The Road Taken: Pathways to Better Compliance

Ralph Waldo Emerson, the renowned American writer, lecturer and philosopher, is often credited with the phrase “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey.”

Legal, Compliance, Risk and Security professionals would be wise to consider Emerson’s wise words and philosophy. The path to optimal compliance outcomes and practices is long and full of twists and turns – with new and increasingly complex rules, regulations and legal regimes. 

For my fellow weary practitioners who feel like there is no destination in sight, I would like to suggest a few helpful “Rules of the Road” to encourage you on your journey. 

Look around you in measuring your progress!

It’s important to keep in mind that progress and success in developing any compliance program is relative to the scale of your company. A technology startup and a multinational corporation have very different compliance needs and expectations. Take a close look at similar companies – based on size, stage and industry – to benchmark and evaluate your progress on compliance related initiatives.  

Listen to the voices who matter (your customers)!

The path to compliance success is only made more daunting by a lack of people, processes and systems to help navigate all of the challenges you will face. If you are tight on cash and resources, where are you supposed to invest? What are you supposed to prioritize?

Let the voice of the customer help you allocate scarce resources in your journey. Ask yourself, what is top of mind for our customers? For example, you must have clear AI usage guidelines and policies in place if you plan to incorporate AI tools and features into your products.

Master your journey using the most versatile tools! 

Speaking of scarce resources, what multi-purpose Swiss Army Knife like tools can help on your compliance journey without breaking your budget?

Whether you are a public company analyzing the SEC’s new cyber rules, an EU based company concerned with DORA and GDPR regulations, in financial services and seeking to strengthen your PCI and Sarbanes-Oxley protocols, or in the healthcare sector and standing up a HIPAA compliance program – versatile tools that check many boxes are critical to your compliance success.

A common thread in all of these regulations is a mandate for strong third-party risk management, with continuous monitoring and vulnerability assessments. Consider SecurityScorecard’s market-leading security solutions to secure your supply chain and help you in your compliance journey.