Managing an IT organization in 2024 is a highly complex activity, rife with challenges and potential risks.
Leaders have to deal with conflicts between IT goals and overall business objectives, increasingly strict and constantly changing regulations, and emerging technologies threatening to reshape entire industries.
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) can be a powerful strategy here. It’s a way of structuring your IT activities to align your IT and business goals, manage risks, and comply with regulations.
In this article, we’ll explore the importance of GRC and share some key principles and best practices to keep in mind.
Why Is GRC Important?
Given the ever-increasing complexity of the IT industry, GRC is a powerful way to streamline and simplify multiple complex tasks while driving better outcomes.
GRC gives you a framework for combining areas such as risk management, compliance, security, and strategy. It’s like applying a neat set of cable ties to the haphazard bundle of wires that make up an IT organization.
The result, if done right, is a more efficient, less wasteful, more secure, and more compliant organization that’s better equipped to pursue its goals in a focused and unified way.
Key GRC Principles and Best Practices
Of course, to reap the rewards of GRC, you need the right approach. This means understanding core GRC principles and following some best practices.
Be Aware of the Key Risks
Success with GRC depends on having a keen understanding of the risks facing your organization, how significant they are, and how best to approach each one.
It’s a good idea to begin with a risk assessment, ideally guided by a team of experts. This will give you some key insights into your current risk landscape and the most important areas to focus on.
Understand Your Current Assets
Gaining a solid understanding of your current assets and activities can help give your GRC strategy more form and direction by showing you how far along you are regarding compliance and relevant certifications.
This can help you identify opportunities for improvement while avoiding wasteful expenditure in areas that don’t need it.
Know What You Need to Comply With
Compliance with relevant regulations is a central part of GRC. This means you need to get clear on all the rules you need to be aware of, the specific requirements of each one, and the penalties associated with non-compliance.
When you have this information, you’ll be able to build your GRC strategy much more intentionally, ensuring you’re focused on compliance from the very beginning and don’t miss anything.
Use the Right Technologies
GRC, at its heart, is a process built on technology. The tools and solutions you use here will have a major impact on how likely you are to reach your GRC goals.
There are tons of options out there for GRC software, many of which are built specifically for organizations to manage more effective GRC efforts, and each comes with its own pros and cons.
Make Sure Your Teams Are Aligned and Informed
GRC is a team effort, and can only succeed if the various elements of your organization are aligned and working together towards the same goals.
This hinges on communication — if you can keep all relevant team members connected and informed while quickly addressing any concerns or points of confusion, you stand a much better chance of building an effective GRC strategy.
This principle doesn’t just apply to team members who are directly involved in GRC implementation. It’s also essential to involve your company leaders and key decision-makers. With their buy-in and support, your GRC journey will be much smoother and easier.
Tie GRC Goals to Business Goals
One of the main purposes of GRC is to align IT goals with wider business goals. This should be a central focus of your GRC efforts — everything you do should be done with a view of how it impacts the organization as a whole.
Understand It’s an Ongoing Process
GRC is not a one-and-done activity — it’s a continuous process where your work is never done. A successful GRC policy must be adapted and updated over time as your business scales and as new technologies, industry trends, and security threats develop and evolve. Taking this kind of long-sighted approach to GRC is a key ingredient in success.
Work With DYOPATH
Success with GRC is a challenge. It can be extremely difficult to keep relevant documentation up to date and ensure compliance in all the right areas. A strong strategy backed by the right technology is essential here — but a third key factor is an experienced partner who understands your needs and challenges.
At DYOPATH, we can help you understand and navigate the world of GRC more easily and successfully. With a strong emphasis on security, we help businesses manage multiple aspects of their GRC strategy with an eye on long-term success.
Schedule a call with us to find out more and get started.