What Is Good Compliance – How to Get Started?

A general dictionary meaning of the term compliance is known to many of us. It simply means to abide by the rules and regulations laid down by the authorities, law, or maybe a governing body. The broad meaning of good compliance remains the same, even if we associate it with business.

Therefore, compliance in the business sector ensures that the company works responsibly and in accordance with the laws.

In this article, we will explore compliance in detail and why it plays an important role in running a business. Now, the question that arises here is, why is compliance mandatory to a business?

Importance Of Good Compliance

According to a report from Globalscape and Ponemon Institute, program certifications helped businesses save $820,000 on average.

•  To avoid any criminal charges

No business would ever want to face court trials or be held responsible for violating the laws. This is where compliance plays a crucial role and turns out advantageous. Compliance specifies all the guidelines that a business must follow to carry out its operations. It covers the internal policies, procedures, and federal and state laws.

Workflows like how to manage the inventory, customers, the staff, and limitations when it comes to advertisements and negotiations, employees’ salaries, terms, and conditions related to buying and selling, and safety rules should be well-compliant as per the industry standards. With the assistance and enforcement of good compliance, the company detects and prevents any laws violation in the company. This, in turn, saves the company from fines and lawsuits.

• Developing a positive reputation

A company’s success largely depends on its reputation and the public image. Compliance ensures that the company maintains a positive image and demonstrates maturity, which boosts customers’ trust and loyalty. These satisfied clients return to buy your services and products as they find them trustworthy.

•  Enhanced productivity

A good compliance ensures that businesses don’t need to pitch in to relevant stakeholders that their security framework indeed works. This, in turn, makes the overall process much more productive and efficient.

Starting Early Is The Key

Many companies don’t invest in the compliance program right from the initial phase; they wait for their setup to grow. During this phase, either severe disruptions take place, or they reach a stage when implementing the changes becomes a tedious affair. The organizations must gradually start working on their compliance program from the early stage itself so that even if they are found guilty of a compliance violation, they have the necessary documentation in hand to produce before the law. In such cases, either they end up bearing huge fines with a spoilt brand reputation in hand.

Another big reason to start soon is that B2B customers expect their partners to have an efficient compliance program. Thus, if your company doesn’t pay any heed to data privacy, compliance with regulations, and security, you end up losing a major part of the market. This includes all the organizations that manage sensitive data like hospitals, government, big companies, etc.

Depending upon your business type, your company will have to be CCPA, DFS, SHIELD Act, PCI DSS, SOC 2, ISO 27001, and GDPR compliant.

How To Get Started?

The organization’s compliance program depends on its assets, sector, target market, and geolocation. Thus, there might be a slight variation in the compliance program of different companies. However, some ideas and strategies remain universal and can work as building blocks for your business’s compliance program too.

Here is how to get started!

Keep it pragmatic

This is similar to a situation where a newly recruited employee is handed over hundreds of documents to read and sign. The concerned person doesn’t even bother to read them and simply sign it. Therefore, by not ensuring that the person has read all the details and understood the processes, you are putting your organization at risk. So, understanding the kind of data that your company holds is of utmost importance.

Involve key stakeholders

Your stakeholders should consider the compliance program as a priority; only then will the team pay importance to it. The stakeholders include Executive leaders, CISO, Privacy Officer, Marketing, Legal, and IT team. The same should be discussed regularly, and the business decisions must be taken accordingly. The sales team will give more insights about the compliance requirements demanded by your clients.

Prioritize the tasks, first things first

At first, the compliance program may seem aspirational and easy. To find out where to start from, draft an organized approach. In this regard, the first step is to analyze the type of data your organization holds, accordingly decide the most relevant framework for your business. Check your competitors’ compliance strategies and how they are addressing them. Don’t forget to analyze your customer’s demands. Since compliance is an ongoing process, regular feedback from the sales team and the legal team will further help in defining a good compliance approach. Don’t impose too many regulations at once- Understanding all the policies and procedures, in the beginning, might leave you puzzled.

Hire a vCISO

It is very difficult to find a reliable CISO. Even if you find one, they ask for a 7-figure Salary which is not possible if your business is in early stages. Therefore, a Virtual CISO comes handy here.

Seeking help from vCISO experts will enable you to save a lot of money and time. They will help you to get your compliance faster and in a cost-effective manner.

In conclusion, many big companies, as well as start-ups, are investing their resources in defining their compliance needs and program. If you are not sure how to make your business compliant, you can seek assistance from a vCISO and save thousands of dollars every year by getting the right guidance.

Compliance is a must if you want to take your business to new heights. Take the help from a vCISO to discover beforehand when the first compliance requirement will be and what it will be about with respect to your business.