An effective compliance program is comprised of many moving parts. Critical data is coming in from the variety of tools, documents, systems and technologies needed to run operations. As such, businesses can find themselves in over their heads when trying to gain a complete, accurate picture of their risk profile at any given time.
Therefore, strong data governance is essential in facilitating adherence to compliance requirements without slowing down Business. Strong data governance aids in the efficient management of key compliance areas. A unified system for aggregating critical business data enables organizations to gain an accurate view of their compliance posture in real time and drive business efficiency.
Compliance programs must collect and analyze an enormous amount of data, which drives the importance of data governance. Important information is spread across the training, case management, risk assessment and management, policy management, gifts and entertainment and third-party due diligence systems. Compliance officers need to know they’re working with a single source of truth that gives them the most complete, accurate picture at any given moment.
Data governance becomes more important the more systems and applications a compliance function uses. Compliance officers want systems that store data in a single repository with standardized data formats because strong data governance ensures accurate reports. From there, compliance officers can make accurate decisions based on what the data tells them.
Here's the rub: The current landscape of compliance technology is composed of many disparate systems that don’t integrate with each other. Compliance officers are often stuck searching for critical data and don’t have a connected approach to the technology that supports their program. They want and need a system that stores data in a single repository with standardized data.
How can data governance fix this problem? Automating a compliance program’s many tasks helps to create a unified operations environment. In this paradigm, the compliance function goes beyond its tasks of third-party due diligence and training. It elevates the function by using a unified system to automate the process of due diligence, as well as sending alerts for any needed training.
Alternately, the due diligence and risk assessment tools communicate and work together to spot third parties at high risk for violations so that compliance officers can take a closer look. These are just two of many examples of how data integration and task automation vastly enhance compliance efforts.
Organizations can create a unified system either by integrating a group of solutions or by deploying one compliance tool that covers all the bases. But the key to success lies in setting up the system in a way that ensures strong data governance -- the ability to gather the needed data and analyze and apply it in ways that keep the organization compliant.
Once the data exists, compliance professionals need to groom and aggregate it so they can review this information in the context of compliance and risk. That is to say, seemingly unrelated chunks of data will need to come together and be examined within broader trends of compliance activity.
On the human side, employees and third parties must know a reportable event when they see it and then report it. They need training and ongoing support to fulfill that duty and do so in a timely fashion. This adds to the body of data that can be used both right now to address immediate concerns and in the future as to look back on for reference.
Perhaps your company is pre-IPO and preparing for life as a public company. Perhaps it’s a spin-off from a larger business or a new joint venture. Maybe the company encountered trouble with regulators because it did not have a compliance program and part of the resolution is to build one.
