6 Crucial Features of a Reliable GRC Tool for Your Company

6 Crucial Features of a Reliable GRC Tool for Your Company

With the uncertainty brought by the pandemic, businesses need to check on their governance, risk, and compliance framework.

According to the 2019 State of Enterprise Risk Management, 62% of the surveyed organizations have experienced a critical risk event for three years.

Such risks are inevitable, which is why governance, risk management, and compliance must be checked.

  • Governance refers to the process by which companies manage and mitigate business risks.
  • Risk management is the evaluation of business risks and mitigation of this in an orderly manner.
  • Compliance refers to the programs that meet industry mandates, regulations, and policies.

If you want to mitigate and avoid new and emerging threats and risks, you must invest in reliable GRC systems with the following features:

Automation

The traditional way of managing governance, risk, and compliance is via spreadsheets, which is time-consuming. You may stick with this process. However, there is no guarantee that operational adjustments will be made promptly, especially if your organization is growing.

Opting for an automated GRC software will lessen possible human errors like duplication or inconsistencies, making more transactions.

The best GRC software can integrate and automate routine auditing and compliance processes.

Dashboards

GRC systems available in the market were proven to collect data, but not all provide a dashboard feature. According to an Exasol survey, 90% said that data democratization is a priority in their company. Don’t get left behind and find a GRC system that allows data democratization through dashboards and reports. In the same study, 82% reported that their organization uses dashboards to communicate insights.

Maximize the capacity of your GRC platform by ensuring that it allows the creations of dashboards to better guide your employees in making decisions since they can easily see the key information at one glance.

ClearGRC is one software that utilizes dashboards for effective management and segregation of controls. This feature ensures that all files, standards, and frameworks are aligned. You may create separate dashboards for policies, processes, and audits which are simple to use and easy to understand.

Centralization

The three elements of GRC produce a wide array of data available for your reference. Without centralization features, your GRC software may cause more confusion than a better organization for your company. Experian’s data management report reveals that 83% of businesses see data as a vital part of forming a business strategy. Hence, the data stored in your GRC software must be carefully regulated to hold value.

Your GRC framework will not work to its full potential without clean, reliable data. In fact, according to the 2018 Nintex survey, 49% of employees have trouble locating documents. You wouldn’t want to waste your employees’ time, which they can use better for meaningful tasks.

ClearGRC has a dedicated document system where you can classify, group, and control versions of documents. Another centralization feature of GRC that may aid your operations is its End-to-End Policy Life Cycle Management feature, which allows easy alignment of policies to standards and processes.

Customized Report Generation

Reporting data and results is tedious and time-consuming. GRC solutions may help in this aspect if it has an automatic reporting feature.

GRC tools such as ClearGRC assist in gathering audit evidence by creating dashboards and reports allowing you and your team to understand specific areas you need to focus on. It also streamlines the process management as ClearGRC provides reminders and timely reports.

Having a customized report allows you to see the overall progress of your compliance program and risks to manage. This will lead to better decision-making and promotes efficiency.

Integration services

When your company uses software for different functions, it is vital to check if integration is possible. Part of the computer science degree requirements is learning about integration, which refers to linking tools, systems, and software applications.

Without integration, your business may further decline despite implementing technologies for various functions, as you will have to do manual work to align the data from each tool.

Support services

As you find the GRC solution for your company, choose one that offers support in different modes. You wouldn’t want to waste the money you invest because you are having difficulty navigating and using the GRC tool. ClearGRC is one tool that offers email and phone support, live support, and training.

Finding the best GRC tool

The above-listed features will just serve as a guide as you try to find the best GRC tool. You should do your research and due diligence to ask experts. Several GRC solutions in the market offer consultations and trials. Maximize these opportunities to know whether it is an excellent fit for your company.

You may book a consultation with ClearGRC by filling out the form here.