Driving Vodafone Greece's CoreIT modernization journey, I designed, setup a team and implemented the CELL platform.

CELL platform is a Kubernetes-based middleware, aiming to accomodate Vodafone Greece's CoreIT enterprize needs, and modernize the Core IT legacy stack using modern technologies.

Project Overview

• Designed and implemented CELL (Componentized Enterprise Logical Layer), a microservices-based architecture for Vodafone Greece.
• Leveraged the TMForum Open Digital Architecture (ODA) blueprint to modernize complex Core IT systems.
• Addressed operational bottlenecks and improved scalability, efficiency, and reusability of microservices.

Key Achievements

1. Automation:
   • Eliminated manual API deployment tasks with Kubernetes Operators, reducing setup time from 2 weeks to 3 seconds.
   • Achieved seamless scaling and regression testing with cluster replication in 16 minutes.
2. Release Management:
   • Solved conflicts in microservices updates by bundling them into reusable, independent CELL Components.
   • Minimized cross-team dependencies using the InnerSource collaboration model.
3. Technology Integration:
   • Developed Kubernetes Operators and used Terraform for infrastructure orchestration and ArgoCD for application deployment.
   • Adopted Apisix Gateway for API exposure and Keycloak for authentication, ensuring secure and scalable API management.

Technical Highlights

• Microservices Development: Used Quarkus for Java-based microservices with Kubernetes-native capabilities.
• Declarative Infrastructure: Standardized deployments using Helm Charts and ODA Component YAML for Kubernetes environments.
• Reusable Architecture: Created a plug-and-play system for deploying microservices across clusters with no additional configuration.

Tech Stack

• Infrastructure: Kubernetes, Terraform, ArgoCD
• API Gateway: Apisix, Keycloak
• Programming Languages: Java (Quarkus), YAML
• CI/CD: Helm, Kubernetes Operators

Results

• Reduced manual operations, saving time and improving efficiency across development and deployment workflows.
• Enhanced scalability and modularity, enabling quick adaptation to evolving business needs.
• Boosted team productivity by decoupling responsibilities and enabling parallel progress.

Public & Media

2025

• Interview with TMForum. Interviewed about the adoption of the TMForum ODA standard and implementation of the ODA Canvas.

Vodafone Greece leads the way on automation with ODA Canvas

Vodafone Greece is already benefiting from automating live operations with ODA Canvas, prior to it becoming general available in 2025, as the company’s Principal Architect Platforms Design, Christos Sotiriou, explains in an interview with Inform.

Joanne Taaffe

2024

CELL: Reimagining IT Infrastructure in Vodafone Greece

Adopting the TMForum ODA Architecture to modernize Vodafone Greece’s IT Systems

Vodafone techVodafone

CELL has been presented during Athens Kubernetes Meetup 22 - you can watch the recording here: