- What is GRC?
- Why is GRC important?
- What drives GRC?
- Benefits of implementing GRC
- GRC use cases
- How to implement a GRC framework in an organization
- Technologies used to implement a GRC framework
- Handling GRC using low-code platforms
- FAQ
What is governance, risk, and compliance?
Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) is an umbrella term that denotes a framework encompassing the approaches, methodologies, and strategies used by organizations to manage GRC endeavors effectively.
Governance refers to how the administration manages the operations of the organization. Risk refers to how the organization identifies, mitigates, and resolves risks that may arise out of operational considerations.Compliance refers to how the organization adheres to industry standards, rules, and regulations.
Why is GRC important?
A GRC framework is important from three standpoints:
1. Effective governance
Governing the operations of an organization effectively is vital for survivability and sustainability. Effective governance:
Streamlines all organizational processes
Effective governance clearly establishes objectives for each organizational process. This provides clarity into what needs to be done to rein in haphazard processes and align them with organizational goals.
Eliminates bottlenecks
Whatever inefficiencies abound in an organization, by governing effectively, these can be identified easily and weeded out. Resource and capital waste are minimized with effective governance.
Increases throughput and efficiency
Optimal resource utilization is one of the core advantages of effective governance. The desired volume of output is achieved, and productivity is boosted with the minimal expenditure of resources. This increases the quality and quantity of the organizational output.
2. Sustainable risk mitigation and management
Risks abound in any endeavor. To remain viable, an organization should be capable of:
Identifying risks
Identifying a risk before it becomes a real issue is vital. This ensures that the organization is equipped to deal with risks as they arise by identifying, classifying, and analyzing their causes up front.
Mitigating risks with an effective risk management framework in place
There should be effective risk mitigation and management frameworks in place to handle whatever risks arise, anticipated or not.
Managing and learning from risks
This applies to risks that have already manifested. The organization should take measures to minimize the damage caused by the manifested risk. It's essential to have measures in place to learn from the risks that have been addressed. This helps ensure that the same mistake is not repeated.
Deterring future risks:
Risk deterrence is crucial for optimized operations as it aims to eliminate risks before they become a reality. A set of heuristics is put in place to monitor business processes for potential risks that could crop up. Once these are identified, measures are taken to defuse the flawed processes before they result in manifested risks. Deterrence is better than risk management and mitigation.
3. Compliance
Compliance refers to how an organization adheres to industry standards, rules, and regulations. Compliance is necessary for an organization, both from an internal and external perspective.
Internally, an organization should ensure that:
Its internal processes, policies, and procedures for operations comply with industry standards.
Its guidelines for employee conduct adhere to industry regulations.
Externally, an organization should ensure that:
It adheres to the laws of the industries in the geographies where it functions.
It complies with global standards such as ISO standards, the GDPR, and the CCPA.
What drives GRC?
GRC is driven by several factors.
Factor 1: The need for effective corporate governance
Having a robust governance framework in place assures complete accountability and deep granularity into processes. This meets the demand for the seamless alignment of business objectives with standards and legal expectations.
Factor 2: The mandate for risk deterrence and mitigation
A solid risk deterrence and mitigation strategy is necessary to ensure uninterrupted operations. Instead of being reactive, an effective GRC framework empowers the organization to be proactive in preventing and reducing the impact of risks.
Factor 3: The necessity to comply with global and industry standards
Being compliant with global and industry standards demonstrates an organization's conformity with established industry rules and regulations. This vouches for the good reputation and positive standing of the organization in the eyes of all pertinent stakeholders.
Benefits of implementing GRC
Better governance and streamlined processes
Enhanced risk management and deterrence
Seamless compliance with global standards
Cost and time savings
Improved operational efficiency
Robust data security and enhanced privacy
GRC use cases
Governance in IT and enforcing cybersecurity measures
IT systems and endpoints can be monitored and kept under surveillance using a comprehensive governance framework for IT. Cybersecurity measures based on the IT governance framework can be implemented to boost endpoint security.
Vendor and third-party risk management
A robust GRC framework tailored for vendors can affirm their credibility. Risks associated with third-party entities, such as reliability and fiduciary credibility, can be deterred and mitigated by following the guidelines of the framework.
Managing regulatory adherence
Adhering to industry standards and regulations, such as the GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA that have stringent requirements, can be facilitated seamlessly using comprehensive GRC frameworks tailored for regulatory adherence. These also have guidelines that make reporting to all stakeholders and mandating timely compliance easy.
Managing audits
External and internal audits are complex and involve a lot of stakeholders, approval processes, and time. A solid GRC framework in place for audits addresses these pain points by delegating necessary responsibilities to relevant stakeholders, assigning audit task matrices, and establish timelines. This enables audits to be conducted diligently.
How to implement a GRC framework in an organization
A systematic approach is essential to implementing a GRC framework in an organization.
Establish goals
Classify organizational processes
Create a basic GRC framework
Identify the technologies to be harnessed
Implement the GRC framework
Train stakeholders
Create a feedback loop
Establish goals
The fundamental step in a GRC endeavor is to establish clear goals for implementing it in your organization. In this phase, clearly identify and define your end objectives, key metrics, and timeline for when the GRC overhaul needs to be completed.
Classify organizational processes and identify those relevant to GRC
This step entails a thorough analysis of all the processes, procedures, and policies in your organization. In this phase, identify potential processes that need to be subject to the GRC framework.
Create a basic GRC framework
In this phase, implement a scaffolding of the end GRC framework. This lays down a blueprint for the entire GRC endeavor.
Identify the technologies to be harnessed
There are a lot of technologies available on the market today that can be used for implementing a GRC framework. When choosing technologies to implement your GRC framework, consider various criteria, such as the:
- Budget
- Time constraints.
- Level of technical proficiency required.
- Ease of adoption.
Implement the GRC framework
In this phase, implement the GRC framework using the chosen technologies. Subject processes to monitoring and automation. Granularly analyze workflows. Conduct organizational audits and make assessments. Transform the GRC policy of your organization into a reality.
Train stakeholders
The organizational stakeholders should be trained in the implemented GRC framework for the organization to fully benefit.
Create a feedback loop
In this phase, analyze the outcome of the GRC framework implementation. Use the learnings from this phase during future process optimizations. This ensures constant improvement and progress.
Technologies used to implement a GRC framework
There are several ways GRC frameworks can be implemented:
- Implementing from the ground up is considered the conventional approach.
- Deploying off-the-shelf software has pros and cons.
- Developing with a low-code platform provides customized solutions.
The conventional approach: Implementing from the ground up
This is how GRC frameworks were first implemented in organizations. With assistance from computer software such as spreadsheets, GRC frameworks were manually implemented in organizations using paper-based processes with only some automation.
This method had disadvantages:
- Slow and laborious: It took ages to implement a GRC framework, no matter how simple it was.
- Inefficient: It was inefficient for the labor and effort involved.
- Expensive: It cost a lot because it involved employing scores of people.
Off-the-shelf software
These solutions involve ready-made software. They ship with a default set of features out-of-the-box.
Advantages
- Readily available
- Can be used from the get-go
- Affordable
Disadvantages
- No customization: Off-the-shelf software can't be customized according to the user's unique business requirements.
- Reliance upon the vendor for support: After purchasing off-the-shelf software, if you require support for it, you have to contact the vendor. This often requires a lot of time and effort.
- Vendor lock-in: You're stuck engaging with the vendor you purchased from.
Low-code platforms
Organizations often have GRC experts who have domain knowledge. However, these internal experts might lack the technical expertise required to translate their knowledge into working software that can be leveraged into a GRC framework. Hiring external stakeholders to develop the GRC framework implementation or using off-the-shelf software are not optimal, practical solutions.
There is an alternative: low-code platforms.
Low-code platforms facilitate business process automation, including GRC framework implementation, with little to no coding. On these platforms, people with little programming knowledge or technical expertise can translate their business requirements into functional applications.
GRC stakeholders can leverage the capabilities of low-code platforms easily because of the following features:
A drag-and-drop development interface
Instead of coding from the ground up, low-code platforms provide a what you see is what you get drag-and-drop interface to transform GRC framework requirements into reality. This enables GRC experts with little technical expertise to easily implement GRC frameworks in their organizations.
Workflow automation
Repetitive GRC framework tasks like governance audits, risk evaluations and reporting, and compliance checks can be easily automated as workflows with low-code platforms, saving time and money. Eventually, this allows stakeholders to focus on more essential tasks.
Autoscaling
GRC modules built on a low-code platform scale automatically with the varying userbase. You don't need to go back to recreating the software from scratch whenever there is a fluctuation in the userbase of the GRC modules.
Mobile access
Several low-code platforms provide the ability to deploy solutions on mobile platforms without separate development processes. This mobile-ready feature is a win-win for GRC stakeholders as personnel can utilize universal remote access to GRC solutions.
Compliance management
Low-code platforms provide prebuilt compliance templates. These templates save time and simplify the implementation of the compliance aspect of the GRC framework for GRC personnel.
Audit logs
Low-code platforms innately provide audit logs covering organizational process executions. Logs are vital from a GRC perspective through the granular insights they offer into process executions.
Handling GRC using the ManageEngine AppCreator platform
When used diligently, low-code platforms like ManageEngine AppCreator are a robust solution. Internal GRC experts can quickly implement robust GRC frameworks in their organizations by harnessing AppCreator due to its ease of use and short learning curve.
The platform's advantages, such as deep customizability, the ability to integrate with third-party solutions, auto scaling, and holistic logging, are all pluses when it comes to implementing GRC frameworks. To summarize, implementing a GRC framework with the AppCreator platform is a veritable game-changer.
If you're looking for a low-code platform for your GRC framework requirements, evaluate ManageEngine AppCreator through a free, 30-day trial.
Download AppCreatorFrequently Asked Questions
1. What are the key challenges businesses face in implementing GRC frameworks?
The key challenges are:
- The complexity of implementing rigorous GRC frameworks.
- The high costs involved.
- The time required to streamline data silos.
2. How does a GRC platform improve regulatory compliance and reduce risks?
A robust GRC platform streamlines compliance tenets into a centralized compliance data repository, and facilitates seamless adherence to standards and regulations. Threats are reduced due to the risk deterrence and mitigation capabilities of the GRC framework in place.
3.Can GRC software integrate with my existing and legacy IT systems?
Yes. Low-code GRC platforms like ManageEngine AppCreator come with APIs and prebuilt connectors that enable a seamless integration with existing and legacy IT systems.
4. How does GRC help in audit management and reporting?
A centralized repository for audits and automated audit implementations assists in efficient and effective audits, and facilitates easy audit management. Real-time reporting provided by the GRC platform keeps stakeholders up-to-date always.
5. How can low-code GRC solutions accelerate compliance process automation?
Low-code GRC platforms like AppCreator enable deployment of custom compliance workflows and accelerated automation of compliance processes through point-and-click and WYSIWYG interfaces that require minimal coding to achieve the end result. Minimal coding translates to accelerated compliance process automation, accelerating development timeframes.
6. What are the security implications of using a low-code platform for GRC?
Low-code GRC platforms are designed so that the applications and automations implemented on them are highly secure and are encrypted from the ground up. Using a low-code platform for GRC is secure by design.
7. What industries benefit the most from implementing GRC solutions?
Healthcare, finance, government, and manufacturing are some industries that benefit from implementing GRC solutions.