How to approach your GRC solution more effectively
Traditional Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) has been around for ages. But while it is nothing new, it certainly (and thankfully) remains an area of constant evolution and analysis in forward-thinking global businesses. Today, GRC sits as the throne-holder process of integrated capabilities that give a business the dexterity to succeed in its objectives, act with ethical integrity, tackle concern and hedge unpredictability.
However, just because we are grateful for the nearly 2 decades of the current GRC process, doesn’t mean we have to be happy with it. The cracks have formed (even for the biggest of companies), and we are all watching it very closely for its impending capitulation if nothing is done to improve it.
Sadly, many organisations have failed in their approach to GRC due to indifference or have simply been unaware of how to tackle these activities appropriately. Many of you don’t need a minute to remember a company you worked for who knew that a great many risks were heading their way, yet spent most of its time fleeing this truth. Or take the corollary, think of a business who had good intentions toward risk and cybersecurity concerns, yet mistakenly worried about the wrong ones.
You’ve already thought of one.
It’s not entirely their fault though, the current GRC model doesn’t exactly promote a good relationship between its three elements. Which means that efforts in these areas don’t support each other as best as they could. Moving forward, a large determinant of organisational success will be their ability to adapt and confront the most prominent business risks of our time.
The question is ‘how can we be continuously glancing over the shoulder of our organisation’s present moment and feel confident?’ Well, put simply, the frame you put around your attitude to risk and information security largely determines your experience of it.
There’s no silver bullet for the unknown unknowns, but the right mindset is a damn good place to start.
So, what is a ‘good’ GRC solution?
Successful Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) activities and software have a multi-domain focus and are not restricted to one field such as cyber or information security.
We at 6clicks have this broad multi-domain approach to risk and compliance in mind as we build our platform. While we centre on risk management along with cyber and information security, the 6clicks platform can be used to address many other domains.
Excited to get started already? Click here for your free trial!
An all-purpose compliance, audit and risk management platform
Founded on an acute awareness of external compliance requirements such as standards, laws and regulations, the heart of the platform is our capability to enable internal and third-party assessments optionally traceable to those compliance requirements.
We now also enable organisations to implement those compliance requirements (in a sensible risk-based manner – more about this later) with what can most easily be described as a GRC/ISMS capability, but really it provides so much more.
What types of business risk can 6clicks be used to tackle?
– Modern Slavery
– Cyber Security
– Privacy
– Quality Assurance
– Health & Safety
– Environment
– Project Management
– Fraud
– Anti-Money Laundering (AML)
What do these domains have in common?
One of the things that links all these domains (other than compliance requirements) is that they are all issues that need to be addressed across every organisation’s supply chain. Not only does 6clicks allow you to assess these requirements as they apply to your immediate organisation, but 6clicks enables assessments across your supply chain (i.e. third-party service providers / vendors).
What can I do with GRC software?
A good GRC solution bakes in awareness of external compliance requirements. 6clicks has established the 6clicks Marketplace, which is the equivalent of an App Store for Standards, Laws and Regulations.
Within a few clicks, you could have the relevant compliance requirements in your account for tracing the purpose of questions (in assessments) and controls (in risk treatments & policies).
You can flag the risks arising from assessment results or approach risk from a holistic point of view with our enterprise risk capability. We’re also releasing a 6clicks mobile app (stay tuned) to help you identify and assess risks relevant to your organisation and activities based on built-in and customisable libraries. Beyond software, we enable you with content (considerations) to achieve better risk management.
Strangely, most GRC software falls short when it comes to “G” for governance. The software may enable compliance assessments or may enable a variety of risk management activities. But, rarely does GRC software go beyond allowing pre-existing policies and procedures to be uploaded to meet this critical aspect of mitigating risk and demonstrating compliance.
6clicks enables compliance assessments and assessments against a defined internal control framework. Internal controls or compliance requirements can also be associated with risk assessments. Responsibilities can be assigned to controls at your chosen level of granularity and are filterable by role. (No more one size fits all approach to policies!)
6clicks also enables reminders to be sent for responsibilities that are re–occurring like control effectiveness tests, internal audits and governance/management reviews. Recipients of these reminders can input the results (successful or otherwise) for ongoing performance management and reporting purposes.
Thank you for taking the time to read, please accept our invitation to join the new GRC revolution!
Written by Andrew Robinson
Andrew started his career in the startup world and went on to perform in cyber and information security advisory roles for the Australian Federal Government and several Victorian Government entities. Andrew has a Masters in Policing, Intelligence and Counter-Terrorism (PICT) specialising in Cyber Security and holds IRAP, ISO 27001 LA, CISSP, CISM and SCF certifications.
