Similar to their global counterparts, Vietnamese organizations are keen to tap data so they can gain actionable insights to further drive their business growth. And more of these local enterprises are moving to cloud platforms to do so, especially as they look to cope with increasing data and volume.
Businesses in Vietnam are realizing their on-premises infrastructures are not only expensive to manage but also unable to handle the exponential data growth they are experiencing.
The traditional architectures are showing tremendous strains, particularly as organizations accelerate digital transformation efforts that need modern application frameworks to thrive in today’s corporate settings. Complex problems, though, do not always require complex technological solutions.
Fast-growing Vietnamese companies realize cloud platforms can better support their deployment of data analytics tools, which are necessary to generate the insights they need to enhance service delivery and tap new market opportunities. These organizations want a cloud-enabled data platform that can provide real-time analytics and quickly generate reports for their business team leaders. With this simple approach, companies can gain deep insights that can support faster decision-making.
One such organization is TNEX. Vietnam's first digital-native mobile bank, TNEX launched its services in December 2020 with the aim of delivering a rich customer experience by integrating lifestyle functions on its banking app. For instance, users can track their mood and daily steps to ensure they are leading a healthy lifestyle. They also can chat with friends, make monthly bill payments, and transfer money via the app.
In addition, TNEX offers a separate app and banking platform for small and midsize enterprise (SME) merchants, providing service packages that include free website creation, invoicing and campaign management.
Packed with a rich service offering, the bank already is seeing fast growth: It is on track to have 250,000 retail customers and 20,000 registered SME clients within the first year of operations. With this astronomical climb, TNEX recognizes the importance of scalability and availability to ensure its back-end infrastructure can support the increasing demand for its services.
However, it first needed to better understand how its customers were interacting with its app features and whether its marketing campaigns were effective in engaging consumers. The organization wanted data insights to help its marketing team track the impact of its programs and identify ways to improve them.
TNEX turned to Amazon Web Services and AWS partner TechX, which put together a technology roadmap aligned with the bank's key priorities: scalability, security and availability.
The company deployed various solutions from AWS’s expansive portfolio, including Amazon Elastic Container Service as well as machine learning and data analytics tools Amazon SageMaker and Amazon QuickSight.
Thanks to the cloud vendor's proven architecture and out-of-the-box services, TechX was able to help TNEX go live with its digital bank infrastructure—running 168 data flows—within nine months. More important, TNEX has not experienced any system downtime since its launch. The bank attributes this to AWS’s robust Multi-AZ network, which ensures high availability and fault tolerance.
The bank also works with TechX on cost optimization strategies, to keep its costs stable even as it expands. Cost optimization measures and work are performed on a quarterly basis, with adherence to AWS principles and best practices, coupled with TechX experience. These initiatives have helped TNEX achieve cost savings of more than 20% on average, even with resource use at more than 70%.
The ability to scale cost efficiently is especially crucial because TNEX is looking to expand its base to 30 million retail customers in Vietnam over the next five years.
Security Just as Important as Scalability
As a digital bank, however, TNEX knows it cannot grow its business without also safeguarding its customers' personal and financial data. With expertise in building AWS-powered cloud solutions that are compliant with local regulatory requirements, TechX plays an integral role in assessing potential risks and implementing controls that can scale as TNEX expands.
Alongside solution architects from TechX and AWS, the digital bank designed an AWS Landing Zone with multiple authentication layers and data encryption. This is further fortified with AWS Web Application Firewall, configured for designated security groups, and AWS Key Management Service, which administers application keys.
With data the core of its business model, TNEX also depends on its data team to monitor its systems in real time. To ensure the bank has the tools to do so effectively, Amazon CloudWatch and Amazon GuardDuty were implemented to help detect anomalies that might indicate fraudulent activities. All sensitive data also is segmented, controlled and encrypted, ensuring there are no data leaks even in the event of a breach.
With speed to market, service availability and security critical to its continued growth, TNEX knows both AWS and TechX play important roles in helping it navigate quickly in a dynamic market.
