OTP Bank is one of the leading financial institutions. It combines the stability of the banking sector with the flexibility of modern IT solutions. The bank is actively developing its technological infrastructure, introducing microservices, Kubernetes, and modern development practices.

The bank focuses on creating reliable, fast, and convenient digital services for its customers. Another key point is the gradual transition to the hybrid cloud, considering high security requirements. The team actively implements new technologies and collaborates with market experts to improve efficiency.

Challenges

One of the main challenges for OTP Bank is the balance between innovation and strict information security requirements.

Artem Logvinenko, Head of IT Operations at OTP Bank Ukraine, notes: “In the past, our architecture was built on a two-level principle: a database paired with a separately launched binary component. But now, technology has completely shifted. With the rise of microservices, we've also begun to embrace that architectural approach.”

The bank works with external developers, simultaneously developing its own products using modern technologies, such as Kafka. At the same time, the use of cloud solutions is complicated by strict data control, making a complete transition to the public cloud impossible. Therefore, a hybrid approach is implemented: the development takes place in an environment convenient for the team, but the final launch and operation take place already within the internal infrastructure of the bank.

In addition, one of the challenges is the need to work with outdated technologies: “Our company has been operating since 1998, and some technology still lives on. It's a 'bloody enterprise': accumulation of various solutions from different eras. At the same time, almost nothing can be turned off: even if the business shifted to new solutions a long time ago, the old systems must be preserved. State regulators often require access to this data”.

Implementation

Monitoring at OTP Bank is an inseparable part of production environments. The bank needs it to quickly respond to even complex issues related to information security, such as delays due to traffic inspections.

The impetus for the implementation was a simple observation. It turned out that the number of incidents was growing, the response was slow, and it took a lot of time to analyze problems. The reason is that OTP Bank's infrastructure is very fragmented — many different servers with minimal transparency.

The team decided to test the finished commercial product. The bank requested a free pilot, got real cases, and showed the business how to respond to failures much faster.

Dynatrace has repeatedly helped to confirm the existence of an issue where others in the process doubted its existence. Although experiments were also conducted with open-source solutions, Dynatrace proved to be the most reliable option “out of the box” in terms of stability and convenience.

Who uses the Dynatrace platform?

The entire operations team actively uses Dynatrace: infrastructure, payment systems, databases, and application teams. Everyone monitors the work of services through the platform.

At the same time, supporting the solution itself does not require plenty of resources. The system works autonomously: it sends alerts if space is running out or the certificate is about to expire.

In addition to IT, the call center also uses the platform, especially at night, when the main teams are offline.

Thinking about a monitoring system?

In today's banks, it is impossible to rely entirely on spot checks or manual controls. The infrastructure is too complex, and every second counts.

Comprehensive monitoring allows more than just to see the problem; you can also understand its context, impact, and source. And this is what gives businesses real stability today.

Conclusion

Seeing an issue before users know about it is not a superpower. Moreover, for industries like banking, this is a vital capability and a tangible competitive advantage.

Dynatrace is a system that has been helping OTP Bank Ukraine keep its infrastructure under control for the third year in a row. This case shows an inside view: how the industry is changing, how the modern bank lives, and what part the Dynatrace platform plays in modern realities.

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