Managed services help reduce regulatory compliance risk and enable organizations to capitalize on the strategic advantages of compliance.
Thousands of government and industry regulations are in play today, with an estimated 30 percent of those impacting small to midsize enterprises. Predictably, these organizations are struggling to comply. Many aren’t even entirely sure which regulations apply to them.
These regulations vary in purpose and scope, but many include requirements for data security and privacy. As data breaches continue to make headlines, regulatory agencies and industry groups are strengthening security requirements and imposing harsher penalties for noncompliance. Key regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley, Gramm-Leach-Bliley, HIPAA and PCI-DSS are constantly evolving to address the latest threats.
Many organizations must also comply with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). These rules apply to any organization — no matter the size or location — that stores, processes or analyzes the personal data of European customers. Similarly, the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) protects the personal data of California residents. Several other states have enacted similar legislation.
Manual Approaches Ineffective
Lacking the resources of larger enterprises, smaller organizations typically address compliance issues in an ad hoc manner. They do what they can, when they can, with whatever the budget will allow. This often involves manual, spreadsheet-based processes for tasks such as controls management, risk analysis, auditing and reporting. However, this is an error-prone approach that is increasingly inadequate as the regulatory environment becomes more complex.
Organizations cannot effectively address all of these regulations with manual solutions deployed in a hit-and-miss fashion. They must take a holistic approach to compliance. Gartner has estimated that organizations attempting to implement individual solutions for each regulatory challenge will spend 10 times more on compliance than those that take a comprehensive approach.
What’s worse, such an approach is likely to be ineffective anyway. Separate solutions lead to duplication of effort. There’s also the risk that one compliance “team” will deal less effectively with a specific compliance thread — such as security — than another team. This results in gaps in the overall endeavor.
The Value of Managed Services
A managed services provider (MSP) with specific expertise in security and data protection helps reduce this risk, improve governance and limit costs. Qualified MSPs take a well-defined and comprehensive approach to compliance built on industry best practices. An MSP will also employ sophisticated monitoring, management and reporting tools to prepare organizations for compliance audits and assessments.
Managed IT services facilitate regulatory compliance in a number of ways. The MSP will proactively monitor and manage the IT environment to meet the latest security standards. The MSP ensures that data is backed up and can be restored should disaster strike. The MSP applies patches and software updates as they become available, and stays abreast of emerging security threats. Because regulations and the IT environment are constantly changing, the MSP will assess the impact of those changes and develop a plan for maintaining compliance.
An MSP can help establish clear policies and guidelines regarding regulatory compliance and provide employees with relevant training. Regular cybersecurity awareness training can help ensure that employees follow best practices.
Management should champion regulatory compliance and serve as a good example. Together, everyone can help build a culture of compliance that ensures all regulatory requirements are followed.
Compliance Offers Opportunities
Responses to compliance challenges typically focus on the burdens — the cost, the potential penalties and the additional load on overworked IT departments. While these are all legitimate concerns, compliance also presents significant opportunities.
Meeting requirements for data preservation and privacy helps reduce the risk of cyberattacks, fraud and financial crimes, and helps organizations avoid costly fines, penalties and legal issues. Process management and certified business practices ensure consistency, which increases efficiency, reduces errors, and ultimately improves operations and profitability.
Following regulatory requirements helps maintain the company’s good reputation, which strengthens relationships with customers and business partners. It also strengthens a company culture built on high ethical standards and shared values. In addition, the ability to demonstrate compliance can increase an organization’s value to potential partners.
Getting outside help for regulatory compliance makes good business sense. Although compliance is critical, it’s not a core business function. Offloading some of that burden to an MSP reduces risk while allowing organizations to focus on core strengths that drive the business forward.
