Governance, risk management and compliance have evolved a great deal since the term GRC came into common use. Initially, the three processes were managed separately, but now, they are completely integrated with one another. The GRC process
plays a key role in the performance and growth of organizations. With the business environment in a constant state of flux, organizations need to become smarter and more efficient to navigate the sea of complexities, risks and hurdles.
Needless to say, this calls for guidance from GRC solution providers; organizations expect them to help them meet their compliance requirements, mitigate risks, AND drive business growth.GRC solutions empower businesses with risk and regulatory
intelligence, and enable them to take better, more informed decisions. Here are a few surprising factors that will have to be considered by GRC software solution providers, to enable organizations perform well and grow.
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Regulation will increasingly stem from consumer demand:
All over the world, consumers are having an increased say in what companies should include in their products, and what they should avoid; through online signature campaigns,
social media and conventional sit-ins, consumers are making their voices heard like never before. A few notable instances: Pepsi stopped using aspartame as an artificial sweetener, The Barnum and Bailey Circus promised not have
elephants in their shows anymore, Kraft ended the use artificial coloring in their famed Mac n Cheese meals, and Nestle switched over to natural sugar in their Butterfingers candy bars. What this means for those providing GRC apps
and services is that they need to make consumers the focal point of the business; it means that companies today need to not only ensure compliance with regulations but also listen to their customers, and gain their trust by providing
value. GRC solutions will need to help organizations create a culture where everyone from the top management to those interacting directly with end users, understand risk and compliance onus, from the customer’s viewpoint. Today
an organization’s worth is measured by its integrity, brand and reputation. For businesses to garner customer loyalty and outstrip rivals, they will need the expert services of GRC professionals.
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FOMO:
The 'Fear of Missing Out' that people have today have contributed to the stupendous success of Instagram and Snapchat; FOMO is nothing but instant gratification. Everybody wants everything 5 minutes ago; people today
consider a video to be slow if it doesn't load instantly. A couple of seconds, and they start fretting. It's all about, 'Now!'. GRC solutions will need to be able to deliver instantaneous value to companies. To this end, they will
need to simplify the process and penetrative. We can expect to see development of more user friendly GRC mobile apps that allow collection of real time, actionable data across the organization on mobile devices of employees. This
will also entail instant cloud based deployment of the GRC software environment. From long-drawn projects, solution providers will need to switch to uncomplicated, speedy deployments. Company boards and shareholders today are also
looking to take risk decisions fast; they don't have the time to go through voluminous reports. GRC teams will need to come up with methods of cutting up capacious reports into bite-sized chunks of risk insights and actionable
data, and presenting them concisely and attractively. Access to real time business information will help management in better decision making.
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Impact of AI:
Artificial intelligence is making an impact on nearly every aspect of our lives, so it's no surprise that entrepreneurs and tech geeks alike
are talking so much about it. The thing about AI is that it can be used in everything from making burgers to facial recognition, and is bringing about a drastic change in the future of productivity and work. Where GRC is concerned,
AI is all about having intelligence in the cloud, superior visualization, predictive analytics and mind-maps of risk - all of which could help businesses identify and predict risks more efficiently. It also means correlation engines
that help merge enormous data chunks like consumer feedback, rate of unemployment, internal losses etc. to predict performance. Like mentioned earlier, GRC software solutions are today using algorithms to divide voluminous data
into actionable, consumable risk and compliance insights. There is humongous scope for AI in GRC - it has just begun. Several deep learning technologies have already made their appearance, enabling things like detection of new
malware threats precisely and instantly. We could also see businesses being equipped with AI tools that enable them to collect information about employee behavior for automatic risk discovery.
With the business environment becoming more complex and competitive, GRC solutions will need to become more innovative, facilitate compliance through the enterprise and enable better governance; only organizations who are able to do this,
will be able to generate more value for the long term.
