The IT compliance landscape grows increasingly complex – there are new and changing regulations, more stakeholders, competitive certifications, and an expanding list of dangers. Because of this shift, IT and IT compliance require frequent oversight. For IT and security teams, manageing compliance without the proper tools and support can lead to disaster.
By introducing an IT compliance automation solution, businesses can eliminate manual tasks, ensure detection of compliance issues, and support a scalable solution that grows with the organisation. Automation means fewer audit headaches and the ability to adapt to new technologies without reinventing your entire IT compliance playbook.
What Is IT Compliance Automation?
IT compliance automation uses technology to handle workflows in IT risk detection, monitoring, and reporting. IT compliance is different in that it follows governance on the management, storage, and protection of data. More specifically, IT compliance applies to issues like data privacy, cybersecurity, access controls, audit logging, incident response, and software licensing.
Also, while regulatory compliance deals with a wide range of legal standards, IT compliance usually deals with highly specialized standards for technological risks, such as:
Conduct an initial risk assessment before entering into a relationship with any third-party vendor. Then reassess vendors periodically to:
- International Organisation for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission (ISO/IEC) 27001
- National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) frameworks for cybersecurity
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)
- Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
- Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS)
These requirements might also include certifications for security standards, continuous monitoring, and cheque-ups to measure ongoing compliance.
Why Automate Your IT Compliance?
IT compliance can offer companies many benefits, including:
- Minimized Human Error: By automating IT compliance tasks like access provisioning, audit logging, and patch management, you reduce the risk of human errors like misconfigured permissions, missed security updates, or incomplete audit trails.
- Reduced Regulatory Violations: Streamlining compliance workflows promotes consistency in tasks like data encryption and policy enforcement, which minimizes the risk of controls or regulatory standards being overlooked
- Freed-Up Resources: Offloading repetitive tasks like log monitoring and software update tracking allows teams to focus their time and expertise on high-value initiatives, such as risk mitigation planning.
- Increased Scalability: As your company grows, IT compliance automation can help scale compliance without a proportional increase in resources.
1. Refamiliarize Yourself with Your Compliance Landscape
The first step in adopting IT compliance automation is to step back and reassess the regulations your organisation is currently following. When was the last time you reviewed which standards apply to your industry and location? Even lightly regulated sectors may now face new or evolving IT compliance requirements, and it’s important to make sure your compliance standards are up-to-date.
Along with this reassessment, account for dynamic shifts, like how often regulations in your industry change, who in your company is responsible for IT compliance, and how much regulatory complexity your business has. Starting with this visibility over your compliance will also allow you to stay on top of new or changing standards.
2. Define Your Policies and Controls
Automation depends entirely on structured inputs, such as policy rules, control chequelists, role-based access matrices, and compliance thresholds. Because of this, your organisation needs to define these controls to ensure the system can reliably enforce standards and flag deviations. Set up a system for documenting your policies and controls with regular review processes. This exercise ensures that the automation logic will align with your needs.
3. Choose IT Compliance Automation Software
When choosing IT compliance automation software, look for a solution that can seamlessly integrate with your existing ecosystem. Be sure it can pull data from siloed systems, align with your current IT infrastructure, and adapt to your organisation’s specific workflows and obligations. From this, you can achieve a unified, real-time view of your compliance posture. A good IT compliance platform offers:
- Automated workflows for risk detection and management, enabling proactive responses to threats
- Seamless incident response and remediation to handle incidents effectively
- Continuous compliance monitoring and reporting to track evolving policies and identify compliance gaps
- Scalable process automation to support growing businesses and more complex IT infrastructure
- Automated data security and privacy management to ensure protection of sensitive data
By evaluating solutions based on these criteria, you’ll be able to select the software that aligns with your compliance needs while also acting as an extension of your team.
4. Leverage IT Compliance Automation Tools
Make sure you get the most out of your IT compliance automation software by identifying which of your processes to enhance using its tools, such as:
- Real-Time Monitoring and Alerts: Automated systems provide notifications about compliance risks, allowing you to act before issues escalate.
- Faster Audit Prep: Automation streamlines data collection, keeping audit preparations up to date.
- Customizable Alert Thresholds: Tailor alert thresholds to focus on the most relevant areas for your business. This will help prioritize responses and reduce false alarms.
- Simplified Evidence Gathering: Automation makes it easier to maintain accurate paper trails. This allows you to quickly get reliable evidence whenever needed.
- Accurate and Flexible Reporting: Automated reports are generated in real-time and can adapt to new regulations. This flexibility means you can stay aligned with changing regulations without manual effort.
- Proactive Regulatory Change Tracking: Track and alert regulatory changes as soon as they happen, ensuring your compliance measures stay current without the need for manual monitoring. This enables you to swiftly adapt to new requirements and maintain continuous compliance with minimal interruption.
5. Train Teams and Create a Compliance Culture
Successful implementation of IT compliance automation will require organisational buy-in, which might be difficult in some companies – especially when it creates new tasks and accountability. With the right training, employees can understand the importance of IT compliance, as well as their role in maintaining it. Promoting a culture of transparency across your IT compliance infrastructure can keep that buy-in going forward.
6. Continuously Refine Your Automation Programme
Moving towards IT compliance automation isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it process. As regulations and business needs evolve, so does your automation strategy. Schedule regular reviews to assess how your automations are performing and make sure they’re aligned with the latest standards. Regular testing of controls and validation of automation outputs ensures that your system remains compliant.
Incorporating IT compliance automation into your business strategy delivers many benefits through increased efficiency, reduced risk, and the scalability needed to support growth. By automating routine tasks, standardizing compliance workflows, and establishing real-time monitoring, your organisation can prioritize resources to focus on strategy.
Investing in IT compliance automation is a major step towards strengthening your IT infrastructure and its readiness. Review your current compliance approach, identify opportunities for automation, and explore how these solutions can help your business.
For more information about streamlining compliance, download our ebook, Transforming Compliance from Cheque-the-Box to Champion, and cheque out Riskonnect’s Compliance software solution.
