Nov 17, 2023
Compliance Automation: The Key to Simplified and Effective GRC
In this article, we'll explore the wonders of Compliance Automation, highlighting its impact on efficient workflow management, cost-effective compliance, and the evolving landscape of governance and risk.
This is the first of a series of three articles where we'll tackle three big questions:
Why should you consider Compliance Automation?
Get ready to learn more about Compliance Automation and discover why it's become such a hot topic.
Let's begin!
What is Compliance Automation?
In today's world, where rules and regulations are constantly changing, compliance automation emerges as a game-changer. It's reshaping how compliance professionals do their jobs and digitally transform their departments.
Compliance automation represents a significant stride in efficiency and precision. It helps manage the pile of regulations, policies, and standards that organizations must follow.
In short:
Compliance Automation is the use of technology to handle the tasks and processes needed to make sure your company follows all the rules and regulations without you having to do everything manually.
It makes following the rules easier, faster, and often cheaper. Plus, it helps you avoid mistakes that could happen when people try to manage all these details on their own.
But what's the big deal about it?
The secret lies in its power to completely change how professionals work... It's like giving your department a super boost.
Why Should You Consider Compliance Automation?
Compliance Automation is like the magic ingredient that boosts time-saving and productivity in information security, especially when it comes to adhering to SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2), ISO 27001, NIST 800-53, or any other standard that gives numerous requirements.
When you have a compliance program that covers a lot of different standards with stringent auditing and assessment protocols, it often means a lot of repetitive tasks and a ton of paperwork.
Here's where Compliance Automation jumps in to save the day:
Efficient Workflow Management: Compliance Automation ensures that workflows are seamlessly orchestrated. For instance, it can automatically initiate regular security assessments, assign responsibilities to the relevant team members, and track progress. All of these in a fraction of the time it would take manually. This efficiency translates into significant time savings, allowing professionals to allocate their efforts strategically.
Automated Auditing and Reporting: Generating evidence and preparing for audits is traditionally time-consuming. Automation, on the other hand, can collate and organize the required data, generate comprehensive reports that align with guidelines, and facilitate easy access during audit trails. This not only accelerates the auditing process but also ensures meticulous compliance.
Check out this article to learn more about IT security audits.
Real-time Monitoring and Evidence Gathering: Automation tools keep an eye on things in real time, spotting any hiccups right away. This means you can fix issues fast, keeping everything running smoothly and boosting productivity.
By allowing routine and rule-based activities to be handled autonomously, professionals can redirect their efforts towards higher-value tasks such as risk analysis, strategic planning, and proactive security measures.
In essence, Compliance Automation isn't just a tool, it's a power-up that makes the compliance department shine in an organization that's going digital.
A quick example of this in real life could be the following:
Evidence Collection for Audits:
Before Automation: Picture this: Audits are looming, and you're desperately gathering evidence from different departments. It's a massive scavenger hunt, collecting emails, documents, and reports, often leading to late nights and last-minute panic.
After Automation: With Compliance Automation, this chaos turns into calm. The system continuously collects and organizes evidence. When audit time comes, you're just a few clicks away from all the evidence you need, neatly packaged and ready to go. No more scavenger hunts, just smooth sailing.
In essence, Compliance Automation isn't just a tool, it's a power-up that makes the compliance department shine in an organization that's going digital.
Cost Saving Through Automation
Picture this: advanced technology efficiently handles tasks that would normally take a lot of people and effort. This swift automation means big savings by cutting down on time-consuming tasks, freeing up IT folks to focus on important stuff like strengthening security and helping users.
That is exactly what automation can do for you and your team.
From a financial standpoint, employing an automated program proves to be a more economical option compared to maintaining a sizable workforce for manual oversight. Consider a scenario where compliance automation tools are leveraged, significantly minimizing the need for a large compliance team.
But wait, there's more!
The efficient preparation facilitated by compliance automation helps in reducing the overall costs associated with regulatory audits.
In a context where time is money (since auditors and consultants often charge per hour/day of work), a comprehensive SOC 2 audit can range anywhere from $20,000 to $80,000, depending on the organization's size and complexity. An ISO 27001 audit can cost another $20,000. If you add other frameworks, the annual audit budget can go sky-high.
Quite expensive, right? Check out how our audit management tool can help you!
However, with compliance automation in the picture, the meticulous and accurate data preparation it offers can notably trim these costs by ensuring a smoother audit process. Automation can offer more efficiency to the auditing process, as well as management across frameworks because it minimizes any duplicated efforts.
Final Thoughts
As we navigate the dynamic landscape of Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC), compliance has swiftly evolved from being a choice to a mandatory responsibility. Compliance Automation has emerged as a powerful tool, transforming how information security and compliance professionals operate within their digitally transformed departments.
Its integration stands as a digital transformation of the compliance department, boosting operational efficiency and strategic focus. In an era dominated by digital progress, automation injects an engine into compliance workflows, streamlining operations and drastically reducing the time and money spent on assessments and audits.
Ready to transform your GRC approach?
Learn how StandardFusion is gearing up to revolutionize your processes, save you time, and eliminate your manual work. Connect with our team and discover how we can help.
By the way.
In the next article of this series, we dive deep into the heart of Compliance Automation, uncovering the driving force behind its adoption. We will reveal what should be done when digitally transforming a compliance department becomes an option.
