We mainly use Drata as our GRC tool. Previously, we didn't have a GRC tool in-house. As a payment company, we must complete two annual audits: PCI for the payment card industry and SOC 2 Type 2, which most software companies also need. Without a GRC tool, we had separate contracts with each auditing firm, and they provided their tools for us to upload audit evidence. We had to produce the same evidence every year and manually upload it to these tools. If we changed auditors, we'd have to use new software each time, and our previous year's evidence stayed with the auditors. Now, with Data, we can store all our information in-house. Instead of auditors using their platforms, they come to Drata to access the evidence. Throughout the year, we upload and complete audit evidence in Drata, so during the audit period, auditors access what they need from the Drata platform. This means that when we change auditors, it doesn't matter who they are as long as they can access Drata.

Data contains evidence that InfoSec-related audits are often similar. About 30-40% of SOC 2 evidence can be used for PCI audits. Previously, we had to produce separate evidence for each audit and send it to different auditors. Everything lives in Drata, and we can use the sameevidence for PCI and SOC 2 audits. Drata’s cross-mapping between evidence and requirements makes this possible.

Drata keeps adding new features, allowing us to build our entire InfoSec program within it. Adding new components and evidence for different audits is easy. Drata also integrates with various software, like ticketing systems, source code control, and cloud platforms, continuously pulling evidence from these integrations. Without a GRC tool with these integrations, we used to gather evidence from different software during audits manually.

Drata has a significant impact on our security posture management. Previously, Drata had features for security posture management, primarily through integration with AWS. For example, it would scan AWS for specific security requirements, like ensuring all S3 buckets are private. It will be reported on the Drata platform if it finds a public bucket.

Recently, Drata introduced a new feature that uses an infrastructure-as-code approach. This feature detects issues and provides AI-generated suggestions for fixing them. If an organization uses infrastructure-as-code solutions like Terraform, Drata will suggest changes to the Terraform code to address the issues. You can then review and apply these changes to fix the problems. This is particularly useful when dealing with many topics, as it helps automate and speed up the process of implementing fixes. However, this AI-generated code feature is part of Drata’s upsell options. The basic version of Drata offers limited capabilities compared to the advanced features available with a paid upgrade.

Even without this new feature, Drata's security posture management is valuable, as it scans cloud environments for deviations from defined security baselines. Many tools offer similar capabilities, but Drata’s new feature that translates issues into actionable fixes is a notable advancement. This benefits teams with the capability and resources to use this tool effectively.

There is room for improvement in Drata. The core features are solid, but some new features are in a very MVP (Minimum Viable Product) stage. They work, but the user experience isn't always smooth. While the core features are well-developed compared to the market, the new features need more polish. They could benefit from more user feedback and iterations to make them more useful. Some of these new features look promising buthave flaws, so we can’t fully adopt them or justify paying extra for them now. The user interface is clean and intuitive. However, you'll need some specific knowledge if you're a security policy manager or need to set updifferent integrations.

I have been using Drata for more than one year.

I've never noticed Drata having stability issues, like bugs or breakdowns. It doesn’t have high real-time availability requirements, so minor outages usually go unnoticed unless they last for a day or more. I've never seen latency or significant downtime.

Regarding scalability, Drata works well for small to medium-sized businesses withfewer than 500 employees like ours. However, I can't speak to its performance for large enterprises with thousands of employees. For us, it handles our cloud footprint adequately, but there could be issues with some features at a larger scale. For example, its access management lacks batch review capabilities, which could be problematic for large organizations. Reviewing every software and access in a vast enterprise might become excessively complex without betterscaling solutions.

The support team at Drata is top-notch, the best I’ve seen. They have two main types of support: technical support for software or integration issues and auditing support from experienced consultants for audit-related advice. Technical support is excellent, with quick response times. For auditing support, they handle more straightforward issues through live chat within the software, but for more complex problems, I reach out to our customer success manager. We can collaborate through meetings or document sharing; they’re always willing to discuss questions face-to-face if needed. Overall, I have nothing but praise for their support.

Positive

Compared to other tools we tried before adopting Drata, Drata stands out. Many tools either have fundamental features with a clean UI but limited functionality or offer similar features to Drata but with a complicated, hard-to-use interface. Drata has achieved a good balance between itsfeatures and usability. However, it could become problematic if they continue adding features without maintaining thisbalance. For now, Drata is in a good place regarding usability and complexity.

Drata's pricing is quite reasonable. Compared to other tools in the market, including its biggest competitor, Vanta, Drata is much cheaper. Even compared to other tools like AuditBoard, which aren’t as good, Drata’s price remains competitive.

Overall, I would rate Drata a ten. I would recommend it to others. For new users, I advise relying heavily on their support team, especially if you're not experienced in compliance. The support team is accommodating and reliable.

Regarding integration capabilities, I’d rate it an eight. Drata supports many primary software tools, but there are still some gaps. For example, they currently only support Salesforce for CRM and do not yet support HubSpot, which many people use. They’re good with the integrations they offer, but there’s room for improvement in coverage.

I use the solution in my company to apply for SOC 2 certification and to take notes on some controls that we have in AWS and other stuff.

I wish the tool were more granular with some configurations about the controls or the platforms. I don't know whether the information and the way that we share it with third parties could be made more granular, if the benefit could be done, and if it would be a fine product.

The product can improve in its API documentation area.

I have been using Drata for a year and eight months. I am the solution's customer.

I never had any issues with the stability of the product.

I was impressed the first time using Drata because you could put all the data that you have in all across all the platforms over there. Drata tells you how good or bad you will be for applying for those certifications. I rate the tool's scalability a nine out of ten.

In the cybersecurity team, three or four people used to use the tool. The rest of the team used only the agents in their laptops.

I didn't use the solution's technical support a lot, but when I had to, it was great. I had no problem. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

Positive

The product is really expensive. I remember that my company used to pay 25,000 USD to use the product, but I can recommend it to those who have no team and still need a certification, evidence or anything related to such areas. The product's cost is really high, but it is a powerful tool.

Impact of the product on your company's security posture management has been great because we had a team of three people in the security part, and I was their technical leader. In our company, we have a CIO and an operations team. We have only three people on the team, and Drata helps us to increase and enhance the maturity of our controls and evidence for future auditing and other compliance assessments.

With the automated evidence feature of the product, we connected all our platforms, like Amazon, and then we connected with GitHub Enterprise to get information about the outbound application. Data has a control panel for third parties so that they can read or know what controls are working and how, which is a breaking advantage for such a tool.

The product is 100 percent friendly to use.

I rate Drata's integration capabilities as an eight out of ten.

If I have ten people with Excel and fully commit to write the controls, then maybe we won't require Drata. If you have a small team, and you want to hurry up with things in your company, Drata is the perfect solution.

I rate the tool an eight out of ten.