Resolving risk platform flaws for a multinational banking group to achieve regulatory confidence

The challenge

One of Japan's largest banking groups inherited a ServiceNow risk platform riddled with heavy customisation and functionality gaps. Users experienced poor performance and workflows that didn't align with how risk teams operated. DORA compliance requirements loomed.

What we did

Pulsar conducted comprehensive assessments of BCM, VRM, and Operational Resilience implementations to catalogue customisations and pain points. The team developed a clear remediation roadmap reverting to out-of-the-box functionality, then deployed resources to fix issues and implement proper module capabilities.

30,000+

Employees

50+

Countries

5/5

CSAT score

DORA

Compliance ready

Right technology, wrong execution

With over 30,000 employees operating across more than 50 countries, the client's significance as a financial services institution meant its operational resilience and risk management capabilities underpin its position in global markets. They had invested in ServiceNow's risk and resilience capabilities, but the original implementation created more problems than it solved.

Heavy customisation and functional gaps manifested as performance issues and poor user experience. The platform that should have streamlined risk management was becoming an obstacle. Users encountered slow response times and workflows that didn't match how risk teams actually worked.

The bank faced a dilemma: continue investing in a platform that wasn't delivering, abandon substantial sunk costs and start over, or find a partner who could untangle the mess and realise the value ServiceNow promised.

Diagnosing before delivering

Pulsar's approach started with understanding precisely what had gone wrong. The team conducted comprehensive assessments of BCM, Vendor Risk Management, and Operational Resilience implementations — cataloguing customisations, documenting pain points, and mapping current usage against out-of-the-box capability.

With the roadmap agreed, Pulsar deployed resources across the risk and resilience technology architecture. Teams worked on remediating issues, upgrading to current platform versions, and implementing proper TPRM, BCM, Operational Resilience, IRM, and Security Operations capabilities. Consultants worked alongside the client's internal team to upskill employees for independent platform maintenance.

Risk management that finally functions

The business now operates a mature risk and resilience platform that supports global operations. BCM provides the visibility resilience teams need. TPRM supports vendor assessment at scale. Operational Resilience capabilities give the team the integrated view required for critical business services. The platform now supports technology control management and positions the company to demonstrate DORA compliance.

The engagement delivered a 5 out of 5 customer satisfaction score. More importantly, risk teams can now focus on managing risk rather than grappling with their tools.
Solutions delivered

Business Continuity Management

Digitised continuity planning for rapid recovery.

Third Party Risk Management

Standardised supplier assessment at scale.

Operational Resilience

Connected view of critical services for DORA.

Explore capability

Risk Management

Centralised risk identification and monitoring.

Explore capability
Outcomes

The results

01

Eliminated technical debt by replacing customisations with configured native functionality

02

Responsive platform performance with intuitive workflows matching risk team operations

03

Enterprise-wide BCM visibility for resilience planning and testing

04

Scalable Third Party Risk Management supporting vendor assessment

05

Integrated Operational Resilience view for managing critical business services

06

Technology control management capabilities for DORA compliance

07

5 out of 5 customer satisfaction score

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