PulseGRC is a Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) tool that is able to identify corporate risks and categorize them appropriately. But it doesn’t stop there. It can also analyze and prioritize risks and identify and evaluate control responses. The software facilitates report generation which is crucial to Risk Management. PulseGRC was an Outsourced Product Development project where Neev contributed as a technology partner. PulseGRC is also unique and appealing to On-Demand and On-Premise users because of its availability on both platforms which is uncommon in GRC applications.

The Client

Audit & Risk Software Solutions Ltd (ARSoft), the company behind PulseGRC was founded in 2009 and has offices in the United Kingdom and India. They have over 50 years of experience in risk, control, and audit, product development and support.

Business Need

The client wanted a technology partner who would assist them with the implementation of a complete suite of tools for Risk Management aptly called ‘PulseGRC’. They did not want to compromise on user friendliness and the ease of understanding the business flow and scalability.

Neev Solution

Neev helped the client in deciding whether the final software must be based on an On-Demand or an On-Premise model. To achieve this end, Neev clearly explained the differences between the two models. ARSoft also chose ASP.NET to develop the SaaS application, which was a relatively new experience for Neev. Apart from product development, Neev also performed functional Quality Assurance and Testing activities. The UI was designed to aid the decision making process. Neev also ensured a consistent look and feel across the application. Neev brought in years of expertise to make the final product more user friendly and made it easier to understand the business flow. PulseGRC also provides a uniquely holistic view of the risk exposure, which is crucial to its working.

Technology footprint

• Windows Server 2008
• ASP.NET
• .NET 3.5 And C#
• nHibernate
• SQL Server 2008
• IIS 6

Top features

• PulseGRC automates key risk processes. Workflows are based around risk processes such as Risk Identification and Risk Acceptance.

PulseGRC tracks responsibilities:

• Dashboard includes real-time data, alerts and notifications
• Stakeholders are notified on various activities
• Alerts ensure that processes are on track and deadlines are met

PulseGRC is secure:

• Offers strong access controls
• Users can only see what they are authorized to see
• Maintains a log of changes to data and sign offs that help ensure accountability
• Software as a Service (SaaS) instance hosted in a secure cloud computing environment

PulseGRC is scalable:

• Allows for unlimited users to be created
• As the organization grows, additional functionality can be added as required

Top Challenges

• The major challenge in designing an On-Demand version was to design a scalable database model, which can manage both SaaS and On-premise.
• It was also necessary to migrate the code between databases, for which Hibernate was used.
• We had previously implemented SaaS applications using only Java and ROR (Ruby on Rails). Hence, using ASP.NET for implementing the same was a new experience.