8 Questions to Help You Select the Best GRC Software for Your Company

Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) programs offer a structured approach to aligning business and IT goals while meeting compliance requirements and effectively managing risk. GRC programs enable organizations to enhance their security standards, minimize the chance of data breaches, and stay compliant with regulations, among a host of other benefits. In other words, GRC is the system of checks and balances that keep companies on the right track. 

There are many financial reasons to implement a GRC program as well. A Blue Hill Research study showed that companies could save 25–30% of the time they devote to risk and compliance tasks by implementing a GRC platform. That’s significant savings that can directly affect the bottom line.

Sound like something your organization could use? If so, you need to know what to look for, because not all GRC solutions are the same.

When it’s time to choose the software that will best meet your business requirements, and you’re ready to dive into due diligence and begin to evaluate your options, you should know what questions to ask your GRC vendors. Here are eight to get you started (you can also check out our video: Questions to Ask Your GRC Software Provider.

 

1. What features and benefits does the software offer?

Many experts recommend choosing a flexible solution that includes extensibility. LogicGate starts with industry-standard best practice templates. But its software doesn’t stop there. The program includes a visual workflow builder that allows you to configure the platform to align with your company’s unique processes—including custom fields and assigned user roles.

2. What does that flexibility actually look like?

Let’s use a hypothetical. Say you start with a Control Audit process involving SOC2 and ISO 27002 requirements. LogicGate’s platform uses the Secure Controls Framework to automatically map the requirements together—no manual mapping required.

Now fast-forward a few months to a new, large contract you’re preparing to sign with the government. To move forward with the contract, your organization must meet NIST 800-53 requirements to demonstrate FISMA compliance. In the “olden days,” the process to link that framework to SOC2 and ISO 27002 might’ve taken quite a bit of time. But now? You can accelerate the process by easily adding the frameworks to your program and reporting on your compliance coverage. 

3. My company’s growing and evolving. How easily can I adapt the platform to my company’s needs? 

The LogicGate platform makes it easy to change and adjust your existing data structure over time. We make the process simple: you start with the data structure you currently have. We also know the future won’t be static. You’ll be able to add to and customize your program as your needs evolve.

And that’s the process you follow whenever your team needs to add in a new application, whether it’s one application or 10. The platform enables you to create new applications aligned with your requirements in-house—and in one place—to provide a competitive edge and save you money and time.

4. Do I need a dedicated team to manage my GRC?

LogicGate is built with business users in mind. With its no-code, drag-and-drop process builder and user-friendly dashboards, the platform includes simple process automations—and automated notifications—to keep stakeholders updated and projects on track.

Because any business user can modify processes as needs or regulatory updates dictate, you don’t need to hire IT consultants, teach yourself coding, or have a corporate IT department whose sole job is to monitor and update the platform.

5. How do I find different activities associated with each framework?

Here’s where LogicGate really shines. When you need to locate control activities—an evaluation, risk, exception, or policy—you don’t need to work backward through ISO, SOC2, or the Secure Controls Framework. Unlike the solutions offered by most GRC vendors, LogicGate’s platform enables you to go straight to what you need, with no extra clicking.

In the LogicGate platform, you can start anywhere within your data structure and find the information to which it’s linked. If you need to go directly to a SOC2 or ISO requirement and view every activity or asset associated with it, you can! No need to click endlessly through various record hierarchies to find the information you need.

6. Does the platform provide the information I need to run my GRC program effectively?

Our intuitive interface and powerful reporting functionality offer an immediate, comprehensive picture of your business. You can use the software to create real-time dashboards, surveys, charts, and heat maps across your GRC applications, offering a holistic view of your entire GRC system. You’ll have a crystal-clear snapshot of the risk owners, mitigations, tasks, statuses, and productivity analytics at your fingertips, allowing you to quickly identify gaps and coverage lapses in risk and regulatory programs.

7. Does this platform offer linkages?

LogicGate offers a powerful Neo4j Graph database technology to connect programs, applications, controls, and policies. This flexible data model, which permits many-to-many relationships, gives you the power to link together different parts of your GRC to create new perspectives and reveal new insights.

By centralizing and combining everything in one fell swoop, you gain the full picture of your compliance and a better understanding of just how well you’re doing. Added benefits include:

• • Shrinking reliance on manual labor and fewer full time employees to manage and maintain the system
  • Enhanced automation and streamlining, which decreases human error

8. How long does it take to get up to speed?

It doesn’t take long to fully onboard with LogicGate—about 100 days. You’ll gain access to more than 15 best practice process templates that you can configure to meet your needs. You’ll start to realize operational efficiencies from automating manual processes in no time—and generate some of the fastest ROI on the market today. 

Want to learn more? Check out our video on Questions to Ask Your GRC Provider and Request a demo of the LogicGate Risk Cloud today.