There are a large number of types of GRC software, with most of them focusing on one area of GRC. For a CIO, one of the biggest concerns over the past few years has been the growing number of compliance mandates. GRC tools that focus on the compliance part of GRC have turned out to be useful for many CISOs. CISOs have been able to take advantage of the structured enterprise -wide approach to regulatory compliance that’s made possible by GRC software. So, this has been a blessing.
Compliance, the “C” in GRC is not enough anymore, however. Risk (the “R” in GRC) management is now taking on a more prominent role in organizations, and the CISO is tasked with continuous enterprise risk management. Protecting critical assets and continuous risk monitoring has become a high priority item for CISO’s in most organizations.
Increasing risk management and compliance mandates have made GRC automation technology an essential commodity, rather than a luxury. CISOs today can no longer hope to keep with the current and emerging compliance mandates and risk management requirements without sophisticated GRC technology. The old days of reactive compliance management seem to be headed out the door – today, strategies such as continuous assessments to comply with varying compliance requirements and to safeguard against risk are going to be the way CISOs are going to be managing GRC. Strong GRC software is what makes it possible to make this type of continuous compliance and risk assessment part of an organization’s lifestyle.
CISOs all over the world are making the transition from IT and information security to information risk management. Continuous control automation and monitoring is the way to make this possible, making GRC software the bedrock of information risk management.