Businesses aren’t allowed to operate without following specific rules. For some businesses, those rules are stricter than others. For instance, financial companies have stringent regulatory compliance guidelines to follow to keep user data safer.
Managing compliance isn’t always straightforward and we understand this issue. After all, we have our own rules to follow. We utilize a few best practices to help ourselves and clients stop struggling with compliance.
Know The Industry’s Regulations
The first step is the easiest. We recommend creating a clear list of all regulatory compliance rules. It’s also important to review this list on a regular basis.
For instance, guidelines (ITAR, HIPAA/HITECH, PCI, FDA et. al.) often change from year to year. It’s not unusual for us to hear from clients that they’re facing fines because their IT systems suddenly aren’t compliant. What’s compliant today might need a few tweaks to be compliant a few months from now.
The risks for not understanding how compliance affects a business or not knowing which standards apply could be fines or legal action. Both of which could close down a business.
Develop Policies
We realize knowing the regulations aren’t enough. If a business doesn’t have processes in place to maintain compliance, it’s impossible to meet the required guidelines. We have detailed policies and procedures in place for maintaining regulatory compliance at all times. We also regularly review each procedure to ensure they’re being followed and that they are up to standard for any new compliance regulations.
Use Consultants
We’re the first to admit that we’re not experts in everything. However, we do have extensive training in a wide variety of compliance standards. We do this to ensure the IT services we provide are compliant for individual industries.
We recommend hiring consultants to review businesses from an unbiased viewpoint. It’s easy for a business owner or IT manager to overlook something. A third party not only sees everything from a fresh perspective, but has detailed knowledge of compliance standards.
Consider Outsourcing
In some cases, the best way to master regulatory compliance is to outsource various areas of a business. For instance, when we work with a business, we start by understanding their industry and all relevant regulations. This allows us to offer guidance on the best systems and infrastructure for that particular business while ensuring they maintain compliance.
By outsourcing areas to experts, businesses don’t have to worry quite as much about compliance. However, it’s important to only choose outsourcing professionals that have been trained in risk management and compliance.
For businesses to be successful, they must be compliant. Contact our team today to learn more about how we can help.