The recent years have been challenging for business continuity. There is practically no industry that is not beset with difficulties due to disruptions in supply chains, sanitary restrictions, the need to introduce remote work, or, more recently, the economic and regulatory turmoil caused by the war in Ukraine. In many cases, it is the successful digital transformation of processes that has allowed companies to survive. Digitization has extended to many areas of companies’ operations, providing them with numerous new risk management tools and techniques. How can digital tools empower risk management?
The fundamental challenge for a modern approach to risk management is to frame it in a coherent process that encompasses the company as a whole. And there are quite a few types of risks that need to be managed in Enterprise Risk Management.
- Compliance;
- Financial;
- Hazard & Safety;
- Operational & Strategic;
- Reputational.
What is ERM?
Gartner defines enterprise risk management as “identifying, analyzing and treating the exposures an organization faces as seen by the executive levels of management”.
This means looking at potential threats to the company in matters of finance, credit, fraud, as well as overall strategy and operations.
In other words, ERM is a strategic company-wide effort to effectively identify risks to the company’s broadly defined finances and operations, and to effectively prevent or properly prepare for them.
Traditional risk management has been leaving risk analysis and decision-making in the hands of division heads, which can lead to a siloed approach. ERM is the answer to an overly narrow view of risk management in companies. However, it requires entirely new capabilities for information processing, workflow, and decision-making.
Risk management software
Risk management tools and techniques have evolved substantially over the last few decades. They favor a holistic approach, giving the risk manager a bigger picture of the organization
Of course, with the complexity of the business environment and the dynamics of risk drivers, these tools must be digital to empower risk managers with the ability to grasp the scale and the volatility.
One such tool that meets the needs of the 21st century ERM is Adaptive GRC. It is a risk development and visualization software suite designed to support risk identification, monitoring and reporting.
Some of its notable features are:
- Risk register
A risk register is an essential tool for any risk manager. It is used to collect potentially recurring risks, organize them by category and assign them to people in the organization whose responsibility it is to deal with these risks.
In the risk register you can also collect additional information, such as the nature of the risk and how to deal with it. Usability and ease of use are key in running a risk register, as is the ability for a larger team to manage it online.
- ISO 31000 compliance
ISO 31000 is a group of risk management standards developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). It provides a universal model for risk management and aims to unify current standards, methodologies and models that vary by industry, type of business, or region.
Globally accepted standards and principles of risk management are an absolute must-have for modern tools used by risk managers.
- Precise responsibility management
One risk can affect several areas of the organization or its processes. Adaptive GRC allows Risk Owners to have multiple stakeholders providing information to be included in a single risk record. This allows more risk factors to be taken into account across the organization.
- Reporting
Reporting is the culmination of the risk management process. It is at this stage that managers evaluate the effectiveness of risk analyses and ways of dealing with risks. Easy yet accurate and reliable reporting that covers the entire risk management process enables continuous improvement of its effectiveness.
Enterprise risk management continues to evolve. The Best GRC software tools are those solutions that evolve with it and are able to contribute to its effectiveness. As a powerful on-line risk elaboration and visualization tool, AdaptiveGRC is designed to support superior risk identification, monitoring and reporting. It also provides full coordination of governance, risk and compliance activities and information for all levels in any organization.
