Cutting through the clutter in governance, risk and compliance

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Time for a declutter: Mid-market companies are shifting away from complex, expensive GRC solutions (iStock)

Scrut Automation is a Business Reporter client.

Mid-market companies are shifting away from complex, expensive GRC solutions. Technology needs for the US mid-market are rapidly growing. Recovering quickly post-pandemic, the number of mid-market businesses is poised to grow by 30 per cent over the next five years, and the sector will be responsible for more than three million jobs. To keep pace with this growth, the demand for mid-market-specific solutions continues to increase in prevalence.

Industry-agnostic, mid-market businesses have clearly differentiated needs compared with SMBs and enterprises. They need solutions that are configurable enough to adapt to their unique processes, as they don’t have the luxury of dedicated resources to configure, implement and maintain the tool like enterprises do. However, out-of-the-box solutions developed for start-ups and small businesses are often inadequate to service the needs of these businesses, and are too limited in features.

Governance, risk and compliance (GRC) remains in a similar limbo between enterprise and SMB solutions. The journey towards effective GRC is riddled with challenges many companies face, made particularly severe due to the dearth of security and compliance professionals.

Complexity and lack of flexibility

The labyrinthine nature of traditional GRC platforms has left many compliance managers grappling with complexity. Six months wasted trying to get a platform up and running is an all-too-common story. Many bemoan the inflexibility of these platforms, which often leads to extensive customisations just to fit their processes. Whatever the source of the chaos, GRC managers often resort to using Excel, abandoning the platform procured to solve their immediate needs. Mid-market companies are seeking platforms with simplicity and enough flexibility to make GRC program management intuitive and efficient.

Budget struggles and mounting costs

Budget constraints are an ongoing reality for mid-market companies, and GRC platforms’ high costs have exacerbated this challenge. Stories of being nickel-and-dimed to death with add-ons are all too familiar. As the market evolves, mid-market companies seek cost-effective solutions with a high return on investment.

Lack of necessary integrations and automation

Automated evidence collection is core to continuous control monitoring, without which any GRC platform will be nothing but a glorified shared drive. Legacy GRC platforms are often limited to integrations with foundational systems such as HRIS, MDMs and security training modules. Even with Open APIs, the information exchange is peripheral at best and not a core capability, usually accompanied by an immense amount of custom integration effort.

Evolving compliance needs and unifying control frameworks

As the regulatory landscape evolves, mid-market companies are challenged by constantly shifting, overlapping, duplicative or incongruent compliance requirements. Many traditional GRC platforms are slow to keep up with these changes, leaving businesses struggling to maintain compliance and ensure continuous control effectiveness. Moreover, mid-market companies need a unifying control framework that allows them to focus on a single set of controls needed to manage their governance, risk and compliance needs.

User experience and reporting shortcomings

The user experience of many GRC platforms has not kept up with expectations for ease of use. Complaints about cumbersome training and platforms feeling slow and unresponsive are echoed across mid-market GRC teams. Additionally, reporting and analytics capabilities have left GRC managers in the dark, making it an uphill battle to understand what is going well, what isn’t and where to focus. With the rise of user-centric design, mid-market companies now seek platforms that offer seamless onboarding and are easy to adopt. Robust reporting and analytics have become essential, empowering data-driven decision-making and proactive risk management.

Excel: a make-do solution, not built to scale

Faced with these challenges, mid-market entities often retreat to the familiarity of Excel. While laudable for its adaptability and cost-effectiveness, Excel is fundamentally unscalable. The global landscape of operations, from sales to people management, shouldn’t be built on spreadsheets. It’s time for tailored solutions.

Embracing the future

It is evident that mid-market companies face unique challenges in their pursuit of effective GRC solutions. Mid-market companies face a crossroads, oscillating between an unscalable Excel-driven approach and an underused, inflexible GRC platform.

With limited resources and budgets, mid-market companies require platforms that are both flexible and integrated, providing the necessary functionalities without draining their financial resources.

As the GRC landscape continues to evolve, mid-market players have a significant opportunity to embrace next-generation GRC platforms tailored to their needs. By seeking simplicity, cost-effectiveness, and seamless integration, they can navigate the turbulent waters of GRC with confidence, driving sustainable growth and staying ahead of the compliance curve.

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Scrut Automation is designed to meet the evolving needs of mid-market companies, through its intuitive, integrated and affordable GRC platform. To know more about how Scrut Automation can support you in your GRC program management, visit scrut.io.

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About Scrut Automation

Scrut Automation is a smart GRC platform built to support security and risk professionals in establishing enterprise-grade information security processes. For more information, visit www.scrut.io.