Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) management is an integral part of an organization’s management strategy. Once the management identifies the benefit of adopting a GRC platform, the next question that comes up is that how to choose the best GRC platform suitable to your organization? Not all platforms are the same. The key is to set the right expectations and perform the due diligence before you choose your vendor.
We have highlighted 10 questions you should ask your vendor:
Companies opting for SaaS applications are on the rise. It is vital to know where your vendor is hosting your data in times of data sovereignty and GDPR. If you are opting for a SaaS GRC platform, which is a great choice of organizations, including small and mid-tier companies, you need to ask your vendor where they are hosting your data. Your vendor is your data processing application, make sure that you choose the best vendor who host the data in a secure virtual server. VComply is hosted in cloud, and makes sure that your data is secure and compliant at all the times.
Evaluate the features that the vendor offers. Compare the features with other vendors in the same price range. Analyze your organization’s GRC goals, whether the proposed application provides a structured approach to achieve your organizational goal, minimize your risks, and manage your compliance requirements.
The basic features that you can look out for in a GRC platform are:
VComply is tailor-made to meet the demands of compliance professionals by helping them perform risk assessments and implement controls. It comes with built-in compliance frameworks that enables you to automate the implementation of compliance controls. VComply’s workflow automation makes creating, assigning, and monitoring compliance responsibilities easier. It sends reminders to stakeholders who are entrusted to complete a responsibility. Automation can drastically improve compliance oversight, coordination, and collaboration.
Before selecting a GRC platform, it’s essential to define your organization’s unique needs, objectives, and goals. Consider the specific regulations and industry standards that apply to your business, as well as your risk management and governance priorities. Are you looking to streamline compliance with specific regulations, improve risk assessment and mitigation, enhance cybersecurity, or achieve broader governance objectives? Identifying your precise requirements will help you choose a platform that aligns with your goals.
A GRC platform should be intuitive and easy to use. Many of the legacy applications available in the market are complex and pose difficulties in using. When there is a gap in the customers’ expectations from a great GRC platform, it turns into bad UX costs. For example, if the user experience does not allow the user to create and assign a control quickly after a risk assessment, it fails the purpose of an effective GRC platform. Suppose the compliance team cannot collaborate on a document or a compliance obligation, or the leadership team do not get enough insights from the reports or dashboards. In that case, it can lead to wasted efforts, time, and frustration. In some cases, it can even add up to your tasks. Analyze the application based on these factors, and it should be easy for the platform to fit for your needs.
Compliance is considered an on-going process, and your tools should also embody that attribute. VComply evolves and proactively adapt to provide you enjoyable user experience. When it comes down to the nitty gritities of risk and compliance management, the dashboards and report should provide at-a glance information. The VComply suite is equipped to address this need and does so seamlessly to successful compliance efforts.
The ease of use and customization options are critical factors to consider. A user-friendly GRC platform will encourage adoption and enable your team to navigate the software efficiently. Additionally, the platform should be customizable to adapt to your organization’s unique processes and reporting needs. Look for a platform that allows you to configure workflows, dashboards, and reports to match your specific requirements.
Compliance is a significant aspect of GRC, and the platform you choose should provide robust compliance management features. Ensure the platform supports the specific regulations and standards relevant to your industry. It should allow you to track compliance tasks, automate compliance assessments, and generate compliance reports. Look for features like audit trails, evidence collection, and documentation management to simplify compliance efforts.
Effective risk management is at the core of GRC. The GRC platform should offer features for identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks across your organization. Consider whether it provides risk assessment methodologies, risk modeling, and scenario analysis. It should also facilitate the creation of risk registers and the monitoring of key risk indicators. Integration with internal and external data sources for risk assessment is another critical factor.
Collaboration is essential for GRC processes, as multiple stakeholders from different departments and roles often need to work together. Evaluate the platform’s capabilities for collaboration, including task assignments, document sharing, and communication tools. Additionally, robust reporting and analytics are vital for tracking performance and demonstrating compliance. Ensure the platform offers customizable reporting templates and real-time dashboards for monitoring key performance indicators (KPIs).
A modern and integrated GRC software can help predict and mitigate risks, streamline compliance with regulations and the organization’s policies. The flexibility to extend applications’ capability to allow employees to access a policy library, upload compliance evidence, and proofs, and file and archive documents help to a great extent to avoid compliance mistakes and omissions.
VComply offers a federated approach to GRC wherein audit, risk, policy, and compliance management activities are integrated. A centralized view of risks, internal controls, and compliance responsibilities are available to the leadership teams. A holistic view of GRC is transformational.
More broadly than simply selecting a tool, consider how exactly the vendor plans to onboard you onto the platform. How long does it take to operationalize and reap benefits out of the GRC platform? First, identify your success criteria for implementing the system and convey it to your vendor and tie it with your onboarding process. It takes only 5 days to fully onboard with VComply. It is easy to set up VComply and set up organizational settings for managing your compliance and risk programs. The implementation team is with you at every step of the implementation process from kick-off, configuration, and workshops. VComply equips your team to shorten audit cycles and eliminate the cost of non-compliance meaningfully. By automating workflows, processes, and mapping of frameworks, VComply can generate faster ROI for you.
If you’re looking for a better way to manage governance, risk, and compliance in your organization, take a look at GRC software by VComply. VComply offers a complete GRC management solution to help you streamline everyday compliance processes with a centrally managed, cloud-hosted system.
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