Security Transformation Powers Global Agility in Financial Services
Faster delivery cycles
£200,000
Savings in the first 3 months
Significant reduction in manual interventions
THE CHALLENGE
Laying the foundations for scalable, embedded security
Security had been treated as an afterthought, introduced late in the software development lifecycle (SDLC), creating delivery delays and release bottlenecks.
Across business units, inconsistent security practices, siloed teams and a lack of shared standards made scaling difficult. Security functions varied in maturity, methodologies and tooling, with limited automation and a small pool of technical security specialists.
Key blockers included:
– Fragmented governance and inconsistent policies
– Minimal automation across DevSecOps
– Resource and skill gaps preventing secure cloud adoption
– Misalignment between security and product/delivery teams
THE SOLUTION
From siloed to strategic. Security transformed
Catapult was engaged as interim CISO to lead the transformation, sitting above federated business units and coordinating a cross-enterprise security overhaul.
Key interventions included:
– Defined a new operating model aligned to DevOps principles, embedding security throughout the SDLC
– Implemented automated security testing (DAST, SAST, RAST, infra/config scanning) within CI/CD pipelines
– Enabled development teams to own security, improving accountability and reducing bottlenecks
– Introduced a Community of Practice, fostering a culture of collaboration, shared learning and innovation
– Standardised on the NIST framework, driving consistency in policies, maturity assessment and governance
– Provisioned secure Azure environments using Infrastructure as Code, including cloud access controls, DLP and virus scanning
– Established repeatable, scalable planning frameworks to drive global consistency in security operations
THE RESULTS
Accelerated delivery. Lower risk. Global readiness
Catapult’s security transformation delivered fast, tangible results, reducing risk, accelerating delivery and equipping the organisation with scalable security services ready for global deployment.
– £200,000 in savings in the first 3 months, from automating just four security controls
– Cloud adoption enabled with confidence using pre-secured, policy-compliant Azure environments
– Significant reduction in manual interventions, freeing teams to focus on higher-value work
– Faster delivery cycles including the release of a new iOS app in months instead of years
– Improved regulatory alignment through standardised controls and simplified compliance (e.g. unified password policy)
– Higher employee engagement in security through collaborative problem-solving and shared ownership
– Scalable security services (IDAM, monitoring, pen testing) made available globally across business unit
