Case Study

Escaping the Security Questionnaire Treadmill

How a water management SaaS company completed its SOC 2 certification in a fraction of the time and a fraction of the cost and was able to meet the security expectations of its customers and prospects.

Fracta provides a cutting-edge condition assessment solution that uses Machine Learning to assess the condition and risk of drinking water distribution mains. Water utilities from all around the world have relied on Fracta to improve their water main systems.

The Challenge

Sales prospects – and some current customers too – were demanding that Fracta be SOC 2 certified or spend the time to answer lengthy, time-consuming questionnaires. No one in the company was a SOC 2 expert, and the initial quote the company got from an outside compliance firm was well outside what the company had budgeted.

“We were spending a lot of time answering endless 100-question security questionnaires from sales prospects. We knew there was a better way. Akitra got us through the SOC 2 certification process efficiently and cleanly, and provided all the expert support we needed. Now we can typically deal with those customer prospects just by handing them our SOC 2 report. It’s a lot easier to close business now.”

Jearld Waitkus

Software Architect and Compliance Officer

Akitra's Solution

The company contacted Akitra, and quickly put the Akitra Andromeda compliance automation platform in place. It began to shine a light on compliance holes that needed to be addressed, while also helping the company systematically think through its compliance policies. Akitra provides a complete set of default policies, which can be easily customized – or, where appropriate, replaced by the client’s current policies.

The Result

Fracta obtained its SOC 2 certification in very timely fashion, and at a price that fit comfortably within its budget, saving over 50% vs the principal alternative solution. The company is now in a position where it is not only SOC 2 certified, but can continuously monitor workstations and cloud services to ensure it stays continuously compliant. It is well positioned to be able to complete its next audit even more efficiently, knowing that all the systems, processes and automated evidence collection are already in place.

“Akitra’s support was really excellent, giving us access to experts who helped us to understand the nature of the evidence required — either evidence automatically collected by Akitra Andromeda or the kind that we ourselves needed to provide.”