5 Things to Know Before Buying Compliance Management Software

How do you choose the right compliance management software ?

Technology can seriously streamline compliance management efforts and help you mitigate your risk. How to narrow the choices for compliance management software is a challenge all its own. Every month there’s a new bright shiny software component marketed as complete compliance management solution.

Tip: Don’t be fooled by the hype. Examine your organization first.

For success, assess: what aspects of your workflow, compliance and security risk management can technology automate, streamline and facilitate management of? If you can leverage technology to help with compliance management, then you’re simplifying a complex process. Particularly when you can choose a technology that supports multiple standards and regulations.

To choose the right technology calls for a clear understanding of what your company’s compliance management profile looks like. As a start, scope your needs using these five points.

5 Things to Know Before Buying Compliance Management Software

1. Consider company size. Do you have 100 – 1000 employees? Larger? Size does matter when you’re evaluating technology . What works well for a large enterprise may not scale for smaller operations or start-ups.
2. Count your critical systems. This may sound simplistic but it’s not. What’s critical to your business operations? Laptops, phones, tablets, networks, PaaS, SaaS, databases – factor in all systems essential to business operations.
3. Include your vendors. You’re exchanging data. It’s crucial that you, your vendor partners and clients share a commitment to compliance management. It’s also crucial that you’re able to easily verify that commitment.
4. Consider how all of the above needs to connect and how easily it can implement. Ideally, it implements and integrates smoothly with marginal disruption.
5. What’s your spend. How are your costs on disparate systems and manual processes and how much will it cost you if you’re out of compliance? This year brings an upcoming wave of new privacy requirements and compliance challenges.

Technology is the key to compliance management success in 2019. But not all compliance management software is created equal. Seek out the technology solution that promotes partner transparency around data security practices, plus helps you self-audit how well you’re managing compliance while supporting your ability to comply with regulations old and new.