Historically, businesses and mature industries have always tried to deal with regulations. Regulations are a governing bodies way of ensuring that all participants in this sector can execute at the same standard. As businesses become more technology driven and rely more on data, another layer of regulatory compliance gets added to the mix.
As business offerings have become more sophisticated and hold more sensitive data on customers, governments around the world instituted several regulatory measures like GDPR and various data privacy laws to hold enterprises responsible for the preservation of the data.
Becoming compliant and staying that way is a constant struggle for businesses trying to do it on their own. A managed, IT services company like ISM Grid has consultants who can provide a comprehensive risk assessment, strategy and solution for your business.
What is Regulatory Compliance?
Many business industries around the world are governed by guidelines and laws. Those guidelines and laws form a component of regulatory compliance.
Failing to stay compliant with regulations for your industry could jeopardize your company’s future to operate in a jurisdiction.
Remaining compliant requires the adoption of processes to be incorporated into your daily method of operation. Those processes are identified after your risk assessment has been completed and a risk management policy crafted for you.
As more companies modernize and take their operations to the cloud, regulatory compliance gains greater importance in ensuring the integrity of data stored.
Why is Compliance so Important?
Failing compliance, depending on the industry can either result in jail or a hefty fine from the jurisdiction’s governing body. Damages to the company reputation, image and finances could also be in jeopardy if regulatory compliance is not adhered to. Put simply, regulatory compliance is mandatory if you want to operate successfully within specific jurisdictions and industries.
Adhering to regulatory standards has the added benefit of improving consumer and supplier confidence in your brand. For example, being HIPAA compliant as a medical business makes the patients feel more comfortable storing their medical information digitally. No financial institution will allow to conduct e-commerce without reaching the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Not being compliant can cost a business as much as three times more than being compliant. With security breaches recording an 11% jump between 2018 and 2019, the cost of non-compliance is sure to skyrocket..
How Can an IT Service Company Help?
Part of the compliance process is the audit. Audits can be a drain on time, energy and money of businesses. Hiring a managed, IT services company allows you to better cope with the compliance process. Additionally, building a robust risk assessment framework gives your staff the confidence to utilize the best practices outlined to reduce the risk of security breaches.
Small, seemingly innocent things like third-party apps (WhatsApp for instance), can literally cost you millions. While the application does promote the rapid transfer of information among parties, the use of it may risk your regulatory compliance framework. Any business data handled on a mobile device should be protected with an MDM system as part of the BYOD policy. Failure to do may also risk being flagged as non-compliant with the regulations of your jurisdiction.
Learn more about what ISM Grid can do for you to create a comprehensive risk assessment for your enterprise.
