How MacondoTek helped Banco Itaú Colombia replace physical laptop provisioning with PCI-compliant AWS WorkSpaces — cutting onboarding time from days to hours.
Banco Itaú Colombia, part of one of Latin America's largest financial institutions, faced recurring delays in onboarding new providers and employees due to physical laptop provisioning and complex VPN configuration. MacondoTek assessed the client's needs and delivered a proof of concept of AWS WorkSpaces — providing secure, PCI-compliant virtual desktops integrated with Itaú's Active Directory, internal systems, and corporate security standards. The result: onboarding dropped from days to hours, with zero physical devices required and full auditability from day one.
Banco Itaú is one of the largest financial institutions in Latin America, formed through the merger of Banco Itaú and Unibanco in 2008. With operations across multiple South American countries and headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil, Itaú provides retail and corporate banking, investment management, and insurance services. Banco Itaú Colombia operates under strict PCI-DSS and financial regulatory requirements for all systems accessed by employees and third-party providers.
MacondoTek is a cloud consulting and professional services firm headquartered in Atlanta, USA, with nearshore delivery teams across Latin America, specializing in cloud architecture, data platforms, and application modernization on AWS. As an AWS Advanced Tier Partner with Service Delivery Program designations for Amazon RDS and Amazon DynamoDB, MacondoTek supports organizations across the full cloud lifecycle, from migration through cloud-native development to 24/7 managed operations. Its proprietary MTK CloudOpps platform powers FinOps and cost governance engagements with enterprise-wide visibility across large multi-account AWS environments, including deep experience serving financial services organizations that must balance reliability, security, and compliance with cost optimization.
Banco Itaú Colombia faced recurring obstacles in the delivery and configuration of computer equipment for new providers and employees. Physical laptop provisioning required procurement lead times measured in days, creating onboarding delays that directly impacted operational efficiency and the speed at which new providers could begin contributing.
In parallel, the bank needed a solution that ensured comprehensive connectivity to internal software systems required by different departments — while meeting the highest security standards mandated by financial regulators and PCI-DSS auditors. Existing VPN-based access added complexity and was difficult to control and audit consistently across a growing provider base.
MacondoTek conducted a detailed assessment of Itaú Colombia’s onboarding processes, security requirements, and existing infrastructure. Based on the findings, MacondoTek proposed and implemented a proof of concept of AWS WorkSpaces — cloud-based virtual desktops providing fully customizable, secure environments accessible from any device with an internet connection.
The solution included:
The proof of concept demonstrated that AWS WorkSpaces could replace physical laptop provisioning for new providers and employees entirely. Onboarding time dropped from days to hours — eliminating hardware procurement delays, VPN configuration complexity, and the security risks of unmanaged devices.
Virtual desktops met PCI-DSS requirements verified by external auditors, including strict access controls, security and monitoring software, and network ingress/egress controls. Employees and contractors can access their virtual desktops from any device and location, while IT retains centralized control over images, software, and security policies. The successful PoC positioned Banco Itaú Colombia to scale WorkSpaces across additional departments and provider categories.
Replaced physical laptop provisioning with WorkSpaces ready in minutes — centralized images pre-loaded with corporate security tools, access controls, and software repositories, ready to assign to any new provider or employee.
Custom WorkSpace images encode Itaú's security standards, monitoring software, and access controls, meeting PCI-DSS requirements validated by external auditors — with strict network ingress/egress controls baked in from the start.
AWS Transit Gateway and Direct Connect bridge WorkSpaces to Itaú's on-premises systems and cloud applications, giving providers and employees full access to the tools they need without VPN complexity or risk.
MacondoTek supported Banco Itaú in delivering the proof of concept using credits provided directly by AWS — minimizing initial investment while validating the full solution in a production-like environment.
