On this page
De Volksbank's Journey to Becoming Data-Driven with Kafka Operator
De Volksbank, the parent company of SNS, ASN Bank, RegioBank, and BLGWonen, serves over 3 million customers across The Netherlands. As the country’s fourth-largest bank, their commitment to enhancing customer relationships and driving social impact led to a significant transformation in 2021. To support their new growth strategy, they needed to shift towards a more data-driven and customer-centric organization.
A key aspect of this shift was the realization that real-time data would play an essential role in achieving their goals. To power this, De Volksbank sought out innovative technology solutions that could handle their data needs in an efficient and scalable way. This is where the Kafka Operator came into play.
Why Kafka Operator?
Kafka Operator simplifies the management of Apache Kafka, an open-source platform designed for handling real-time data streams. For De Volksbank, Axual offered the ability to ingest, process, and analyze real-time data with the Strimzi operator, enabling them to respond to customer needs in a faster and more personalized way.
By adopting Kafka Operator, De Volksbank was able to:
- Automate Kafka management via Strimzi, reducing manual interventions and lowering operational overhead.
- Scale their data infrastructure seamlessly to handle increasing volumes of data.
- Streamline data across their diverse customer base, improving insights and decision-making in real time.
This integration of Kafka Operator into their architecture was crucial in supporting De Volksbank’s strategy to become more data-centric, enabling them to make timely, data-driven decisions that improve customer experience while also enhancing their societal impact.
The Road Ahead
De Volksbank’s success with Kafka Operator marks a critical step in their transformation journey, highlighting the importance of real-time data in modern banking. As they continue to evolve, the bank is well-positioned to leverage data to further strengthen customer relationships and pursue their social impact goals.
By embracing tools like teh Strimzi Operator, De Volksbank is not only enhancing its operational efficiency but also shaping the future of banking through data-driven innovation.
Read the full use case about how De Volkbank became more data-driven using Kafka operator
Answers to your questions about Axual’s All-in-one Kafka Platform
Are you curious about our All-in-one Kafka platform? Dive into our FAQs
for all the details you need, and find the answers to your burning questions.
Kafka Operator is a management tool that simplifies the deployment, configuration, scaling, and monitoring of Apache Kafka clusters within a Kubernetes environment. It leverages the Kubernetes Operator pattern, which is a way to manage complex applications using custom resources and controllers in Kubernetes.
The Kafka Operator works by leveraging the Kubernetes Operator pattern, which allows for the automated management of complex applications like Apache Kafka within Kubernetes clusters. Here’s an overview of how a Kafka Operator operates, detailing its key components and processes:
Axual is using Strimzi. Strimzi is an open-source Kafka operator designed to simplify the deployment and management of Apache Kafka clusters on Kubernetes and OpenShift. By utilizing the Strimzi Kafka Operator, Axual enhances its ability to offer reliable, scalable, and easily manageable Kafka services.
Related blogs

Apache Kafka is a powerful event-streaming platform, but does your enterprise need to go all in from day one? In this blog, we explore why starting small with Kafka is the best strategy. Learn how an incremental approach can help you reduce complexity, and scale efficiently as your needs grow. Whether you're new to Kafka or looking for a practical implementation strategy, this guide will set you on the right path.

Explore what Kafka software is used for, from enabling real-time data streaming to powering event-driven applications. Learn how it transforms industries with seamless data handling.

Apache Kafka software has revolutionized how businesses manage and process real-time data. Developed by the Apache Software Foundation, Kafka serves as a distributed event store and stream-processing platform, powering everything from financial transactions and logistics tracking to IoT data analysis and customer interaction monitoring. In this blog, we'll explore how Apache Kafka enables event streaming, its versatile use cases, and why it’s the backbone of modern, data-driven applications. Whether you're new to Kafka or looking to deepen your understanding, this guide offers insights to help you harness the power of real-time data.