Audora:
Cybersecurity & Audit Automation Platform
Back in November 2022, we embarked on a new and exciting development journey together with Audora’s co-founders.
We started with ideation sessions to map out the core value proposition of Audora and draw down the specific burning needs the platform was meant to address. From there, we quickly created the user personas and the first set of wireframes, refined them into Figma prototypes - and brought the foundation of Audora to life.
The Audora web platform, developed by Thinslices, aims to empower companies in the audit industry, to streamline the audit process via transparent, standardized processes. This easy-to-use platform removes repeatable, manual work, helping auditees and auditors focus on the big picture while enabling lower operational costs of audit.
Audora is the leading cybersecurity automation platform revolutionizing the auditing industry by turning disjointed siloes and inefficient workflows into a unified, transparent process. Built by auditors, for auditors, Audora’s advanced technology offers a centralized hub that streamlines cybersecurity audits like SOC 2, enhances efficiency, ensures accuracy, and optimizes audit team capacity.
The foundation of Audora's success lies in its team of experts, comprising seasoned professionals from compliance and cybersecurity backgrounds. The platform's effectiveness is underscored by its impressive achievements, including a high Net Promoter Score (NPS) and significant engagements with Fortune 200 companies. With an average of over 8.5 years in cybersecurity experience among its employees, Audora is not just a tool but a strategic partner for audit firms, enhancing their capabilities to secure and optimize audit processes while delivering exceptional value to their clients.
Thinslices is committed to empowering Audora by exercising what we do with every start-up we work with - We focus on delivering quality technology, enabling entrepreneurs to realize their dreams.
“Regular transparent communication sessions have allowed us to seamlessly synchronize our product development with Audora's objectives.
Thinslices leveraged its technical expertise not only to meet but exceed Audora's needs. In parallel, the Audora team provided valuable insights into the context and perspective of end customers."
Audit processes are known to be labor-intensive and time-consuming. Auditors often deal with vast amounts of data from various sources, which poses challenges for data management and analysis.
Furthermore, non-compliance can lead to legal issues and financial penalties. Overall, the audit process is done manually. This can sometimes lead to a lack of transparency and susceptibility to human error in audit creation.
Further market challenges identified:
Following a deep understanding of market challenges and client requirements, our solution was to help the client build a web platform that automates manual processes associated with audit processes. Over the course of six months (February - October 2023), a team was assigned to work on creating the Audora MVP.
During Phase 1, our goal was to understand client needs and requirements for the Audora MVP, as well as the benefits the product would provide. Together with the client, we identified that the Audora platform had to be:
After establishing the needs and requirements for the MVP, the estimated time to market for the release was established at 5 months.
In this phase, our primary focus was precision rather than market speed. However, we take pride in successfully developing a complex and functional MVP within the designated timeframe and estimated budget. As a result, the Audora web platform is now fully operational and ready for use by at least one client.
For Phase 2, a multi-disciplinary team of people (project manager, product lead, software development lead, UI/UX Design lead, 4 x Frontend Software Engineers, 3 x Backend Software Engineers, QA Automation Engineer, and Key Account Manager) was assigned to work on building the Audora MVP.
Together, we decided to divide the product roadmap into three main stages:
Following the development timeline and product roadmap, we had to determine the most suitable software development practices and establish reliable delivery KPIs.
We prioritized a holistic approach that included Test-driven development, Refactoring, and Simple Design principles. To enhance code quality, we chose Pair Programming as a collaborative technique. It helped us foster better communication, shared knowledge, and faster issue resolution, ultimately ensuring efficient development cycles and easier delivery of the main KPIs.
Throughout development, we monitored our progress using Velocity Chart and Burndown Chart as key metrics. These delivery KPIs helped us deliver valuable insights into our team's performance while staying on track to meet project milestones efficiently.
For our code release strategy, we adopted continuous delivery for the Staging environment. It streamlined the testing and validation process, allowing team members to catch and address issues early in the development pipeline. This approach ensured that the code was thoroughly tested and validated in a production-like environment before being released to users, reducing the risk of introducing defects into the live system.
For the Production environment, we went with Release on demand. The testing strategy included, from beginning to end, System Tests, Acceptance/Business Tests, and Unit and Functional Tests.
“The proposed technical infrastructure has been designed to support the Quality Attributes of the software project, including scalability, reliability, and security. In the process, we analyzed a mix of on-premise and cloud-based resources and proposed the solution we think is the best fit given the current project context.“
A decision was made to implement a serverless infrastructure on top of Amazon Web Services (AWS). This decision was based on the proficiency of our developers with the vast range of services offered by AWS and on Audora’s previous experience with AWS.
On a scale from 1 (easy) to 5 (hard), we rated the cost of changing the infrastructure at a 4 due to the following reasons:
However, it didn’t require any code rewrite or migration, which was an important reason for choosing to go with AWS.
To implement the API Application, Node.js was used as the runtime environment and TypeScript as the programming language. Regarding code repository, our team chose Github it offered robust version control, collaboration tools, and a user-friendly interface, making it ideal for our development needs.
In terms of UI/UX, our goal was to craft a seamless yet easy user experience. For Audora, the journey began with the creation of proto-personas, which gave us invaluable guidance throughout the design process.
We mapped out the user's journey, ensuring every interaction has meaning. The visual UI style guide, including typography, color palette, and UI elements, established a consistent and visually appealing interface. High-fidelity prototypes brought our core use cases to life, ensuring the end product was both functional and engaging for the end user.
Key UI/UX deliverables included:
Due to our team’s dedication to the project and hands-on expertise in building exceptional digital products the Audora MVP was released on time and within the estimated budget. This allows the client to carry out further initiatives planned for October 2023 - sending the MVP to the first batch of clients and integration with leading security and compliance platforms.
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