Managing governance, risk assessment, and compliance (GRC) can be difficult. Leaking customer or internal data is a major problem for many businesses, so it’s essential to have a system to prevent it.

GRC software can help improve the security posture of your business and increase consumer trust. It can also make staying updated with regulatory changes easier and automate actions supported by flexible workflows.

Security

A GRC solution should have the right security measures to protect data and information. It should encrypt all information, and the platform should be regularly updated with security patches. The tool should also have a user-friendly interface and be simple to use. This will ensure that users have a practical experience with the system and are less likely to make mistakes.

Integrated GRC also provides visibility into the different aspects of your governance, risk, and compliance programs. This enables teams to make data-driven decisions and helps them address challenges quickly.

It’s essential to have a strong GRC program that supports business processes and addresses risk and security gaps. A GRC framework will enable your organization to mitigate cybersecurity risks and meet regulatory requirements proactively. For example, it will allow you to vet third-party vendors by collecting basic details about them (financials, corporate reputation, network security, etc.). GRC can also be used to create vendor assessments and mitigation strategies, helping your organization stay ahead of cyber attackers. 

Flexibility

A flexible GRC framework allows businesses to adapt quickly to changing regulations. This will help reduce the time required to implement changes and the risk of failing to comply with new regulations. It will also enable businesses to develop a deeper understanding of their risks, so they can make better decisions on mitigating them. This will require an internal audit, IT, and security departments to work together on a GRC platform that brings data from silo tools and stakeholders into one place. To be truly flexible, a GRC solution must have the ability to be configured to an organization’s unique needs and requirements. This is why a GRC platform, such as the SAP GRC access control, needs to be included in business-centric access control. This approach engages business users in the SAP role clean-up, and GRC rule set customization processes. It enables them to minimize risk by making informed decisions about which roles should be assigned and which should not. This can reduce access over-allocation by as much as 80%, significantly minimizing an organization’s fraud risk.

Reliability

With the right GRC tool, your business will handle security and compliance better. You can use it to help you recognize potential risks and take the required precautions to avoid them. Additionally, it will make risk-based activities easier to manage. You can also use it to monitor compliance with internal and external regulations. A business-centric GRC solution reduces the effort required to perform compliance tasks. This process aligns the structure of an employee’s role and access across different IT systems. During this process, redundant authorizations can be removed from users. This will save you time and money. Having a good GRC tool in place will help your team members to understand what’s at stake for the organization. It will ensure that they can work together and avoid siloes. It will also give you the necessary information to make informed decisions and drive growth. This will also improve the trust of your stakeholders. 

Scalability

Many access control solutions and processes are technical and focused on audit and IT. However, for business users to effectively carry out GRC access risk management processes, they must be easy to understand. This means that the language should be less technical so business users can easily interpret the results of their risk assessment and segregation of duties (SoD) analysis.

It also helps if your GRC solution can be integrated with other systems to streamline the process of reviewing and granting access privileges. Using an integrated system makes monitoring activity and detecting unauthorized behavior easier while reducing the need for manual processes and paper documentation. Often, companies are required to meet multiple frameworks and legal requirements. This can be challenging because it requires the organization to manage and maintain enormous amounts of data. In this case, automated control cross-walking can be a precious tool for scalability as it can eliminate duplication of effort by allowing one control to satisfy multiple compliance standards and frameworks. 

Cost

GRC is a significant investment in people, time, and technology. It is crucial to approach planning and execution with caution. Ensure that senior management support is in place and that the benefits of a successful GRC program are clearly articulated to employees. It is also important to carefully examine the options for a GRC implementation and perform due diligence when selecting a GRC software product.

Choose a GRC access control tool that is easy to learn and use, and consider how well the system will work for your team. The tool should have a document management component that stores internal control documents, policies, procedures, and standards. It should also allow for evaluating new documents or revisions to existing ones.

Jane