Understanding GRC – Governance, Risk Management, Compliance
GRC, or Governance, Risk Management and Compliance, are normally handled by different teams in an organisation. Because Government regulations are strict and ever-changing, many companies have had to resort to redundant methods in order to make sure they’re in compliance. This has resulted in Governance and Compliance practices within the organisation isolating Risk Management which could make the organisation vulnerable.
If the above scenario rings true for your company then you need to consider investing in financial software that moves GRC from three separate entities to a more holistic view.
Below are a few of the most frequently asked questions about GRC.
What is GRC?
GRC (Governance, Risk and Compliance) is the synchronization of the people, processes and technologies responsible for each activity in an organisation. The main objective of sound GRC practices is to improve the data that tells a company about the financial risks they may be vulnerable to while remaining in accordance with Government regulations.
Chief Financial Officers must bear in mind that each aspect of GRC must be considered as reliant on one another – they are symbiotic.
Who is responsible for GRC operations? <H2>
Every individual in an organisation is responsible for GRC because everyone has risk implications attached to him or her.
In any organisation, senior executive management (CEO and the board of directors) is responsible for Governance. Governance creates business transparency and business value by establishing standard procedures. In addition to senior executive management, those responsible for Governance can include the CFO (Chief Financial Officer), Chief Risk Officers, CIO’s and auditors.
Risk Management is the responsibility of the CIO and CFO. Enterprise Risk Management, or ERM, aligns performance and risk with the goals and objectives of the organisation.
Compliance is the responsibility of many executives in an organisation. HR departments, auditors and the CIO should all understand Compliance requirements.
What is the best GRC tool?
Although most GRC processes are still done on spreadsheets, organisations should be looking to move towards a more holistic framework that ends up being efficient and extremely cost-effective in the long run.
Oracle’s Governance, Risk and Compliance software allows your organisation to build systems which allow you to identify and mitigate risk while ensuring compliance. By combining risk data and analytics on a platform that is cross-industry as well as industry specific you can:
- Control a unique and centralised warehouse of GRC information
- Manage GRC across the organisation
- Protect critical information assets at all levels
- Streamline compliance efforts by managing multiple regulatory requirements with one system
- Reduce errors and labour intensity with an automated GRC process
- Increase GRC operations efficiency
Oracle Solutions for GRC is a market leader and is available in South Africa from Intellient.
For more information, please contact Simon du Plooy at EOH Oracle CFO Services on 011 607 8200.
