What Are the Main GRC Software Trends for 2020

What does GRC Stand for?

As any business grows, so does its share of risks and challenges. To overcome the difficulties and acquire the opportunities, businesses are making use of a common set of processes known as the Governance, Risk, and Compliance.

Not so long ago, the three components of GRC existed as separate disciplines. The aspects of the same field, they naturally gravitated to each other eventually to become one. Now, there are several definitions of the GRC term varying in length and depth. To bring them to the common denominator, we put it like this:

“GRC is an integrated, holistic approach to governance, risk and compliance management ensuring that an organization operates according to its policies, mandatory regulations, and risk acceptance decisions via alignment of its four major constituents: strategy, processes, technology, and people to improve its performance efficiency.”

The GRC Software

The GRC software is designed to automate, streamline and simplify the activities associated with corporate governance, compliance and risk management. The software end-users include compliance officers, internal and external auditors, risk managers, and other accountable persons.

The advanced GRC solutions are expected to cover the following basic areas:

• Audit Management
• Internal Policy Management
• Compliance management
• Risk & Incident Management
• Information Security Management

The GRC process automation, consolidated data in one center equipped with a set of flexible user tools immensely improve and speed up performance. On the ground level, the apps provide efficient handling compliance and risk documentation, workflows, assessments, rich visualization of controls and performance indicators, instant checks, reporting, etc.

The key factor is the growing concern about the improvement of risk management systems. It is seen from the ‘Deloitte Global Risk Management Survey’:

To sum it up, the GRC software enables organizations to integrate and manage processes and data for effectively meeting the company objectives.

Demand for Integrated Solutions

Many organizations keep using several standalone legacy GRC tools, each dedicated to its specific area whether governance, compliance, policy or risk management. At present, the changes in the market reflect its growing interest in integrated solutions.

The market demand for a platform unifying all GRC data and processes under the single control center to simplify management and reduce cost finds a wide response from the technology vendors and professional service providers worldwide.

Platforms combine all key functionalities for a wide range of industries and standards. 

Personal Accountability 

Fostering Risk Awareness and Compliance Culture within the organizations now is receiving much higher priority than before. The existing and emerging cybersecurity challenges require the personal engagement of all employees.

Greater Customers’ Power

Below we present some major trends prevailing in the market. We can put the key message like this: ‘Customer Rules’.

Today, the larger part of the business’s value concentrates on its reputation, brand, and trustworthy relationship with its audiences. Modern social media and communication platforms provide a venue to share one’s opinion with millions of people in a click. 

Customers are acquiring a stronger voice in the market and enjoy an immense power affecting business behavior worldwide. This crucial trend puts the customer onto the top. GRC professionals have to ensure not only mandatory compliance but to invest heavily in strengthening and retaining public confidence and trust.

Ease of use becomes customers’ Number One criteria while choosing a GRC solution. Focusing on the need to improve the way the organizations manage their compliance, risk, and audit activities, they demand cutting-edge solutions to be simple and easy to use.

Factors Influencing the GRC Software Market

There are some factors in the GRC software market standing out as the key change drivers. They mostly come from the actualization of the new organizational needs, now stronger realized by the organization leaders.

• Emerging Technologies. The gaining traction Chatbot and Natural Language Processing (NLP) technologies are winning their place in many industries. Standing on the first line of defense, they provide safer engagement procedures seamlessly integrated with the data protection systems. Using Machine Learning tools, risk managers much improve the accuracy and timeliness of risk detection basing on the predictive analysis patterns. 
• Need for Organizational Culture of Integrity. In the days, when cyber threats are multiplying exponentially, it is hard to overestimate the role of personal accountability in maintaining an organization’s security position. The focus moves from ‘what’ we deliver to ‘how’ we deliver.
• Need for Consolidation and Integration of Risk Management Processes. Risk programs and metrics now are viewed through the mesh of the strategic objectives. According to many C-level executives, the most far-reaching negative consequences caused by non-financial security incidents are the erosion of the customers’ trust and shareholders’ value.
• Need for Agile and Proactive GRC Management. Living in the age of continuous drastic change, the organizations need an agile and proactive approach to risk management, if they want to stay on their feet. Hence, the demand for proactive risk anticipation, increased collaboration integrity, and agile action programs.
• Demand for Security by Design. Today, customer vision diverts from attempts to retrofit security and privacy controls into legacy systems to ‘secure-by-design’ technologies. The development of Artificial Intelligence along with the trail of avalanching opportunities brings greater concerns about security issues. There is much hope placed on the technology leaders to create secure by design systems to combine with the ethical, socially responsible version of AI. 

Summary

To finalize this sketchy review, we would like to point out that the greatest challenge affecting the GRC technology landscape is the overwhelming pace of change. It complicates the life of GRC educators and professionals. 

The regulatory, legal, business, and risk environments are evolving daily. The emerging technologies revolutionize the organization’s capabilities making the GRC opportunities practically endless. 

The existing proposition of GRC software and related services on the market is versatile. It may be well confusing without a clear vision of the organization’s objectives, its most critical areas, the scope and impact of the optimized system integration with the existing infrastructure.

As an expert in security and GRC technology, Infopulse created an innovative GRC solution, Standards Compliance Manager (SCM), with inbuilt security by design. Working in tight collaboration with the product users, we take into account every need and expectation of the market to deliver the best value for our customers. 

For advice, recommendation or consulting service, feel free to contact the Infopulse team.