BBVA has created a global software development division that brings together more than 16,000 developers across the bank in an effort to speed up and better coordinate the delivery of digital services and products.
Headed by Francisco Leyva, the new unit will execute and coordinate the bank’s core technological transformation programmes at a global level, providing a home to more than 16,000 internal and external personnel dedicated to designing, developing and maintaining software.
By creating a global unit, BBVA says it can build services that can be shared across apps in all countries in which it operates, and follow a common data model. This, says the bank, will ensure enhanced productivity, faster updating, improved security and higher quality of software development.
Says Leyva: "By building these common components faster, we will be able to roll out services globally, without having to start from scratch in each country. Globalizing components in all countries would otherwise take us eight years, but with these forward strides we believe we can do it in four."
BBVA is also benefitting from the use of DevOps, says Leyva: "Use of DevOps across the board is enabling us to optimize the entire software development cycle. It’s not just about using specific tools, but about changing the way we work."