB's developers, this transition has been a game-changer. With the ability to run and scale applications as needed and manage multiple components from a single dashboard, they need to dedicate fewer resources on low-level maintenance tasks, and can focus on what matters instead: building and improving SAB's award-winning applications.

"Because our containerized applications are so easy to manage with Anthos, our developers can actually focus on app and feature development," says Mousa. "We're saving a lot of time and resources that used to be spent on maintenance, which we can now dedicate to innovation and delivering greater value to our business and customers."

For SAB's customers, faster deployments and on-demand scalability translate to enhanced and more responsive banking services that effectively meet their needs. "With Google Cloud, we can scale runtime as needed and launch projects immediately, minimizing delays one might experience with traditional solutions," says Bahwaireth. "As we compete with other banks and financial solutions, this rapid deployment is essential, heightening our agility and responsiveness to customer needs."

In addition to scaling at speed, SAB secures its service to service communication through a service mesh, reducing the risk of data breach and providing peace of mind for the bank and its customers. "As a bank with critical applications that handles sensitive customer information, security is a top priority for SAB," says Bahwaireth. "When we deploy new technologies, we also need to make sure that we enhance our security solutions accordingly. Google Cloud will help us in establishing more robust security solutions, ensuring our operations remain secure, whether that's on-premises or in the cloud."

Opening a new chapter for banking in Saudi Arabia with Google Cloud

SAB's digital transformation is in full swing, and the new Google Cloud region in Dammam opens an exciting new chapter in the bank's cloud journey. With the Anthos service mesh established on-premises, Bahwaireth and his team are excited to stretch to new technologies, such as Google Kubernetes Engine, and implement Infrastructure-as-a-Service workflows.

"Thanks to Anthos, we now have an alternative infrastructure environment to virtual machines and improved the core capabilities of scalability and application management for our critical channels and workloads. The announcement of the KSA cloud region removes all barriers to our strategy of expanding with Google Cloud. We can now focus on delivering business value, while infrastructure management and time to market can be managed by Google Cloud."

—Abdulrahman Bahwaireth, Head of IT Infrastructure and Cybersecurity, SAB

"Thanks to Anthos, we now have an alternative infrastructure environment to virtual machines and improved the core capabilities of scalability and application management for our critical channels and workloads," says Bahwaireth. "The announcement of the KSA cloud region removes all barriers to our strategy of expanding with Google Cloud. We can now focus on delivering business value, while infrastructure management and time to market can be managed by Google Cloud."

Saudi Awwal Bank: Investing in innovation, scalability, and security with Google Cloud

About Saudi Awwal Bank

Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.

SAB uses Google Cloud to achieve its objectives of digital transformation and building a private cloud capability that can securely integrate with the public cloud as well.

Google Cloud results

Banking in the cloud, secured on the ground

Working together to modernize SAB, one workload at a time

Putting customers first with enhanced, efficient, and secure banking services

Opening a new chapter for banking in Saudi Arabia with Google Cloud

Tell us your challenge. We're here to help.

About Saudi Awwal Bank