Achieving Continuous Compliance through a GRC Platform

Continuous compliance is a new approach towards compliance aided by GRC platforms. There are two approaches we can take when it comes to risk and compliance. One is the normal approach which has been historically used in which compliance is achieved through periodic and reactive actions. There are audits after every few months and investigations when an issue occurs. This allows organizations to ensure that everything is in order, but it is not very effective. Since the audits and investigations are periodic, it is possible for an issue to stay hidden until the next audit or investigation.

Continuous compliance is a relatively new concept in which instant of periodic compliance checks and actions management focuses on constant compliance checks and actions. Instead of enforcing compliance by looking for errors and problems every few weeks, organizations aim to inculcate compliance in every move taken by the organization.

Periodic vs. Continuous

The difference in efficiency and productivity of periodic and continuous approaches is significant. The difference doesn’t just exist in compliance – it can be observed elsewhere as well. Many places have periodic fire safety checks. They check every potential fire hazard and fix any problems they find periodically. Then there are places which have continuous fire safety. This is achieved by training all personnel in fire safety, providing fire safety tools, eliminating any hazards through fireproofing, and creating a culture of fire safety.

The exact same impact can be seen in a compliance department. Compliance personnel work intensely whenever an audit is due and once the audit is done things often go back to a slower pace. Continuous compliance doesn’t work this way. It requires constant vigilance and awareness. Businesses use GRC platforms to monitor and assess their organization’s compliance 24/7. Every action is tracked by the system to ensure there is an audit trail in case an issue is discovered in the future.

The Technology Powering Continuous Compliance

Continuous compliance was always considered better than traditional compliance but there is a very simple reason is wasn’t the aim of organizations – the technology to support it simply did not exist until a few years ago. A manual compliance management system cannot sustain continuous compliance. The checks and balances that are a part of every GRC platform are necessary if organizations want to be able to continuously monitor and assess their compliance performance.

GRC platforms can detect and report issues instantaneously. If a compliance conflict is found the system sends out notifications to all the assigned stakeholders. This immediacy allows organizations to take a proactive approach. If a bank account is being opened and a necessary document or approval is missing it is possible for the issue to remain until the next audit or investigation, which may be months away. The transactions that occur in the meanwhile will be affected as well because they may not be compliant. In an automated GRC platform the missing document will be detected the moment the account creation request is forwarded, and the issue will be solved on the spot.

Continuous compliance was a pipe dream until GRC technology matured to make it a reality. Organizations can now reach levels of compliance which were simply impossible to reach before GRC platforms were available. Whenever there is a significant advancement in technology it raises the ceiling of maximum possible efficiency and productivity, which is exactly what GRC has done for compliance.

Improving compliance further

Compliance and risk management activities that used to take hours or days of work can now be carried out in hours, because GRC platforms centralize all information and data. The hours spent on simply collecting data from all sources are now not required because everything is within one system. The hours spent verifying that only the latest data and information is being used and double-checking are also no longer required. Compliance managers and officers do not need to focus on menial tasks anymore because GRC platforms automate such tasks. They can now focus on the compliance management framework and coming up with strategies for the future.

This means that organizations now have the opportunity to assess and implement risk and compliance projects. The role of compliance managers is changing because their job role does not consist of simply resolving issues and monitoring everything. They will now be able to give better insights and strategic input and focus on improving compliance instead of just maintaining it.

About the company

360factors, Inc. (Austin, TX) helps companies improve business performance by reducing risk and ensuring compliance. Predict360, its flagship software product, vertically integrates regulations and requirements, policies and procedures management, risks and controls, audit management and inspections, and on-line training and qualifications, in a single cloud-based platform based on artificial intelligence.

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