Gentera Standardizes DevOps and Strengthens Security with Harness Code Repository | Harness Case Study

Executive Summary

Gentera, a financial services group composed of five independent companies, set out to standardize DevOps practices across three of those companies while improving security, reducing costs, and enabling more agile software delivery. After years of operating with fragmented tooling, including GitLab and Google’s deprecated Cloud Source Repositories, Gentera migrated to Harness Code Repository as the foundation of a unified platform engineering strategy.

The result is a 4x improvement in delivery frequency and speed and a 2x reduction in cognitive load. Additionally, Gentera now has a smoother developer experience, significantly faster permission management, stronger security controls aligned with banking requirements, and a scalable path toward modern CI/CD and platform engineering - all without disrupting developer productivity.

The Challenge: Fragmented Tools and Inconsistent DevOps Practices

Gentera’s structure comprises five companies. The focus was on three companies that used different code repositories and CI/CD tools for their software delivery. This created challenges in standardizing development workflows. Each organization had adopted different tools and practices over time, leading to:

• Multiple code repository platforms (GitLab and Google Cloud Source Repositories)
• Inconsistent DevOps processes across teams
• Increased infrastructure maintenance overhead
• Internet exposure and security concerns for a regulated banking environment
• Limited ability to create centralized, specialized platform teams

As Gentera looked to modernize its DevOps practices, it became clear that standardization was essential - not only to reduce costs, but to enable a more agile, secure, and scalable delivery model across the entire group.

The Solution: Harness Code Repository as the Foundation for Platform Engineering

Gentera selected Harness Code Repository to replace both GitLab and Google’s code repositories and serve as the organization's standardized code management layer.

Key drivers for the decision included:

• A unified platform that supports standardized DevOps practices
• Strong governance and fine-grained permission management
• Alignment with trunk-based development and modern delivery practices
• A simpler, more focused feature set that supports agility
• A clear roadmap to expand into other Harness products

This move supported Gentera’s transition to a unified platform engineering model, in which a single team manages tools and infrastructure for all development teams.

A Smooth Migration with Minimal Disruption

Despite the scale of the initiative (supporting hundreds of developers and repositories), Gentera’s migration to Harness Code Repository was completed smoothly.

Developers adapted quickly, as the workflows and practices were familiar from their previous tools. Productivity remained stable throughout the migration, requiring only minor adjustments.

Standardizing Trunk-Based Development for Faster Delivery

As part of the migration, Gentera standardized on trunk-based development across projects. This shift helped reduce integration issues and enabled more frequent, reliable releases.

Combined with a new validation pipeline that brings security and quality checks earlier into the development lifecycle, Gentera was able to make its delivery process more agile, without sacrificing compliance or stability.

Gentera saw a 4x improvement in delivery frequency and speed. Additionally, switching to the Harness Code Repository also reduced cognitive load (caused by tool switching) by 2x.

Improved Security and Governance for a Banking Environment

For Gentera’s banking organization, security and access control were critical requirements. Harness Code Repository delivered immediate improvements:

• Fine-grained, project-level permissions
• Faster onboarding and access provisioning
• Reduced administrative effort for governance

What previously took weeks to configure permissions can now be completed in minutes, significantly reducing operational friction while strengthening security posture.

Gentera also benefits from a standardized platform that focuses on essential capabilities, avoiding the complexity of feature-heavy tools that don’t align with their needs.

‍“All our code is very close to the rest of the tools in our SDLC. This gives the best and most secure experience for my developers." - Gonzalo Garcia Campos, Architect, Platform Engineering, Gentera

Business Impact

With Harness Code Repository, Gentera has achieved:

• Standardized DevOps practices across three companies
• Reduced tooling complexity and infrastructure maintenance costs
• Faster, more secure permission management
• A smoother developer experience with a 2x reduction in cognitive load
• 4x improvement in speed and frequency of software delivery
• A strong foundation for a unified platform engineering model
• A clear path to expand into secure and governed DevOps

“Switching to the Harness Code Repository has helped us improve our speed and frequency of software delivery by 4x and reduced the cognitive load on our developers by 2x.” - Gonzalo Garcia Campos, Architect, Platform Engineering, Gentera

Why This Matters

• For Platform Engineers: centralized control, reduced tool sprawl, faster onboarding‍
• For Engineering Leaders: measurable delivery gains, lower operational cost, reduced risk‍
• For DevOps Engineers: simpler workflows, trunk-based development, and earlier validation
  
  • Fewer integration issues due to trunk-based development
  • Earlier security and quality checks via validation pipelines
  • Reduced context switching between tools
    

Looking Ahead

Gentera plans to continue expanding its use of the Harness platform and deepening adoption of platform engineering capabilities.

By starting with code repository standardization, Gentera has laid the groundwork for long-term agility, security, and innovation across the organization.