Nixon Digital

Is automation of risk and compliance a choice?

Table of Contents

Today, managers have many choices and decisions to make when it comes to security, risk and compliance, and having it automated is not even among them. An emerging trend in the market is that more and more companies are investing in risk management tools and automated compliance technology.

Organizations are increasingly demanding solid risk management and information to drive better security investments and other business decisions. However, CISOs  are challenged to innovate with limited resources and personnel.

With this growing trend, compliance automation is increasingly becoming a necessity rather than a choice. Risk landscapes continue to change, so an efficient approach to keeping up is important. Automation strategies allow teams to focus on other activities where mundane and routine tasks can be automated. Which reduces errors in your risk, security, and compliance programs. CIOs must adopt automation by default. 

Choosing the right automation technology

Identify a technology solution that allows teams to manage risk, security and compliance which supports business intelligence softwares and  speeds-up decision making. These tools enhance risk and security compliance programs by providing complete and accurate insights, new process efficiencies and improved effectiveness. Automation enables the organization to meet the growing stakeholder demand for risk intelligence in the context of business goals and priorities. Automation encompasses multiple and different activities. Automation of data collection and testing are one of the long-term benefits.

Phases to automate

Phase one

In this phase, begin replacing manual activities that rely on inefficient technology (e.g., spreadsheets, emails, repositories, etc.). Within the context of risk management, automate manual efforts such as assigning and performing risk assessments, updating risk registers, reporting risk scorers, and mapping risk to other program information such as applications, assets, controls, incidents, threats, and vulnerabilities.

There are also other opportunities to automate such as general communications and alerts, tracking and reporting the status of assignments, and compiling risk distribution and posture reports. Maintaining or updating policies, controlling documentation and recovery of findings also require automation. If risk compliance information changes or is updated, the document must also be updated, which in turn requires human effort and is sensitive to errors.

Phase two

In the second phase of automation, teams can use tools to perform activities more frequently. Risks used to be assessed annually; this took significant manual effort. With compliance automation, assessments can now be performed more frequently, with Nixon Digital Services providing real-time risk insights.

Phase three

In this phase, you will look for ways to further ease the burden on your team by using risk-scoring automation, evidence-gathering, and testing assessments. All your team needs to do is final review and approval. 

By linking this technology with other technologies, manual processes and information gathering can be automated thereby giving you and your team more time to deliver more strategic value. As a result, stakeholders have better insight and visibility into risk. Contact us for a demo to see how the nixon platform can help improve your business intelligence and decision-making.

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Tuana Serter
Content Marketer

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