When business met growth

Scaling a business is often celebrated as a sign of success.

Yet, beneath the surface, growth brings its own set of challenges. Operational inefficiencies, rising costs, and the pressure to meet ever-changing customer expectations can quickly erode margins and stifle innovation.
For Flexibility, a key player in fintech and digital banking solutions based in Argentina, these growing pains had reached a tipping point.
It was clear that their growth would become unsustainable without a radical shift in approach.

Co-authored by Exequiel Barrirero and Juan Matias (KungFoo) De la Camara

As the co-founder and CEO of binbash, an AWS Advanced Partner specializing in startups, I'm proud to share this transformation story. Together with KungFoo, we crafted this article to highlight the power of cloud technology and strategic partnerships in driving sustainable growth. This case study showcases the profound impact of leveraging AWS solutions to address real-world business challenges.

Back to the Future

This is the story of how flexibility transformed its operations, cutting costs by 30% and positioning itself for long-term success - all through the power of cloud technology and strategic partnership.

Figure: This was Flexibility's infrastructure at the start of the project.

Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

The company's infrastructure was a patchwork of static systems designed for a simpler time. Fixed capacity meant that during peak demand, the system struggled, leading to service interruptions. Conversely, during quieter periods, resources sat idle, wasting money. The lack of flexibility not only hindered performance but also left the team constantly firefighting

A New Hope

binbash entered the scene with a clear plan: transform flexibility's infrastructure into a dynamic, cloud-native environment. The strategy focused on leveraging AWS tools to address the core issues at hand.

Environment Consolidation & Scaling

The first step was implementing AWS Auto Scaling w/ K8s Cluster Autoscaler for AWS EKS, which enabled the infrastructure and containers to automatically adjust capacity based on real-time demand. This ensured optimal resource use, eliminating overprovisioning and costly downtime during peak periods. Complementing this, Amazon EC2 Spot Instances were introduced to further optimize costs by utilizing unused EC2 capacity.

Subsequently, we consolidated multiple lower-tier environment accounts, including Dev, QA, and Stg, into a single multi-tenant (multi-environment) Kubernetes EKS cluster. This approach significantly reduced resource duplication and operational costs while streamlining management and improving efficiency.

Dev/Stg & QA Consolidation: Streamlining development, staging, and quality assurance environments improved efficiency and resource utilization. Less clusters to administrate

Visibility

Flexibility's previous lack of system visibility was another critical issue. binbash deployed Amazon CloudWatch + Prometheus and Grafana to provide real-time monitoring and alerting. This tool gave the operations team comprehensive insights into system health, allowing them to proactively address potential problems before they affected users.

Automation & EKS Upgrades

To reduce manual intervention, binbash introduced binbash Leverage™ from the very beginning of the project . Tasks such as EKS infra deployment and upgrades, which once consumed valuable time, were now handled autonomously. Additionally, Infrastructure as Code (IaC) using Terraform through our Leverage Ref Architecture for AWS was adopted, streamlining the deployment and management of AWS resources while ensuring consistency across environments.

Kubernetes Clusters Upgrade: Completing upgrades for all clusters to version >1.26 ensured the latest security patches and functionalities were in place.

Figure: Optimization 1 | Architecture w/ Spot EKS Nodes for Dev & QA.

Cost optimization

Cost control was a central focus. By analyzing usage data through AWS Cost Explorer and implementing AWS Reserved Instances, Flexibility achieved significant savings. Also implemented AWS Budgets and Billing Alerts for cost monitoring. These tools provided detailed insights into spending patterns, allowing for smarter financial planning and resource allocation.

Cost Optimization: Implementing Reserved Instances resulted in a significant reduction of 30% in overall cloud expenditure.

Figure: Optimization 2 | This is Flexibility's Architecture w/ DevStg & QA consolidated in a single account VPC + EKS + RDS engine.

Security & Compliance

Security, an essential aspect of any fintech and digital banking platform, was strengthened with AWS Identity Center (formerly SSO) and Access Management (IAM). binbash implemented granular access controls and multi-factor authentication to safeguard sensitive data, aligning with industry regulations and boosting customer trust.

To the infinite and beyond

The transformation didn't stop at technology. binbash worked closely with Flexibility's teams to ensure a smooth transition, providing training and support to embed new processes. This partnership approach fostered a culture of continuous improvement and innovation.
The results were transformative. Flexibility not only reduced operational costs by 30% but also enhanced service reliability and speed.

Customers noticed the difference, and the company solidified its market position.

Internally, the shift from reactive to proactive operations empowered teams to focus on strategic growth initiatives.

Crucially, the project included a robust knowledge transfer component, empowering Flexibility's team to maintain and operate the upgraded infrastructure autonomously.

A Walk in the Cloud

Flexibility's journey is a testament to how embracing cloud technology and strategic partnerships can drive meaningful change. This transformation not only optimized costs and performance but also redefined the company's trajectory toward sustainable growth.

For organizations navigating similar challenges, this case serves as a beacon: innovation and adaptability are not just options - they are necessities in today's fast-paced digital landscape. With the right tools and a clear strategy, the future is not just scalable; it's limitless.