Galvanize

Galvanize, which now operates under the name Diligent, was originally founded as ACL Services in 1987 by Hartmut Will and his son Harald Will. The company originated from the University of British Columbia and for many years focused on providing analytics software for audit, risk management, and compliance professionals. A significant transformation began in 2011 with the arrival of Laurie Schultz as CEO, who was tasked with reinventing the company's technology, business model, and culture. A key milestone in this evolution was the acquisition of Workpapers.com, which was instrumental in shifting ACL's products to a cloud-based, subscription model.

In 2019, following the acquisition of Rsam, a prominent governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management company, ACL rebranded to Galvanize. This change was intended to reflect its expanded offerings beyond analytics to an integrated GRC platform. The business serves a broad range of clients, including a majority of the Fortune 1000 and S&P 500 companies, as well as hundreds of banks, manufacturers, and government organizations across 140 countries. Revenue is generated through a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model, where clients subscribe to its platform.

The company's core offering is the HighBond platform, an integrated, cloud-based solution that combines security, risk management, compliance, and audit software. This platform is designed to unify these functions, providing organizations with greater visibility into risk and simplifying compliance management. It features capabilities for data integration and robotic process automation, allowing clients to automate tasks and gain deeper insights into their risk profiles. In February 2021, Galvanize was acquired by Diligent Corporation for a reported $1 billion USD, a move aimed at creating the largest global GRC SaaS provider.

Keywords: governance risk compliance, GRC software, audit management, risk management software, compliance automation, internal controls, ACL Services, HighBond platform, Diligent, enterprise risk management, SaaS, regulatory compliance, data analytics, internal audit, policy management, IT risk management, third-party risk management, security management, financial controls, robotic process automation