Prancer Enterprise: Tailored for your Business to Satisfy your Governance Requirements

“The true benefit of using the Prancer framework is compliance; you can scan the infrastructure code before it is deployed to the cloud.”

Companies are now moving their on-premise workload to the cloud and they are using various techniques to streamline this transition. Some companies use manual provisioning of resources in the Azure or AWS cloud. With this approach, they browse the cloud portal interface and then click and create resources to configure them. Companies can use more advanced tools according to their requirements and have more resources available on the cloud with the help of automation. They may have solutions engineered for the automation or they could use provisional engines like Terraform or some other available networks. When the code runs, they can provision a thousand different resources in the cloud.

The problem with this occurs with the application of security guardrails to the code to be deployed to the cloud. Configurations can be applied by anyone with the access to the cloud and they could potentially deploy resources which are not in compliance with the company standards.

Prancer offers continued compliance security software that scans the cloud to ensure that all resources are up-to-date and the cloud provider is configuration drift free, either by code or by manually changing attributes.

Prancer Enterprise was founded in 2019 with office headquarters located in San Diego, California.

In an Interview with Farshid Mahdavipour, Prancer Enterprise CEO

Q. What sets your company apart from your competitors?

Prancer is doing the pre-deployment validation for the infrastructure code that is being deployed to the cloud. It does pre-deployment security scanning of the code to make sure the code complies with the company security guardrails, and post deployment scanning of the monitored resources in the cloud. In sense, we provide a continued compliance security scanning tool in the cloud to make sure all the resources meets standards and there is no configuration drift in the cloud provider, either through the code or manually.

Q. In this modern business world, what does the term “A Smart Company” mean to you?

A smart company, in my view, is a company that leverages Artificial Intelligence techniques to accomplish repetitive tasks which are currently done by man. Manually scanning the content of the infrastructure code to find security related problems is cumbersome and error prone. Prancer validation framework will automate the compliance scanning of your infrastructure as code in your build and release pipelines to make sure you have a compliant environment.

Thinking about security and how to proactively put the security guardrails in place is smart. It helps you be secure and prevents your company from being the target of attacks. It also gives your customers peace of mind.

Q. What challenges did you face in your rolling out your SaaS software for companies?

Reaching out to potential customers in a B2B market is always a challenge. We are in the process of releasing our Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution for Prancer validation framework. Companies can sign up for the service and start using the validation framework without the hassle of maintaining the infrastructure. We also have a freemium subscription tier for companies that want to implement a Proof of Concept (POC) of our product.

Q. What does ‘security’ mean to your company?

Security is a general term and it can cover so many different things. When we start talking about security, we talk about different layers and levels of protection. The great thing about the Prancer framework is that those security rules are not hard coded into the heart of the product. We have a JSON file, and in that JSON file we coded the security rules that we are checking. Based on those rules, we will do the security scanning. So it is flexible. Obviously, the security subject is an evolutionary subject to talk about. Everyday new vulnerabilities arise, and security software must adjust accordingly. Moving forward, the available compliances should evolve in order to support the detection of new vulnerabilities.

Q. Fostering a culture of feedback is crucial to the success of every organization. How is this true with your company?

Prancer cloud validation framework is a result of years of experience in the cloud area and leveraging the feedback of the projects to implement a solution. In other words, Prancer cloud validation framework exists because we listen to the customers involved in projects where we are implementing the cloud. We will continue using the power of user feedback to keep the Prancer framework competitive and relevant in the market.

Q. About adaptability, how do you stay relevant to the consumer interests and needs in this highly volatile market?

Prancer cloud validation framework has a comparison engine that can be programmed to suit any needs. In the Prancer framework, we have different connectors to connect to various cloud providers, including Azure, AWS or Google cloud. Prancer also has a connector to connect to the git repositories and file system. Prancer can crawl the cloud provider to find available resources. Based on the available compliance tests, it conducts the validation of the resources to make sure those monitored resources meet specific standards. Any non-compliance item will be reported to the parties.

Q. How often do you innovate? Is it only when there is a need in the market?

We, at Prancer, believe that the need for the validation framework for the cloud infrastructure code is not fully understood yet. I have meetings with clients to talk about the Prancer validation framework and they mistakenly compare it to available compliance tools in the market. The true benefit of using the Prancer framework compliance; you can scan the infrastructure code before it is deployed to the cloud.

It is smart to proactively think about the security of your environment and even smarter when you apply the AI tools to accomplish this important task.

Q. Do you have any new products ready to be launched?

Prancer validation framework premium edition is ready to be launched and will be generally available in a couple of months. It is a SaaS platform for companies that want to use the Prancer framework without managing the devices in their network.

Currently, we are running an invitation only sign up process for qualified companies. They will be given a full-blown SaaS solution with all the features and we will start rolling it out to the public by end of the year.

The Prancer premium edition has a web interface for ease of use. Companies can use cloud or a file system connector to connect to their API backend. Also, we have available master test files based on the industry compliance standards.

The Brain behind the Success of Prancer Enterprise

Farshid Mahdavipour is the CEO of Prancer Enterprises. He has more than 20 years of experience in the IT sector and has purely focused on cloud technologies for the past decade. He has successfully implemented cloud native applications and workload migration projects to cloud for many Fortune 500 companies. His expertise is in infrastructure code and securing networks from attacks.

“Prancer cloud validation framework is a result of years of experience in the cloud area and leveraging the feedback of the projects to implement a solution.”