Oct 14, 2025

Episode #11 — From Chaos to Cadence

🎙️ In this episode, Samir Tek — CIO of UnityBank — faces a familiar challenge:
keeping up with security updates across a growing landscape of servers and applications.

For months, the IT audit said the same thing:
⚠️ Systems not fully patched.
⚙️ Teams waiting for maintenance windows.
💬 “We’ll do it next sprint.”

Samir knew that in cybersecurity, delay equals exposure.
One missed update could open the door to attackers or result in audit and compliance issues.
But he also knew that shouting “patch faster!” was not a real solution.
The problem was not effort — it was organization.

So he designed a new approach called “PatchOps.”
Every second weekend of the month became UnityBank’s PatchOps Weekend — a predictable maintenance rhythm across data centers and cloud environments.
Infrastructure, application, and security teams prepared together in advance.
They used automation to test, approve, and deploy updates safely during controlled windows.
Each change was tracked automatically, so there were no more mysteries about who did what and when.

As the new rhythm took hold, Samir realized that servers weren’t the only concern.
Modern applications — built on frameworks, APIs, and open-source components — carried just as much risk.
Even when infrastructure was up to date, the code itself could still be vulnerable.

The same PatchOps mindset extended naturally to the application layer.
Each product team began running weekly dependency scans, integrating results directly into their agile backlogs.
An Application Security Center of Excellence (CoE) guided teams through complex updates, shared best practices, and ensured that every critical vulnerability received expert review.
Every finding became a work item — owned, prioritized, and resolved by the team, just like any other feature.

This cultural shift turned security into a shared responsibility.
No more last-minute patch races. No more “someone else’s job.”
Just a steady, transparent rhythm across UnityBank’s technology landscape.

🚀 Results

After six months:
✅ 95 % of systems patched within SLA
✅ Application vulnerabilities dropped sharply
✅ Teams became more confident and less reactive

💡 Key takeaway

Turning patching from an ad-hoc activity into a shared, automated routine transforms security from a burden into a strength.
At UnityBank, resilience became a rhythm.

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