People marry for various reasons. Some for financial gain, companionship, and some I dare say for love. A select few marry because it just makes good business sense. When we introduced collaboration to our compliance solutions it was a match made in heaven. Research indicates that collaboration increases productivity by 99% and reduces expenses by 50 %. The alphabet soup of the FDIC, OTS, OCC, NCUA, SOX, and GLBA, all demand efficiency. Hmmph, an inevitable pairing.
Collaboration and compliance seem like quite an unlikely match yet you simply cannot achieve compliance without collaboration. Even in the most basic form collaboration enables efficient dissemination of policy across the enterprise, implementation of security awareness training, and shared knowledge between business units. What we need to understand and embrace is that security does not stop at the IT department gate, the audit department window sill, or the risk manager’s office door. However, it blankets the width and breadth of the enterprise touching every department, strategic business unit (SBU), and division within the organization. Therefore continuous compliance demands that everyone in the organization be responsible daily for security. Ironically, collaboration is defined as “people working together.” What a symbiotic marriage. To effectively manage risk, security initiatives, and ensure continuous compliance, organizations must employ collaboration techniques and eliminate silos. This will result in:
- Shared knowledge: As one SBU or division conquers a security or audit methodology this can easily translate to other divisions
- Increased visibility: Collaboration increases visibility into the gaps and security deficiencies across the enterprise
- Increased efficiency: Using collaboration greatly reduces the time and resources spent to gather data, perform technology audits and assess risk especially for an organization that spans states and borders
- Reduced expenses: Collaboration coupled with your compliance initiatives lessens the cost of compliance and the burden on your bottom-line
So, despite how unlikely the marriage may seem take a closer look at your compliance initiatives and identify the areas that collaboration can simplify. Talk about making good business sense…just say yes.
Has collaboration been successfully employed in your organization? How are you streamlining your compliance initiatives? We would love to hear from you!