The Governance, Risk and Compliance Framework
The GRC framework is made up of three pillars: governance, risk management and compliance. The integrated framework allows businesses to take a more holistic approach to GRC-related activities, objectives and processes.
- Governance
Governance refers to the conduct of an organization, encompassing all internal guidelines and rules for business operations to ensure the organization is run lawfully and transparently. In the GRC framework, governance helps businesses align risk and compliance management with their overall business strategy by defining the guidelines that will help meet their goals.
- Risk management
Risk management refers to identifying and managing potential financial and operational risks that could threaten the success and survival of a business, including analyzing the impact and likelihood of potential threats and developing strategies to mitigate them. A comprehensive approach to risk management gives businesses ultimate visibility, helping them avoid impact and make quick, strategic decisions based on accurate insights.
- Compliance
Compliance ref ers to the organization’s conformance with regulatory requirements, laws and external policies. Regulations can impact highly specific areas in an organization—from data retention to employee licensure—so it’s imperative for businesses to have a comprehensive approach to ensuring compliance. When compliance activities are combined with governance and risk management, businesses benefit from better transparency and enterprise-wide compliance.
Governance, Risk and Compliance Processes
Governance, risk and compliance processes refer to the steps or methods each discipline follows to meet its objective. While the specific tasks may vary between each discipline, a unified GRC system aligns all processes involved to ensure enterprise-wide governance, risk management and compliance.
For example, if a business must follow a new federal regulation regarding data protection, the individual governance, risk and compliance processes work together to enact a successful data protection strategy. These processes might include:
- Risk Management – Identify potential threats to data security, vulnerabilities and processes that could impact the risk landscape.
- Governance – Utilizing risk-related insights, governance defines the policies and procedures to protect sensitive data, including who has access to what information.
- Compliance – Reviewing risk-related insights and newly enacted policies and procedures, compliance ensures that the company’s data protection strategy aligns with the regulatory standards.
This coordinated effort ensures the proper steps are taken to minimize risk, prevent vulnerabilities and ensure compliance with legal requirements.
These processes are typically implemented through a GRC software solution, which helps visualize the separate steps each entity must take to meet the shared goal.
Governance, Risk and Compliance Technology
An integrated approach to governance, risk and compliance is a requirement for operational success, but aligning something this robust is easier said than done.
That’s where governance, risk and compliance technology solutions come into play.
GRC management solutions seamlessly integrate and coordinate all governance, risk and compliance initiatives and activities easily and efficiently. These solutions are designed to help organizations streamline and automate their GRC-related processes, which is essential for businesses looking to stay competitive, create strategic value, elevate performance, protect their reputation and ensure long-term success.