In the Boardroom: How to Sell Your Need for GRC Tech

You’ve seen all the demos and researched ways to improve your governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) processes. You’ve done your due diligence to make sure that your organization has risk processes in place, but they’re far from perfect — so how can you persuade your board to add GRC tech to your annual budget? 

Since your business likely has to comply with a more complex web of regulations these days, it’s important to have governance, risk, and compliance technology backing up your compliance program. 

Let’s dive into what GRC software is and why it’s a must-have going forward.

What is GRC Software? 

Governance, risk, and compliance processes help you mitigate risks in your business. Done right, GRC tech helps you track policies, prepare for audits, and create a paper trail for all of your compliance-related to-dos. 

In case you’ve been tracking everything in a spreadsheet or, heaven forbid, an offline paper tracking system, you’re just asking for regulatory action. 

GRC software takes the GRC processes you already have and zhuzhes them up with the power of technology. You’re digitizing the processes your team already uses, so you don’t have to change how you’re doing things (unless you want to, that is). GRC tech automates compliance tasks and creates a paper trail for you, so you spend less time fussing over compliance tedium. 

The right GRC tech, like Risk Cloud®, allows you to do more with less. With a centralized platform, you won’t spread your data and info across multiple locations, so you always have a view of your risk program that you can share with key stakeholders.

Why Every Company Needs GRC Software

But we get it: you know your GRC program needs a makeover, but your board isn’t sure about the expense. Tell your board that GRC technology is a must-have for these five reasons. 

1. Meet data privacy requirements

CCPA, GDPR, SOC 2 compliance, and countless other data privacy requirements ask a lot of your business. You’re required to lock down your data, but let’s be honest: data is finicky. Often, policies aren’t followed in the workplace because they are too cumbersome. Fortunately, a GRC platform ensures everyone at your business follows controls management in their workflow.

2. Save money

Have you seen how much a single HIPAA breach costs businesses? On average, you can expect to pay $4.24 million per breach. That’s no joke, and it can take several years for your business to recover from a single mistake. 

GRC software is much more affordable than regulatory fines. Plus, it allows employees to better utilize their time and focus on more important projects because it automates compliance tasks for you. 

When you use a GRC platform like Risk Cloud, you save money by proactively identifying and addressing risks before they become expensive problems. Plus, your workforce is already lean, so a system that can do the tedious work for them saves even more cash. By relying on automation and process digitization, you are offsetting the initial cost of the tech.

3. Improve documentation

No matter what regulations you need to follow, documentation is a must. It’s a requirement, but documentation can also save your hide during an audit. 

Instead of manually tracking documents in a shared folder or spreadsheet, use a GRC platform to bring everything together. You can keep your documentation in one place, track all versions, and even store employee acknowledgments.

4. Improve vendor risk management

Forty-four percent of companies say they’re asked to prove their cybersecurity plan when they submit an RFP. That’s because vendors open businesses up to all kinds of cyber risks. 

Because your business needs to work with vendors, you must implement vendor risk management with your GRC platform. GRC software starts with vendor risk assessment, helping you evaluate which vendors you should work with and limit what vendors have access to — and hold vendors accountable in the event of a breach.

Plus, if you’re new to working with vendors — or adding new vendors every quarter — you want a third-party risk management platform that can grow with you. Risk Cloud empowers users to make the changes they need for their program while building out workflows with drag-and-drop capabilities.  

5. Prove the value of your GRC programs

Seventy percent of businesses in the U.S. and U.K. say they don’t have the budget to stay compliant. That’s why it’s never been more critical to streamline your business’s processes. 

GRC software is essential because it can prove the value of your GRC processes with data and visualizations that make sense to the C-suite. GRC tech gives you improved visibility into your business so you can spot non-compliant behaviors and even identify ways to save more money. 

When you’re improving your GRC platform, you want to partner with an organization that is there to support you as you build out or expand your program. Thanks to its data-focused approach, GRC tech gives you proof of concept to justify the cost of a GRC program to your board.

GRC Software is a Must Going Forward

Regulators are adding more and more rules as time goes on, so compliance is becoming a complex, sticky mess. It’s becoming harder to comply, so a reactive approach just isn’t the best way to avoid penalties anymore. You need GRC technology to be proactive and stay one step ahead at all times. 

The good news is that you don’t have to overhaul everything right away. Digitize small portions of your GRC processes, like documentation, to start. That will give you proof of concept to take to your board, get approval, and then expand the program as you see fit.

Whether you’re ready to totally transform your GRC platform or you just want to revamp a specific component, LogicGate is here to help. See how our Risk Cloud platform helps you focus on what matters most.

And while we’re on the topic of preparing to speak to your board. Building a cybersecurity and risk presentation requires extensive data collection and preparation. You have to deliver a comprehensive view of your company’s risk posture while also anticipating all the questions they may ask. That’s no small task.

Luckily, the Gartner® report, Five Board Questions That Security and Risk Leaders Must Be Prepared to Answer, offers guidance and recommendations on how to answer common questions from the board. Download the report here.