1. Introduction & Background: Setting the Stage
When Docker first approached us, they were facing an interesting challenge. They had already developed an incredibly powerful containerization platform, but now they wanted to specifically target a new(er) vertical—enterprise Financial Services Industry (FSI) clients.
As a tech company, Docker excels at creating insanely useful and super famous solutions for developers and IT teams. However, when it came to creating a long form white paper, enriched with data and statistics as well as testimonials and use cases – they were looking for some expert support.
TLDR: We needed to highlight the amazing services they offer into language, context, and applied examples that would land more effectively with FSI decision makers.
This is where we stepped in. Our goal was to bridge the gap between Docker’s technical expertise and the specific business needs of their FSI clients. The audience they were trying to reach needed clear insights and relevant data that spoke to their objectives in an FSI context.
As someone with deep experience in fintech and investment, we knew the right language to use and the key pain points to address. Together, we decided that a selection of case studies and a richly detailed white paper would be the best place to start.
The whole point of this project was to highlight the business outcomes of Docker’s solutions to FSI decision makers.
For example, we know that FSI execs care about things like reducing server costs, improving security, and simplifying compliance processes like SOC2 requirements.
We know that FSI developers need super fast development tools so they can minimise faults and downtime in their apps, because they have to have the best possible customer service reviews they can, otherwise they lose customers to churn because of how competitive fintech is.
That’s exactly where we focused the content of the whitepaper. Our role was to highlight their technical capabilities into clear business value, using examples and data that would resonate with enterprise FSI clients.
To spoil the ending for you a bit, this project went really well:
“We have contracted out to several other writers and our collaboration with you has by far been the smoothest and easiest. You have really raised the bar in terms of what we now know the experience can be like.”
- Chloe Cucinotta, Director of GTM Strategy at Docker
2. Identifying Key Pain Points: What Problems Did We Solve?
Docker had a clear goal—they needed to communicate their complex, technical offerings to a completely different audience: tech-stack decision-makers in the FSI sector.
We had to think carefully here about how to highlight to, for example, a VP of engineering at a major bank, how Docker’s Business subscription enables their business to grow and thrive.
Problem 1: Translation of Technical Talk into Financial Value
One of the first challenges was translating Docker’s highly technical offering into language that really resonated with financial executives.
For example, Docker has world-class expertise in containerization and orchestration—concepts that are second nature to developers but don’t mean quite as much to many of the decision making C-suite of a large bank or insurance company.
Our job was to break down those terms and show how Docker’s technology could impact business-critical areas like cost reduction, compliance, employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction, app development time, and scalability.
Luckily, this was super easy thanks in large part to how genuinely excellent Docker’s solutions are and how much evidence we could collect to demonstrate this.
So, what did we do? Well, instead of focusing on the technology itself, we reframed Docker’s capabilities in terms of business value.
For instance, we showed how a business subscription to Docker could help financial institutions move away from expensive, legacy infrastructure, reducing server costs by up to 40%.
This was a much more compelling argument to financial leaders who needed to see the bottom-line impact.
Problem 2: Industry-Specific Use Cases
Another key challenge was making Docker’s solutions relevant to the FSI sector specifically. Financial services is a highly regulated industry, and decision-makers are constantly focused on compliance, security, and operational efficiency.
We knew that generic tech case studies wouldn’t resonate with this audience—they needed to see examples that matched as closely as possible with their unique challenges.
So, we focussed down on the things that we knew were giving decision makers in the FSI space daily headaches and spoke to how Docker’s business subscription could alleviate a good deal of their misery 🙂
We used industry-specific use cases, like how Docker’s platform could simplify compliance reporting and support the secure, rapid development of new financial products.
By linking Docker’s features to real-world FSI challenges like regulatory audits and open banking frameworks, we made the whitepaper directly relevant to the target audience.
3. Process & Approach: How we Solved the Problem
When we began working with Docker, an important part of the process was to fully understand both their technology and the specific needs of their Financial Services Industry audience.
This meant some lovely and very detailed conversations with internal experts in Docker, as well a lottttt of reading and researching through Docker’s existing content on their website and through assets shared with us by the team.
Here’s how we approached the project step-by-step:
Step 1: Discovery and Research
We started by holding several discovery sessions with Docker’s technical teams. These sessions were core to understanding Docker’s main offerings—things like containerization, orchestration with Kubernetes, enhanced security features, and integration with cloud services like AWS, and things like that.
At the same time, we drew on our long standing expertise on the FSI sector. We drilled down on current challenges these clients face, like the Basel II changes, the move of money off balance sheets, the growth of alternative assets and tokenization, managing ancient clunky legacy systems, meeting regulatory requirements, and optimising operational costs.
During one of these sessions, Docker’s team emphasised the efficiency of their developer productivity features, including interoperability with other known technologies such as kubernetes.
We immediately saw the potential to frame this in a way that FSI clients would appreciate: faster application deployment and reduced server costs, two major pain points in their operational strategy.
We knew we had to position Docker as a solution that not only improved technical performance but also delivered measurable financial benefits.
Step 2: Curating the Message for Financial Leaders
Once we had a thorough understanding of Docker’s technical offerings, we translated those into language that would resonate with the good people of finance.
To do this, we structured the whitepaper to show the direct business impact of Docker’s features. We also made clear links throughout the piece between the problems our FSI readers were facing and the way that Docker business specifically solved for these exact problems.
Making the problem/solution structure the key focus of white paper was core to its success.
For example, we showed how Docker’s containerization and microservices approach could dramatically reduce the time-to-market for new financial products. By emphasising faster application delivery, we helped financial leaders understand how Docker business could support their strategic initiatives, like launching new digital banking platforms or upgrading their apps.
Step 4: Collaboration for Precision
Throughout the process, we maintained close collaboration with Docker’s teams to make sure the content was technically accurate while aligned with the needs of their target audience. This partnership is a crucial part of the overall success of any of my content work. It’s also a really fun part.
Keeping in touch with the Docker team through asynchronous feedback and edits, email, and online meetups made sure we were constantly striking the right balance between retaining the integrity of Docker’s technical capabilities and making the content accessible and relevant to their target FSI decision makers.
4. Showcase Real Solutions
Showcasing real solutions was the siren call of the project – it was the core focus for how we planned and created this whole asset.
Here’s how we used real-world scenarios to show the impact Docker could have on their business.
Example 1: Cost Efficiency Through Containerization
Financial institutions, especially large enterprises, are constantly looking for ways to reduce operational costs without compromising performance.
Docker’s containerization technology offers a clear solution by reducing infrastructure costs, and we needed to communicate this in a way that would resonate.
Applied Solution We framed Docker’s containerization as a direct path to reducing server costs by up to 40%, citing real-world examples from existing happy clients of Docker. By replacing thousands of virtual machines with lightweight Docker containers, financial institutions could reduce their data centre footprint, cut down on energy costs, and reduce maintenance needs.
This kind of cost reduction is a major motivator for FSI executives, who are often looking to cut back on infrastructure expenses. It also has excellent sustainability implications which is becoming more and more important as Millenial and Gen-Z users play a larger role in the fintech space.
Example 2: Accelerating Time-to-Market
One of the biggest challenges in the FSI sector is the long lead time required to bring new financial products to market. With legacy systems in place, development cycles can take months, slowing down innovation and leaving financial institutions vulnerable to more agile competitors.
It can also be a nightmare for the dev teams and cause a lot of undue suffering to the human souls who are trying to program, develop, launch, and update fintech apps.
Applied Solution In the whitepaper, we demonstrated how Docker’s containerization and microservices architecture could reduce development time by 65%, enabling financial institutions to bring new products to market in a fraction of the time it took them before partnering with Docker.
By drawing attention to faster release cycles, we showed how Docker’s technology directly impacted an institution’s ability to stay competitive.
Example 3: Enhancing Security and Compliance
FSI clients are not only concerned with speed and efficiency—they are also heavily focused on security and compliance. With the rise of data breaches and increasingly stringent regulations (like SOC 2 and GDPR), financial institutions need a platform that ensures the highest levels of security without slowing down operations.
Applied Solution We detailed how Docker’s security features, like enhanced container isolation and rootless Docker, significantly reduce the risk of vulnerabilities and data breaches.
We pointed out how Docker’s ability to reduce the time to fix vulnerabilities by 84x can give FSI clients the confidence that their infrastructure is secure and compliant with industry standards. This was particularly important for FSI institutions because they are subject to regular audits and need to be able to demonstrate compliance to regulators at the drop of a hat.
6. Lessons Learned & Takeaways
Through our experience working on Docker’s whitepaper, a few key lessons emerged that reinforced the value of precise content marketing tailored to industry-specific needs:
1. Translating Tech Solutions into Business Value Is Essential
One of the most important takeaways from this project is the need to shift from purely technical descriptions to business outcomes when addressing enterprise clients, especially in industries like financial services.
Decision-makers are less interested in the intricate details of how a technology works than in how it will drive profitability—they care about how it will reduce costs, improve compliance, and enhance the customer experience.
Highlighting Docker’s technical features into business language helped us connect their solution with the core concerns of their target audience, which was key to driving engagement.
2. Collaboration Is Key to Precision
Another takeaway was the importance of keeping open and continuous collaboration with Docker’s technical teams. Their insights allowed us to make sure the whitepaper remained technically accurate while also aligning with the business objectives of Docker’s own FSI clients.
3. Industry-Specific Content Drives Results
Deliberately creating content for the specific challenges of the financial services sector was the big win here.
Generalised tech messaging wouldn’t have landed with the FSI audience, but by creating specific use cases relevant to banking, insurance, and capital markets, we made sure Docker’s message reached the right people in the right way.
We love working with Docker, and we are very pleased to say that they liked working with us too:
“Alice is smart, thoughtful, a great communicator, and a pleasure to work with. Our collaboration in writing a technical white paper has been nothing short of spectacular. She calmly explained her creative process, shared deadlines, and met them accordingly. Her writing is customer-centric, both in regards to the information she’s relaying as well as the flow of the text. Overall, a great experience and we hope to work with her again in the near future.”
- Dan Stelzer, GTM Strategy Partner at Docker
7. How You Can Work With Us
This project with Docker demonstrated how translating complex technical solutions into language that is relevant and helpful to industry-specific audiences can be a game-changer.
We helped Docker position themselves as a strategic partner to enterprise FSI clients by bridging the gap between technology and business outcomes—a move that could be worth millions in potential ARR.
If you’re a tech company looking to do the same, we might work well together.
We specialise in creating content that turns your technical expertise into an impactful business narrative that speaks directly to the decision-makers in your target industries.
Whether it’s whitepapers, case studies, or full-scale content marketing campaigns, we help companies like yours communicate value clearly and effectively.
What we Can Do for You:
Translate your complex offerings into clear, impactful content that lands with financial executives, accredited and institutional investors, and VC’s.
Develop strategic content marketing materials like whitepapers, case studies, and eBooks that drive massive engagement and conversions.
Work closely with your team to make sure your message is technically accurate but also aligned with your business goals, helping you capture the highest-value clients.