As security risks become more complex, businesses of any size and across industries need to have a framework to manage risk and meet compliance regulations. Staying ahead requires oversight and ongoing internal risk assessment. For many small businesses, this function is outsourced to Managed IT Services Providers and it is a Virtual Chief Information Officer (vCIO) that works with business leaders to optimize their governance and risk management. In this blog post, we will outline governance, risk and compliance (GRC) and explain how a vCIO can support your business in this area.
What is Governance, Risk and Compliance?
GRC refers to an organization's strategy to manage corporate governance policies, risk programs and compliance. GRC emerged out of the increasing complexities coordinating people, processes and technologies. The three components of GRC are as follows:
Governance: the backbone of risk mitigation; it is what keeps organizations aligned with business plans and strategies.
Risk Management: an organization's process for identifying, categorizing, assessing and enacting strategies to minimize risks.
Compliance: the level of adherence an organization has to the standards, regulations and best practices mandated by the business and by relevant governing bodies and laws.
Governance Frameworks
Governance frameworks are a set of requirements that are established best practices in various areas of business. The objective of assessing GRC for an organization is to determine a strategy to ensure that a business is and stays adherent to each framework. Some of the most common frameworks we work through are:
GRC: How a vCIO can Help
There are many benefits to a GRC program ranging from improving business resilience to maturing security to increasing productivity and minimizing risk. Our vCIOs provide businesses with a strong GRC foundation and ensure its continuously up to date to support your businesses’ evolving needs. Here is a list of some of the most common GRC projects Nucleus takes on: