How Portmone, together with GitLab and Cloudfresh, turned a technical challenge into a growth opportunity

The Challenge: Slowdown in the Development Process

For a company operating in the fintech sector, the speed and reliability of digital processes directly impact user experience and client trust. That’s why the efficiency of engineering teams and the stability of development tools are of strategic importance.

During the active use of GitLab, specifically the Premium version, the Portmone team encountered a critical barrier: the Merge Requests page began to load very slowly (20+ seconds) or would freeze altogether.

For a fintech product, this meant:

• slower release of new features awaited by millions of users;
• decreased productivity of DevOps and engineering teams, which affected maintaining the usual pace;
• increased operational load on support, distracting the team from product development.

There was a need to update the solution that would not only help overcome the technical challenge but also become the foundation for the further development of DevOps processes. For a detailed analysis and optimization of GitLab, the company engaged Cloudfresh, an official GitLab partner.

The Solution: Diagnosis and Optimization of GitLab Configuration

Joining as a technical partner, the Cloudfresh team conducted a comprehensive diagnosis of GitLab and helped Portmone to:

1. Identify key points for optimizing the GitLab environment configuration;
2. Optimize maintenance and caching parameters;
3. Receive recommendations for performance profiling.

Results: Faster MRs, Stability, and Scalability

The optimization and upgrade provided Portmone with both immediate and strategic results:

1. The loading time for the Merge Requests page was reduced from 20+ seconds to less than 3 seconds;
2. The teams resumed their normal development pace without wasting time waiting;
3. The load on technical support was reduced;
4. System stability increased, which positively affected the efficiency of the entire engineering ecosystem.

As a result, Portmone received a solution for Merge Requests and a solid foundation for further scalable and secure development.

How Portmone Uses GitLab Premium

For the Portmone team, GitLab is the primary development environment that combines security, speed, and convenient process management. It is a tool that allows them to maintain a stable work rhythm and effectively develop fintech products.

• Security tools (audit logs, access controls, mandatory approvals in Merge Requests) ensure transparency of all actions in the system, control over changes, and reduction of risks of errors in production. This is critically important for a fintech company working with payment data.
• CI/CD process management capabilities (parallel jobs, faster pipelines) contribute to a quicker release of changes to production, maintaining high quality, and reducing the time between development and the release of new features.
• Project management functionality (roadmaps, group analytics, release planning) ensures transparency in development, improves coordination between teams, and positively influences strategic product development planning.

Thanks to the combination of these features, GitLab is not just a development tool but also the foundation for the stability and predictable development of the entire engineering ecosystem.

The Role of Cloudfresh: From Technical Optimization to Strategic Development Support

Cloudfresh acted not just as a consultant, but as a partner who accompanied Portmone from the initial analysis to the implementation of practical solutions. Our team provided technical assistance with:

• diagnosis and optimization of the GitLab configuration;
• tuning performance and caching parameters;
• profiling the system’s performance and eliminating bottlenecks.

At each stage, Portmone received comprehensive recommendations and practical support to quickly return to stable operations.

In addition to the technical part, Cloudfresh provided the company with favorable licensing terms for GitLab Premium, making the transition not only technologically sound but also cost-effective.

Thanks to this approach, Portmone received not just a point solution to their challenges, but long-term support in the development of their DevOps processes. This assistance takes into account best practices and prospects for further scaling.

Future Plans

The Portmone team plans to continue developing their work with GitLab, in particular:

• integrating external CI/CD platforms for even greater process flexibility;
• scaling the architecture and increasing the system’s security level;
• testing GitLab Duo, which is now available in Premium (including Duo Code Suggestions and Duo Chat) to improve automation.

In these initiatives, Cloudfresh will remain a partner, helping to implement innovative tools and introduce GitLab services for specific business tasks.