Page 12 - EngineerIT October 2021

ICT COMPLIANCE

Cost of non-compliance is hefty

By Richard Shaw, director, Argantic*

ne of the biggest challenges for real-time assessments to control risks caused by digital assets. They normally know the
businesses today is keeping technology solutions but find regulations difficult to understand.
Oup to date with constantly In contrast, compliance and legal teams are normally familiar with the regulations but
changing regulations. This is largely due struggle to understand the technology that could help them comply. Many of these teams
to the dynamic nature of the compliance still try to track compliance manually by using general purpose tools like Microsoft Excel.
landscape, according to Argantic director There are many complexities in managing compliance activities and this often hinders
Richard Shaw. adoption. The biggest challenge is understanding how to integrate various solutions
While compliance with regulations like and to configure each one to minimise compliance risks. This becomes exceptionally
the Protection of Personal Information difficult when solutions are sourced from various vendors and especially when they have
Act of 2013 (POPIA) and General Data overlapping functionality.
Protection Regulation (GDPR)) come
with hefty price tags, the alternative is far Managing data
more costly. Businesses are generating and consuming much more data than ever before, and
According to a study by the Ponemon their digital transformation journeys are geared to help them gain an edge over their
Institute and Globalscape, being competitors. This data enables them to stay relevant by empowering their employees,
compliant will cost less compared to engaging customers and optimising operations. However, managing this data on various
business disruptions, loss of revenue and devices can be extremely complicated, especially when it comes to ensuring compliance.
hefty fines. The cost of non-compliance is Not only is the amount of data growing exponentially, but legislation and regulations on
more than twice that of compliance costs. how to manage that data is also becoming more complex. Collecting customer information
In fact, this report finds that the cost is an integral part of how businesses function, but it remains a challenge to maintaining
of non-compliance is nearly three times and protecting this personal data.
higher than the cost of compliance. Non-compliance could result in significant fines and it could also have a significant
Organisations that delay compliance impact on a company’s brand, reputation and revenue.
efforts are taking an ill-advised risk which
could ultimately yield a pricier penalty. Simplify compliance
Business leaders need simple tools that will help them manage compliance. Microsoft
Managing compliance Compliance Manager is the end-to-end compliance management solution included in the
Many companies rely on periodic Microsoft 365 compliance centre. It empowers companies to simplify compliance, reduce
assessments, like annual audits. risk and meet global, industry and regional compliance regulations and standards.
However, these periodic assessments The solution translates complicated regulations, standards, company policies and
create a digital blind spot, they can other desired control frameworks into simple language, maps regulatory controls and
quickly become outdated and could recommended improvement actions, and provides step-by-step guidance on how to
expose the company to potential risks implement those actions to meet regulatory requirements.
until the next assessment is done. It helps customers prioritise work by associating a score with each action, which
Business leaders should find ways accrues to an overall compliance score. Compliance Manager provides pre-built
to improve integration and create near assessments for common industry and regional standards and regulations and custom

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