How We Built a Risk Management System for an International Company: A Real-Life Project Story

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Managing risks across multiple international branches while staying compliant with internal security policies is no easy task. That was exactly the challenge our client, a global enterprise with operations spanning several continents, was facing. They needed a centralized Risk Management System that could tie together their security framework, user access rules, and workflow automation across the board.

SaM Solutions’ development team built a custom enterprise risk management (ERM) module based on .NET, which became part of a larger system, to bring visibility, control, and efficiency to how the company handles risks.

Read on to discover how we approached this project step by step. And if you’re tackling something similar, we’d be happy to talk.

Rely on SaM Solutions’ vast expertise in .NET development to deliver your .NET-powered product or custom software.

Client’s Business Request

Our client is a global technology leader in the fields of electrification and automation, operating in over 140 countries with a workforce of around 160,000 employees. With such a massive international presence, they needed smarter tools to manage complexity, especially when it came to risk management and internal workflows.

One of the key challenges was the legacy setup: many processes were built around Lotus Notes forms that had become outdated and difficult to maintain. The client saw this as an opportunity not just to migrate away from the old system, but to rethink and modernize their entire approach.

At the top of the priority list was building a centralized Risk Management Module — a solution that would work across all branches worldwide and integrate tightly with the company’s security systems, user roles and permissions, and approval workflows. The system also needed to provide clear visualizations and intuitive organization of risks, making it easier for teams to assess and act on risk data.

But that was just part of the picture. Our task also included:

• Developing an IT solution for the company’s R&D center, tailored to their internal processes and global collaboration needs.
• Building a separate module for reporting, manpower budgeting, cross-budgeting, and multistage approval workflows to support financial planning and transparency across departments.

Understanding the Client’s Needs

When we started working with the client, it was clear they weren’t just looking for a new system — they were looking for a way to regain control over a set of critical processes that had become increasingly difficult to manage at scale.

It wasn’t just about replacing a legacy system. They wanted to rethink how risk and process management worked across their global structure.

Like many large enterprises, they were dealing with the following hurdles.

• Fragmented data structure: Dozens of unorganized Lotus Notes forms were scattered across departments and countries, each with its own logic and purpose. There was no single source of truth for managing risks.
• Access issues: User permissions were inconsistent. Some users had too much access, while others didn’t have enough, leading to both security concerns and bottlenecks in daily operations.
• Data integrity problems: Without a unified system, keeping data accurate, up-to-date, and synchronized across branches was a constant challenge. This increased the risk of errors and compliance violations.
• Limited visibility: There was no possibility to visually manage risks and prioritize them. Managers couldn’t easily see where issues were occurring, how they were being handled, or what the current risk landscape looked like.
• Manual and inconsistent approvals: Especially in the R&D division, approval workflows were overly complicated and handled manually, slowing down projects and introducing unnecessary friction.
• No unified risk management strategy: Each branch had its own way of assessing and responding to risks, which led to inconsistencies in how security and compliance standards were applied globally.

All of these issues were dragging the company down — slowing operations and creating unnecessary risks, both operational and regulatory. What they really needed was a single, flexible system that could bring everything together, work across all their international teams, and still be simple enough for anyone to use, both technical and non-technical staff.

Exploring Possible Solutions

At the start of the project, we explored a few different technology options. A complex, enterprise-wide, and security-focused system like this could technically be built using Java frameworks, Python-based back ends, PHP solutions, or even low-code enterprise platforms. Each option had its merits. But with so many moving parts, integration requirements, and a need for long-term scalability and support, we knew the choice of tech stack would have a big impact on the project’s success.

Why .NET Was the Best Option for the Project

In the end, .NET was the clear winner, and not just because it can handle large enterprise-level data efficiently and has built-in authentication and role-based access controls. 

The client already had several internal systems running on .NET and a well-established IT department with .NET expertise. They also used Microsoft technologies across the organization, which made integration and ongoing support much smoother. By choosing .NET, we were able to build on their existing ecosystem, ensure maintainability due to long-term support from Microsoft, and keep development efficient by working closely with their in-house team. For this project, continuing the series of .NET-based solutions just made sense.

How We Ran the Process 

With the technology stack in place and goals aligned, we followed an agile development process, working in sprints and keeping communication open with the client’s stakeholders. This allowed us to stay adaptable, deliver early value, and continuously refine the system based on real-world feedback.

To deliver a system of this scale and complexity, we assembled a cross-functional team, including:

• 2 Solution Architects (from the client’s side) — responsible for the overall system design and integration strategy
• 2 .NET Developers — focused on back-end development and business logic
• 3 Full-Stack Developers — implemented UI components and data visualizations
• 1 QA Engineer — handled test automation and manual testing across environments

This team worked in close collaboration with the client’s internal IT department, which also had .NET specialists who were gradually onboarded for support and future development.

Key features implemented

The entire system is built on .NET Core, with an SQL Server back end and a JavaScript front end based on the MVC pattern. We used CI/CD pipelines for streamlined deployments and hosted the system on Azure to ensure global availability, performance, and security.

Overcoming Challenges During the Development Process

Like any large-scale enterprise project, this one came with its own set of technical and organizational challenges. Here’s how we tackled the most critical ones.

Designing a flexible risk visualization component

One of the key requirements was to give users a visual understanding of risks across the organization. But with so many variables — regions, categories, severity levels, timelines — we needed to build a visualization component that was both flexible and user-friendly.

Our team designed a modular, interactive interface that allows risks to be grouped, filtered, and color-coded in real time. The final result gave users the ability to instantly grasp their risk landscape — without being overwhelmed by data.

Fine-tuning access control with the client

Implementing access rights wasn’t just about roles, it had to reflect the client’s organizational structure, operational models, and internal policies. We collaborated with the client to map their real-world hierarchy into a flexible permission system that could handle region-specific and department-specific access.

Through several iterations, we arrived at a model that was granular enough to meet security needs, but still easy to manage from an admin perspective.

Migrating data from legacy systems

The client had years’ worth of risk-related data stored across various Lotus Notes forms and spreadsheets. Migrating this into the new system while maintaining accuracy and relationships between records was a major task.

We created a custom migration pipeline to clean, transform, and import the data into the new structure, testing thoroughly to ensure data integrity at every step. This allowed users to start working in the new system without losing historical context.

Enabling real-time updates without extra overhead

In risk management, timing is everything — risks can appear or change daily. The system needed to support frequent updates without creating friction for users or overload for the support team.

To solve this, we focused on minimizing manual effort through smart defaults, inline editing, and change tracking. We also designed the system to match expected performance metrics and developed a disaster recovery plan.

Need to tackle a similar challenge?

If your organization is facing similar challenges with risk management, process automation, or system modernization — our team can help. At SaM Solutions, we combine deep technical expertise with a practical, business-oriented approach to deliver solutions that scale.

Dzmitry Verasau, Chief .NET Technologist

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