Workflow software for effective compliance
How workflow software can monitor and improve compliance
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The basic function of workflow is the ability to divide business processes into steps, which can be passed between different people inside or outside the organisation. This may involve an editor creating a document, passing it to a reviewer for approval, and it then being passed back to the editor for amendment. These steps may then be repeated several times before the reviewer is satisfied.
As workflow is a business rather than a technology solution, an important function of the design process should be its ease of use, enabling a non-technical business user to design and develop workflow-centric processes.
The best business process applications include easy to use user
interfaces where workflow processes are graphically designed as part of
an overall business process.
With regard to a solution for compliance or a 'GRC' (Governance, Risk and Compliance) workflow - the tool should make possible a customisable 'mashup' and provide a simple, fast way of designing a typical plan, do, check act process improvement that is the basics behind a compliance program.
The main benefit to look for is the visibility that workflow software can provide to workers collaborating on a compliance framework.
These workflow tools also facilitate trend analysis - and become an indicator of compliance effectiveness or potential problems. For example, an upward swing over time of user management issues may be an indicator of more effective provisioning and employee awareness of compliance. On the other hand, it may also be an indicator of breakdowns or deficiencies in the user provisioning process.
In addition, remediation processes can require localisation and customisation as part of a larger framework. and coordination of teams across boundaries. Automated reminders and workflows can be configured so that communication of risk deterioration is timely.
Serious and pervasive risk issues can be automatically reviewed with standardised reports.
Process design should be easy to understand and facilitates visibility of access and trust, end user events, user input forms and system interactions - This enables calculation of risk and the security posture.
The tool should capture a full audit trail of all actions. This can be displayed to users with the appropriate permissions in the user interface and offer compliance evidence or due diligence within the workflow item.
Furthermore, preventative workflow controls can reduce the risk of non compliant actions, or act as risk waivers, if a system is in a non-compliant state - reducing the amount of review and monitoring required.
Workflow software has become the central repository for a Compliance Programme, providing the organisation and management of compliance data and process applications also enabling the evaluation of the types of incidents as well as the manner in which they are handled, identifying a need for enhanced procedures before the auditor or regulator does.